I've never been much of a cake-baker. My cakes have always ended up resembling something of the Leaning Tower of Piza or a crater in the moon - just ridiculously deformed and extremely creative "works of art" that all the icing and frosting in the world could never make level. I hate to sound like an infomercial but until I found this recipe I thought I was doomed to cookie baking for the rest of my life. This recipe was extremely easy and after reading the reviews I made a note to use only 3/4 c. of sugar since I was using a package of already sweetened coconut. And to avoid any of the grittiness that some of my fellow bakers experienced I made sure to use extra fine granulated sugar (try C&H's Baker's Sugar)- it should melt right in. To ensure that the icing wouldn't be runny I made sure not to overblend the filling and whipped cream and refrigerated the mixture for about half an hour while the cake was cooling. After everything was assembled the result was something actually visually stimulating and although I did an awesomely bad job at splitting the layers the filling does a wonderful job at concealing this fact since the color of the filling blends in with the cake. For once I ended up with a masterpiece that raked in so many compliments it inflated my ego. Thanks Kathy!
Everything that I read about this cake is true - its delicious! The whole family loved it and said that it was one of the best things I'd ever made! The only thing that I changed was to use low-fat whipped topping and I followed the low-fat recipe for the white cake mix. If this is what my low-fat version tastes like...
This cake was so delicious. A definite must for coconut lovers. The frosting was the absolute best. It was really simple to make but looked like it took hours. I especially liked that I was able to make it so far ahead of time. I made it on a Monday night and we had it for Thanksgiving on Thursday.
Try using fresh coconut. Use a corkscrew through the eye (soft spot) on the coconut and empty the coconut milk into a measuring cup. Use this milk as part of the liquid in the cake. To open the coconut hit it with a hammer to crack it. Clean and wash fresh coconut and grate. You can use a food processor to grate the coconut quickly. Use 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the coconut in the cake batter. I used lemon curd (lemon pie filling) between the cake layers. I only used two layers. This can be purchased canned with the pie fillings or you can make your own. For the frosting I only used half a 8 oz. container of whipped topping 1/2 cup sour cream and sugar to taste -- about 1/2 cup. I added about 1 cup of the shredded coconut to the frosting mixture. Toast some coconut to put on top of cake. Freeze leftover coconut in small zip-lock bag for a future project. This is an easy recipe compared to my usual coconut cake and it got rave reviews. Thanks Kathy.
This is one of my very favorite recipes ever - though I like to make it with a butter recipe cake mix. The recipe should state that frozen (or better: fresh!) coconut should be used... I think someone in the reviews used canned (sweetened) coconut - which would be far too sweet.
This is the best coconut cake I have ever tasted! I made it for Thanksgiving last year and my family has requested several since then. As the recipe says it is much better if refrigerated for at least three days. The longer it sits the better it is!!
This recipe is absolutely the easiest and very best coconut cake I have ever prepared served and eaten! I recommend this recipe just as it is printed although the second time I made it I used low-fat sour cream and low-fat Cool Whip and it tasted just as delicious. Kathy is right...it just gets better and better the longer it is refrigerated. I will never use another coconut cake recipe than this one. Thanks Kathy!
Oh besides my last review raving about this cake I forgot to mention that I did use confectioner's sugar and only 1 cup of it sufficed!!! happy baking!
I made the white cake using the "egg white" formula on the box. Made in sheet cake pan then split that once. This left enough icing to put inside with the filling. Couldn't find x-fine sugar as someone suggested so I ran my regular sugar through the mini chopper. I think the longer the cake sits the more the sugar dissolves and becomes less grainy. I did let the mixture sit in fridge before assembly as someone suggested. It was very good and I would make it again. Easter guests loved it.
This was an okay cake. I'm not a huge coconut fan but it was tasty enough. Just wouldn't bother making it again. Coconut lovers might like it much better. I'd give it a 3.75 but that's not an option. It wasn't hard to make and looked nice.
