Ultra Moist Coconut Cake

A delicious ultra moist coconut cake that’s too good not to share!

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This ultra moist coconut cake is known in Greece as Keik Karydas.  It’s a coconut cake soaked in syrup to create the moistest cake you’ll ever eat. The very center of the cake is so sticky that it’s almost like pudding!

I realize that coconut is either one of those things you love or hate. If you love it, this coconut cake will become a regular on your family table. It has tons of coconut texture, sweet lemon notes and is oh so moist.

Let’s start with the syrup:

This cake is syrup-based. It sounds crazy, but it’s what makes the coconut cake ultra-moist. You’ll want to make the syrup first, so it has plenty of time to cool. Adding a cool syrup to a warm cake gives you the best results for the ultra moist cake.

Ingredients:

• Granulated sugar
• Water
• Lemon juice
• Pure vanilla extract

To make the syrup, combine the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a saucepan and stir together. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat. Add the vanilla, stir the syrup together, and set aside to cool.

Why this will become one of your favorites

• Tender, moist cake
• Pudding like cake center
• Sweet Coconut
• You can make this a day ahead, and it won’t dry out!

The Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 °F, 180 °C. Because this cake is so moist, it’s tough to turn out from a regular cake pan. So, I use a 9 or 10-inch springform pan. The springform pan is usually used for cheesecakes, but I really like using them for this coconut cake because the cake comes out very easily from the pan. If you don’t have a springform pan, you can use a regular cake pan. Just don’t take it out of the pan to serve.

Dry Ingredients

• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder
• Zest of a small lemon
• Sweetened shredded coconut
• Salt

Combine all of the dry ingredients for the cake, except the coconut, in a mixing bowl and whisk together.

Wet ingredients

Your wet ingredients need to be at room temperature when making this ultra-moist coconut cake, so all of the ingredients combine well. If one of your ingredients is cold, it will create lumps of butter instead of creaming it. If something is hot, it will melt the butter and cook the eggs. So, make sure you pull all of your ingredients out at least an hour before.

If you forget to pull something, you can microwave butter for about 15 seconds, put eggs in a bowl of warm water for a couple of minutes, or microwave milk for about 30 seconds.

• Unsalted butter –softened at room temperature
• Granulated sugar
• Eggs –room temperature
• Milk –room temperature
• Pure vanilla extract
• Pure almond extract

In the bowl of a tabletop mixer that has been fitted with the whisk attachment, add the butter, sugar, vanilla, and almond extracts. Beat them until fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time and beat on high speed until fluffy. Then, add the milk and beat on low speed until incorporated. The mixture will look curdled, but don’t worry! Add the dry ingredients in 2-3 batches until just combined, and it will start to look more like a batter.

Then, add the shredded coconut and beat until the coconut is incorporated. Use a spatula to mix the ingredients one final time to make sure there aren’t any clumps of coconut or flour stuck to the bottom of the bowl.

Transfer the cake batter into the prepared pan and place a half sheet baking pan under it. Bake the cake on the center rack of the oven for about 45-55 minutes. Check to make sure it’s done by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean or with some cake crumbs attached, it’s done.

How this ultra moist coconut cake comes together

As I mentioned, you’ll need your cooled syrup with your warm, not hot, cake. Allow the cake to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes, then place a large piece of foil under the pan and up the sides of the pan.

Pour the cool syrup over the cake. All of the syrup will not fit in the pan. As it absorbs into the cake, keep pouring the remaining syrup on top. Set the cake aside at room temperature for 1-2 hours or until all of the syrup has been absorbed.

How to serve…

I think this ultra moist coconut cake tastes best cold. That means it’s a great make-ahead dessert option! Refrigerate it overnight after all of the syrup absorbs.

Pull it out of the refrigerator when you’re ready, and carefully remove the cake from the pan. Place it on a cake pedestal, and top with more shredded coconut. The more, the better! Serve with hot Greek coffee or tea, and enjoy!

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Ultra Moist Coconut Cake

Yield: Serves 10

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Ingredients

For the Syrup:

• 2 and 1/2 cups (580 grams) granulated sugar
• 2 and 1/2 cups water
• juice of half of a lemon
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Cake:

• 1/2 pound (226g)unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (123g) granulated sugar
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup milk, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

The Dry Ingredients for the Cake:

• 2 and 1/2 cups (390g) all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• zest of a small lemon
• 1 and 1/2 cups (174g) sweetened shredded coconut plus about 1 and 1/2 cups more for the topping
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 °F, 180 °C.

Grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan.

Combine all of the dry ingredients for the cake (except for the coconut) in a mixing bowl and whisk together.

Make the Syrup: Combine the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a saucepan and mix together. Bring to a boil and remove from the heat. Add the vanilla, stir the syrup together and set aside to cool.

In the bowl of a tabletop mixer that has been fitted with the whisk attachment add the butter, sugar, vanilla, and almond extracts. Beat them until fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time and beat on high speed until fluffy.

Add the milk and beat on low speed until incorporated. The mixture will curdle. Do not worry about it.

Add the dry ingredients in 2-3 batches until just incorporated.

Add the shredded coconut and beat together until incorporated. Use a spatula to mix the ingredients together one final time.

Transfer the cake batter into the prepared pan and place a half sheet baking pan under it.

Bake the cake on the center rack of the oven for about 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with some crumbs attached.

Allow the cake to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes then place a large piece of foil under the pan and up the sides of the pan.

Pour the syrup over the cake. All of the syrup will not fit in the pan. As it absorbs into the cake, keep pouring the reamaining syrup on top. Set the cake aside at room temperature for 1-2 hours or until all of the syrup has been absorbed. It is best to make the cake and refrigerate it overnight as it tastes better cold.

Carefully remove the cake from the pan and place it on a cake pedestal. Top with more shredded coconut and serve with coffee.

Kali Orexi!

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