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Strawberry Coconut Cake

Strawberry Coconut Cake! This elegant cake features layers of chocolate cake filled with rich coconut crème, strawberries & chocolate ganache.
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American, French
Servings: 8 servings
Author: The Kitchen Prep

Ingredients

For Cake

  • 4 eggs separated
  • 1 cup confectioner's sugar
  • ⅔ cup flour
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1.75 ounces Lindt Excellence 70% Cocoa Bar melted
  • 3½ tablespoons butter melted
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon almond extract

For Simple Syrup:

  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 6 tablespoons water

For Coconut Crème

  • 1 pint strawberries washed and cleaned, tops cut off
  • 1¼ ounces granulated gelatin
  • 1¼ cup unsweetened coconut milk
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • ⅓ cup sugar

For Ganache

  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 3.5 oz Lindt Excellence 70% Cocoa Bar
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon sour cream

Instructions

Make cake

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray an 8" springform pan with non-stick cooking spray.
  • In a mixer, combine egg yolks and powdered sugar and whip until creamy.
  • Meanwhile, sift the flour and cocoa together in a small bowl. Slowly add flour mixture to the yolk mixture until just combined.
  • Fold in the melted butter and melted chocolate.
  • In a clean bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff. Carefully fold ⅓ of the whipped egg whites into the batter. Fold in the remaining egg whites. (The batter will be thick.)
  • Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan and bake approximately 25 minutes -- once the edges start to pull away & the cake springs back when touched lightly, it's ready.
  • Once baked, remove from springform pan and cool completely.

Make Simple Syrup

  • In a saucepan, combine ½ cup sugar with 6 tablespoons of water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Pour half of syrup into a small bowl and set aside for later use. Stir vanilla & almond extracts into remaining half of syrup.

Make Coconut Creme

  • Heat 4 tablespoons of the coconut milk in a heatproof bowl until warm (about 30-45 seconds in microwave). Sprinkle the granulated gelatin over the coconut milk and do not stir. After 5 minutes, whisk until completely dissolved.
  • Warm the remaining coconut milk, and stir in the gelatin. Cool.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip heavy cream until until stiff, then slowly add the sugar. Fold whipped cream into cooled coconut milk. Set aside.

Cake Assembly

  • Cut the cooled cake in half horizontally. Spoon or brush the syrup equally onto both cut halves of the cake. Place half of the cake into the clean springform pan.
  • Halve enough strawberries (vertically through the stem) to go around the perimeter of the pan. Place the strawberries along the edge of the springform pan with the cut side facing out, touching the walls of the pan. (You will want to use like-sized strawberries for this part for a uniform look).
  • Slice the remaining strawberries and arrange along cake bottom. (If desired, set aside a few strawberries to decorate the top of the cake.)
  • Carefully pour the coconut créme over the strawberries in the springform pan, making sure to cover strawberry tops and smooth out evenly. Place the second half of the cake on top and very lightly press down.
  • Place in the refrigerator for minimum of 1 hour.

Make Ganache

  • Bring the heavy cream to a slight simmer, remove from heat and stir in the butter and chocolate and let the mixture cool down.
  • Stir remaining simple syrup into the chocolate. Stir in tablespoon of sour cream. Pour evenly over the torte.
  • Return to the refrigerator and cool for minimum 2 hours.
  • To Serve: Carefully run a knife along the edge of the pan. (Take care not to displace strawberries) Release the springform and carefully remove. Transfer the torte to a serving plate or cake stand.