Coconut Cream Cake

This is the best cake ever and earns rave reviews every time I bake it.  I make a few changes: bake in 3 - 8" round pans = no splitting and leaves enough filling to frost sides of cake. I make the filling the night before, adding whipped cream when ready to frost and combine gently.  I whip 1 cup cream, 1 t. coconut extract, and sugar to taste to frost top and then add generous sprinkles of coconut on top.  I use tall skewers to hold the cake together until serving time.  It will slide in Southern heat!  For a large group I used 1 1/2 times the ingredients and baked it in 2 - 9 x 12 glass baking pans.  I made same amount of filling w/whipping cream and it still frosted sides, and again whipping cream for top.  The first time I followed the recipe exactly and it was great. Now I increase to 1 t. coconut extract in the filling and in the cake itself and cut vanilla in half.  I love coconut!  

This cake tastes like something you'd eat at a high-end restaurant.  It was soo delicious.  The only thing that I did was cook the filling a little too long...it got too thick.  I just cooled it in the frig and when I got ready to put the whip cream in the filling...it just sorta wouldn't mix...I then, got my mixer out and mixed it a little more and it was fine. ...After icing it with the whipped cream, I then took sweetened coconut and patted it all over the cake...it was soo pretty.  My family loved it...Thanks so much for this delicious recipe!

Judy Brocksmith

I followed the recipe to the letter. Best cake I have ever made. Super moist and not too sweet. It took a good 6 hours in total, but 4 of that was waiting for the filling to chill. The filling was not runny at all. I think the key is following the ingredient list exactly and using the proper techniques when it comes to the cream at the end. Loved it and will make it every year. 

I made this cake last Easter and then this year for my book club and everyone raved over it.  In fact, my family is insisting that I make it for Easter again this year.  It is delicious and worth every bit of time it takes to make.  I can't understand the difficulty people are having making this cake - I have followed the recipe and it works out just as it should.  The last time I made the cake, I forgot to add a cup of whipped cream to the filling and it was still delicious.

Did you use coconut milk out of a can or carton...Curious if it makes a difference..Thank you

I made this cake for Easter.  The results were perfect.  A beautiful cake with excellent flavor, moist, light, rich and not too sweet.  I've been trying to make a satisfactory coconut cake for years and have been disappointed until now.

I had no difficulty with the filling.  Day 1, I made the filling, let it cool without the plastic wrap on the counter for 30 minutes and then put it into the refrigerator with plastic wrap atop. [steps 1 and 2] It was not runny at all.  Step 6 adds the stiffly-beaten whipped cream into the chilled filling without making it runny.  I used my hens eggs which are larger than standard large eggs, perhaps jumbo.  Perhaps this was the difference.

I had toasted coconut shavings from Trader Joe's in my pantry.  The result was picture perfect and delicious.

 This cake had its troubles. The filling was of course, too runny, perhaps if I had left out the extra cup of whipped creak. However, I made do and although the cake slid, I got it back into position and frosted it cautiously. First of all, when it says to cook it for one more minute, you should definitely make sure it starts thickening! Even with the sloppiness, it was the best tasting coconut cake I have ever had the pleasure of consuming! We kicked it up a notch by buying a coconut and making homemade coconut shavings for a garnish. They toasted up nicely and I tossed them in powdered sugar. It made the cake feel gourmet and the saltiness of the coconut was surprisingly complimentary! So despite troubles with the filling, I recommend it and would totally make again! (plus, if it continues to slide, it would always make a delicious trifle instead ;)

Just made this cake for Easter and while the final result was great, the process of making it left me in tears.  I was ready to dump the filling in the trash as it was too runny to put on the cake.  I ended up doubling the cornstarch as well as adding a package of vanilla pudding to thicken it.  While everyone loved how it tasted, I will not be using this recipe again.

My cake turned out perfectly. I was surprised to read other reviews saying the filling was runny. Mine was fine but after looking over the recipe again, I realized I had completely left out Step #6 which was the extra cup of whipping cream added to the filling. So if your filling was too runny, you might leave out the cup of whipping cream. I only made 3 layers so there was enough filling to go in between the layers. Everyone who ate this cake loved it! It was super moist and delicious!

Yes, with the whip cream frosting, the cake needs to be refrigerated, just like you would refrigerate milk 

My dad declared this to be the best coconut cake he had every eaten.  It really was delicious.  For those whose filling was runny I suspect they did not let it cook long enough after coming to a boil - you have to let it thicken at that point.  I did not add the coconut extract to the whipped cream icing as I thought it had enough coconut flavor between the cake and the filling.  Added toasted coconut to the top - really, really good!

Cake tasted great but the filling was too runny to put on the cake. I ended up using another frosting and used it for the filling and icing.

Does this cake need to be refrigerated?

I haven't actually eaten the assembled cake but have tasted each aspect along the way and it is already unbelievable! I made it the Saturday before Easter so it could sit in the frig overnight. My filling was thick (at first I thought too thick) but once I added the wripped cream it was the right consistency. My mother-in-law made a coconut cake that we all loved; this one I call "Memsie's coconut cake on steroids"! Fabulous!

Should my filling be thick? It's just running off my layers....on the day before Easter.