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slice of cake on a plate with raspberries in front of the sliced cake on a cake plate

Raspberry Coconut Cake

Soft coconut cake layers, homemade raspberry filling, and coconut frosting make this raspberry coconut cake irresistible.

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 30 minutes
Cooling Time 2 hours
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 10
Author Kelsie

Ingredients

Coconut cake layers

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup cream of coconut*
  • 4 large eggs at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
  • 1 cup whole milk at room temperature

Raspberry filling

  • 2 cups frozen raspberries
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Coconut buttercream

  • 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 4 to 6 tablespoons milk or heavy cream as needed for consistency
  • 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 1/2 to 5 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

Coconut cake layers

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray 3 8-inch round baking pans with cooking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Spray the paper with cooking spray and set pans aside.
  2. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium mixing bowl. Set aside.
  3. Place the butter, sugar, and cream of coconut in a very large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer set to medium speed until fluffy.
  4. Beat in the eggs, vanilla, and coconut extract to combine.
  5. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and add the milk, then beat until well combined. (The batter might look a little curdled at this point; that’s totally fine!)
  6. Turn mixer to low and beat in the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl again and stir with the spatula a few times to ensure all of the flour is mixed in.
  7. Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake for 24 to 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.
  8. Cool cake layers in pans for 20 minutes, then run a knife around the edge of the cake and carefully invert onto wire racks to cool completely before filling and frosting.

Raspberry filling

  1. While cake is in the oven, combine all filling ingredients in a small saucepan set over medium heat.
  2. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, and simmer until mixture is very thick and clings to a wooden spoon. Scrape into a small bowl and refrigerate until cool enough to spread.
  3. If you want to remove the seeds from the filling, do it before you put it in the fridge to chill. Use a rubber spatula to press the filling through a fine mesh sieve; alternate between pressing the filling through the sieve and scraping the bottom of the sieve into a small bowl. (It will be a little time consuming to get all the seeds out. Discard seeds and pop the remainder of the filling in the fridge as directed above.)

Coconut buttercream

  1. Beat butter on medium speed until very smooth. Add 4 tablespoons of milk, the coconut extract, the vanilla extract, and the salt and beat 1 minute more.
  2. With mixer on low, gradually add 4 1/2 cups of powdered sugar; continue beating until combined.
  3. Turn mixer to medium speed and beat until very smooth. If frosting is too thick, add additional milk/cream. If it’s too thin add additional powdered sugar.

Assembly

  1. If your cake layers have domed, use a long serrated knife to trim off the peaks. Place one cake layer on a cake stand or cardboard cake circle.
  2. Spread a thin layer of frosting over the top of the cake layer. Spread half of the raspberry filling on top of that (don’t go all the way to the edge—leave about an inch perimeter around the edge of the cake so the filling doesn’t leak into your final coat of frosting).
  3. (Alternatively, you can pipe a buttercream dam around the edge of the cake layer, then spread the filling inside.)
  4. Top with a second cake layer and repeat with another layer of frosting and the remaining filling. Top with remaining cake layer.
  5. Frost and decorate your cake as desired.
  6. Uneaten cake can be stored in the fridge, covered, for up to 2 days or in the freezer, tightly wrapped, for up to 2 months.

Recipe Notes

  • *NOT coconut cream; they’re very different. I used the brand Coco Lopez for this cake; Coco Real is another good brand. You can find cream of coconut at most liquor stores or with the drink mixers at the grocery store.
  • If the cake batter looks curdled after you mix in the milk, don’t worry—that’s totally fine! The batter will look normal after you mix in the dry ingredients.
  • You can strain the raspberry filling through a fine mesh sieve if you want to remove the seeds. (You’ll just have a little less filling to work with if you do but it’s still enough to fill the cake.)
  • To save yourself a step, you can substitute your favorite raspberry jam for the filling. Use 2 to 3 tablespoons of jam per layer, just enough to spread a generous layer on top of the cake.
  • Because there are quite a few steps in this recipe, I recommend reading the whole thing through a couple of times before starting to bake. See the body of this post for step-by-step photos to help you out!