Gluten Free Coconut Cake

coconut cake

I found a recipe for coconut cake on Pinterest from Cooking Classy and it looked great, so I thought I’d convert it to be gluten free and make a few tweaks. My kids and coworkers loved the cake…some didn’t even know it was gluten free!

Ingredients

  • 3 cups gluten free all purpose flour (I use THIS one)
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 2 cups  sugar
  • 3/4 cup butter or nondairy butter, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1 can full fat coconut milk
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature, yolks and whites separated, plus two more egg whites
  • 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
  • 1 1/2 tsp. coconut extract
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 c. shredded coconut

 

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
  • 12 oz. cream cheese (1 1/2 packages), at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup butter or nondairy butter at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 tsp. coconut extract
  • 5-6 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded coconut

 

coconut cake being frosted

Directions
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease three 9″ cake pans and set aside.
  • In a  bowl, mix your gluten free flour, baking powder and salt.
  • Using a stand mixer, beat butter, coconut and sugar until well incorporated, then add coconut and vanilla extracts and egg yolks.
  • Alternately add milk with the flour blend; stir until just blended then add shredded coconut.
  • Whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form; fold into the cake batter until thoroughly mixed.
  • Divide the batter evenly between the three cake pans, smoothing with a spatula so that the batter level is flat (it’ll be fairly thick).
  • Bake 18-20 minutes. *I cooked mine on convection and it took 19 minutes.
  • Remove pans from oven. Let cake cool about 5 minutes, then remove cake from pans and let cool completely on wire racks.
  • Make frosting: whip cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add extract. On low speed, add one cup of powdered sugar at a time. Once desired spreading consistency has been reached, turn mixer on high for a minute to whip frosting. Spread frosting between cake layers; after frosting top layer, frost sides of cake. Sprinkle coconut flakes in your hand and press along the sides of the cake to get coconut flakes to adhere; sprinkle remaining coconut on top, pressing lightly.
  • Cut, serve cake & enjoy!
  • Keep leftovers in the refrigerator to help maintain moisture.

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