Posh looking coconut and white chocolate cakes

The first time I made a coconut cake was when I was baking for a friend who doesn’t like chocolate or fruit cakes and since then I kept baking it again and again because everyone seemed to like it.

I loved the idea of an entirely white dessert. But I wanted to make it look cleaner, more professional and sophisticated, so I thought: why not simply make it smaller?

For 4 cakes (7 cm diameter) you will need:

For the sponge:

50 g butter (room temperature)

80 g powdered sugar

1 tbsp vanilla sugar

1 egg

120 g flour

1 small tsp baking powder

120 ml coconut milk (try to find one with a high coconut extract percentage)

For the filling:
100 g white chocolate

6 tbsp coconut flour

200 ml whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla sugar

2 gelatine sheets

For decoration (optional):

20 g white chocolate

roasted and chopped almonds

In a bowl, beat together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer for about a minute. Add the egg and mix that for another minute. You can do this in a stand mixer or a food processor or anything with a whipping attachment.

 

Sift the flour and baking powder to get rid of any lumps. Then start adding the flour and coconut milk to the mixture, alternating between the two. Once it’s all well mixed together, you can transfer it to a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

 

Bake at 180°C for 15 to 20 minutes.

Let the sponge cool slightly, then transfer it to a cutting board. With a dessert ring cut 8 circles out of your sponge. These will be the bases and tops of the cakes.

To make the filling, you first need to melt the chocolate over a pot of boiling water. Mix it with coconut flour and set aside to cool.

In another bowl, whip the cream with the vanilla sugar (this can be substituted with a teaspoon of regular sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla). When it’s almost firm, add melted gelatine and beat some more.

When the chocolate and coconut flour mixture is completely cooled, you can mix it with the cream. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Now it’s time to assemble the cakes. Start with a layer of sponge, add some filling (about two tbsp), then cover with another layer of sponge. Press it down so the filling distributes itself evenly.

 

Decorate the cakes any way you like. I topped mine with some melted white chocolate and roasted almonds.

Transfer the cakes onto a serving plate and remove the dessert rings. And you’re done!

TIP: For these cakes you WILL need dessert rings. If you don’t have them, however, you can also do this in a form of one larger cake. For a standard size cake, double the quantities all the ingredients and bake the sponge for a little longer (approx. 25-30 min).