lemon curd coconut cake
Make the lemon curd a day or two in advance so the buttercream filling comes together quickly when the cake is cooled. This cake is a melt & mix cake so it's easy make, all that's needed is a little care when cutting each of the cakes in half. You'll need two, deep 8-inch round cake tins for this recipe & a long serrated knife.
Servings: 10
Ingredients
TO MAKE THE LEMON CURD
- 1/2 cup salted butter, cubed
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 large eggs
COCONUT CAKE
- 6 large eggs
- 2 1/4 cups milk (full-fat)
- 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) salted butter
- 2 tablespoons coconut extract
- 3 3/4 cups self-rising flour (self raising)
- 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups flaked coconut (preferably unsweetened) (desiccated coconut)
COCONUT BUTTERCREAM
- 1 1/2 cups salted butter, softened
- 3 cups confectioner's sugar (icing/powdered sugar)
- 2 teaspoons coconut extract
- flowers to decorate, if desired
Instructions
To make the lemon curd:
- Place butter, sugar & juice in a medium saucepan. Whisk over low heat until the butter is melted & sugar is dissolved; remove from heat.
- Vigorously whisk in eggs. Whisk constantly over low heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until thickened; strain through a fine sieve.
- Pour into sterilized jar; seal with sterilized lids. Chill for 8 hours or overnight until cold. Use in recipes, dolloped on berries or spread onto hot buttered toast or scones. Makes about 1 1/4 cups.
To make the cake:
- Grease & line 2 x 8-inch deep cake pans with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 325F (160C).
- Whisk eggs in a large bowl. Add milk, melted butter & coconut extract; whisk until well combined. Add flour, sugar & coconut; stir until combined. Divide mixture evenly between each pan. Bake in center of the oven for 1 1/4 hours or until cooked with tested with a skewer. Allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Cakes need to be completely cool before assembling.
To make the buttercream:
- Put butter, confectioner’s sugar & coconut extra in a large bowl of electric mixer. Beat for 10 minutes, scraping down the side of the bowl occasionally, until light & fluffy. Add lemon curd & beat until well combined.
To assemble the cake:
- To assemble the cake – using a long serrated knife, trim the top dome off each cake & discard (or eat) - if there's hardly a dome then you might not want to trim it. Cut each cake in half horizontally using the serrated knife. You will now have 4 cakes. Place the bottom cake on a cake stand or serving plate. Spread with 1/5 of the butter cream mixture. Add another cake & spread with another quantity of buttercream. Repeat layering. Spreading the top layer with buttercream. Spread remaining buttercream around the outside of the cake. Cut into wedges to serve.