Recipe: In Case Of Emergency Coconut Cake {Crazy Easy & Made From Stuff You Have on Hand}

Summary: Traditional coconut cakes originated in the American South. The base is a white or angel food cake (no egg yolks) and the real thing uses fresh coconut. If you’re curious, Alton Brown devoted a whole episode of Good Eats to the Coconut Cake (you’ll find the recipe here). As delicious as that sounds, it sounds very, very complicated! I wanted something easier, something good to bring to a BBQ or party. Something that could be made out of stuff I had on hand, in case of a cake emergency! A slab cake is another US inspired concept, a cake that can be easily brought to a pot luck or that event you have to bring something to but didn’t shop for! I think the best things about this cake (other than how delicious it is) is that it’s made from stuff you have on hand and is kept in its baking tray in the fridge. It can be so hard to store cakes in the heat of an Aussie summer and some just don’t like to be put the fridge. As long as your plastic wrap is tight, the coconut cream keeps this nice moist, even after it is cut. Plus it will survive a few hours at room temperature (or a hot car journey) too. Baking it in a Pyrex and pre slicing it, makes for easy transport to events and share with everyone. You can even bake it and frost it a day a ahead. Perfect for any emergency that calls for cake and everyone likes a coconut cake! Also, am I the only one who thinks of the Simpsons clip below whenever coconut cake is mentioned?

This is such a simple recipe because it starts with a packet cake mix, that you probably already have. I tricked it up to taste more home made, as I usually do with box cake mix but omitted the additional vanilla bean paste, so that the vanilla remained muted. I quite like vanilla cake for this because it holds up well when you pour the coconut cream over. You could try angel food cake but I think it might turn to mush. I actually like way the vanilla bolsters the coconut flavours too. The frosting is basic buttercream that really isn’t flavoured, just a balancing touch of lime juice. The icing needs no piping or any fuss at all and if you are messy, the coconut covers it – perfect! I think the flavours balance beautifully but have included coconut essence as an option, if you want a really strong coconut flavour. Everyone here felt like the coconut vibe was strong enough without it. The cake somehow remains quite light while being very moist. There is plenty of icing to go around (you know how I love a load of icing on my cakes!) and the coconut shavings are wonderful – do not be tempted to sub it out for desiccated, you will be sad! It really is a lovely take on a coconut cake. And like all my best recipes, people are already asking when I’ll make it again! Let’s hope we don’t need a cake emergency for that to happen…

Ingredients

1 pkt plain cake mix & whatever that needs to bake (vanilla or butter cake, tricked up if desired)
1 (400g) can coconut cream
250g butter, softened
500g icing sugar
1-2 tblsp lime (or lemon) juice
1/2 tsp coconut essence (optional)
1 1/2 cups coconut flakes

Instructions

Make the cake to the packet directions (or with my hack) and pour into a greased 23 cm x 33cm or 9″ x 13″ pan. Bake as per package directions.
While the cake is baking, pour the coconut cream into a bowl and whisk with a fork until the texture becomes uniform. Set aside.
Remove the cake from the oven when done and leave in the baking pan. Use the fork from step 2 to pierce the entire cake, going right to the botom. The idea is to make lots of little holes for the coconut cream to sink into. Once the cake is uniformly pierced, pour the whole can of coconut cream over the cake and allow cake to cool. Also, take the butter for the icing out of the fridge now, so it has time to soften.
Once the cake is cooled or after 1 hour or so, we can get to icing. If the cake still warm on the bottom after 1 hour, throw it into the fridge uncovered, to finish cooling while you make the icing.
Add the butter to the bowl of a stand mixer (or use electric beaters) to beat the butter a little. Continue to beat, adding the icing sugar in batches. Add in the he coconut essence (if using) and 1 tblsp of lime juice and beat. If the icing is not coming together and is too dry, add another tablespoon of lime juice. Beat until light, fluffy and any gritty texture has disappeared, about 10 mins.
Use a spatula to drop globs of icing over the cake, this helps with spreading it out. Then use a spatula to smooth the icing evenly over the cake and sprinkle generously with the coconut.
For best results, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before cutting but allow the cake to sit at room temperature for 10 mins or so before serving. I made 12 generous squares from mine but you can certainly cut whatever size suits.