The most AMAZING Coconut Cake with layers of soft coconut cake, pineapple filling, and topped with coconut cream cheese frosting. The assembled cake is somewhat of a masterpiece, and could be one of my favorite cakes of all time!
I’ve reached food nerd status by how happy this Coconut Cake makes me. It’s incredible! Dare I say it–it’s on the same level as my Mom’s ridiculously amazing German Chocolate Cake. It’s that good.
The cake is incredibly moist (I hate that word, but it must be used here), and not overly sweet, which I really love because it blends so well with the flavors from the pineapple filling and frosting, without any one element being too sweet. Also, you can make the cake, filling and frosting in advance.
Ingredients
For the Coconut Cake:
▢2 cups all-purpose flour
▢1 Tablespoon baking powder
▢1 teaspoon salt
▢1/2 cup unsalted butter , room temperature
▢2 cups granulated sugar
▢13.5 ounces canned unsweetened coconut milk , divided
▢1 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract
▢5 large egg whites
For the Pineapple Filling:
▢20 ounce can crushed pineapple
▢2/3 cup granulated sugar
▢2 Tablespoons cornstarch
For the Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting:
▢1/2 cup butter , room temperature
▢8 ounces cream cheese , room temperature
▢4-5 cups powdered sugar
▢1 – 2 Tablespoons leftover coconut milk , regular milk
▢1 cup shredded sweetened coconut