Happy Mother’s Day! Normally, the whole family comes over, we sit on the back patio with our drinks and appetizers, and the kids (and adult kids) kick the soccer ball around and throw the Frisbee. The men are all responsible for meal prep, serving, and clean-up…with one exception…dessert—usually something rich and chocolaty. I just can’t seem to give up control over dessert! 😉
This year, however, went a bit different. The whole family still came over, kids and adults still played, the men still did the meal, and I still did dessert. The two exceptions this time? First was the snow!!! I know, right?!?!? Snow on Mother’s Day—who knew? The second was the rich chocolate. This year I thought I’d try to usher in a bit more of the warm weather with a sweeter/lighter flavored dessert.
I actually made this cake a few weeks ago for one of my best friend’s birthday party, and it was a huge hit. It was so scrumptious, and we all liked it so much that I knew I had to have it again—soon! The lemon, raspberry, and coconut are such a great compliment to one another, and they scream warmer weather to me!
The original recipe for the cake is truly not vegan, and I had a bit of a time making the changes—the original pictures show the cake as a four layer cake. My cakes didn’t rise near enough to slice into layers, so I stuck with a simple two layer cake…but they’re a great two layers! When the cakes come out of the oven, they look a bit airy (I don’t know another way to describe it), but given time to cool, they hold up nicely. If you want to shoot for a true multi-layer cake, I’d suggest my vegan vanilla cake.
When you make your layers, and you spread the preserves on the bottom layer, pipe some frosting around the edge of your cake and then over the top of the preserves. After spreading the preserves on the cake, you won’t be able to spread the frosting without it sliding all around. Once you put your second layer on, frost away! Don’t worry about making it all smooth and pretty—you’re coating the cake with toasted coconut! I started out trying to make sure my frosting was smooth on top and all around…until I realized that it was going to be covered! 🙂
Raspberry Lemon Coconut Cake
adapted from Not So Humble Pie
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 ½ tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup almond milk, room temperature
1 tablespoon vinegar
½ cup applesauce
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
Zest of two lemons
1 stick Earth Balance butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract
Lemon Buttercream
6-8 cups powdered sugar
4 sticks Earth Balance butter at room temperature
½ cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup raspberry preserves (strained for seeds, if desired)
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
Directions:
Pre-heat your oven to 350°F. Coat two 8″ or 9″ pans with butter or nonstick spray and line the bottoms with a circle of parchment. In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In a second small bowl, combine the almond milk and vinegar and set aside. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add in the applesauce. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the sugar and lemon zest and mix for a minute on medium speed until fragrant. Add the butter and cream together on medium speed for 4-5 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the lemon extract and then grab your bowl of flour and almond milk/applesauce. Reduce the mixer’s speed to slow and add 1/3rd of the flour. Once moistened, increase the speed to medium and mix until incorporated. Then add 1/2 the almond milk mixture and beat until the mixture is uniform. Repeat with the remaining flour and almond milk, alternating until you’ve finished with the last 1/3rd of the flour. Mix the batter for a further 2 minutes to ensure it is lump free and well aerated. Divide the batter evenly between your baking pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
Place the cakes on wire racks to cool. After a five minutes, run a knife around the outside of the pan to release the cake and remove from the pans. Allow to cool right side up until room temperature.
To make the buttercream:
Place the butter in the bowl of your mixer and mix for several minutes on medium speed. Decrease the speed, and slowly begin adding powdered sugar, one cup at a time. As the butter and powdered sugar begins to thicken, slowly pour in some of the lemon juice, ¼-1/2 cup. Beat for 3 minutes, adding more powdered sugar to stiffen the frosting or more lemon juice to thin.
To assemble the cake:
Place the bottom layer onto a cake plate and tuck strips of parchment paper under the cake to protect the plate while frosting. Spread the raspberry preserves onto the bottom layer of the cake and then a layer of buttercream. The trick to layering buttercream on top of a slippery layer of preserves is to put your buttercream into a disposable piping bag (or ziplock bag) and cut off a 1/3″ diameter opening. Starting in the center of the layer, pipe a coil of buttercream. Continue to coil tightly, round and round until you have an even layer of icing on top. No need to spread the frosting with a spatula using this method. Top with the second layer of cake and then crumb coat the cake with a thin layer of icing. Chill the cake until the icing is firm and then frost the cake with the remaining butter cream. Smooth the remaining buttercream over the cake with an offset spatula until it is level and smooth. Sprinkle the coconut over the top of the cake and coat the sides by gently pouring the coconut between your hand and the cake. The cake is best eaten the day it is made. If you need to store it, refrigerate it covered for up to two days, allowing plenty of time to bring it back to room temperature before serving.
In all truth, I had wanted to share this recipe before Mother’s Day so that others could enjoy the scrumptiousness too…but…you know how life goes? Sometimes things just don’t work in your favor!
So do you have a special treat that you whipped up for Mother’s Day? I’m always looking for something new! 😉
It's Truly Scrumptious! 