Almond Coconut Cake is a delicious blend of almond, coconut, white chocolate and lemon flavors. Almond sponge cake and white chocolate coconut filling with a hint of lemon topped with Raffaello candies and desiccated coconut.
Almond Coconut Cake
To be honest I really had doubts when I should give a name for this recipe. An original recipe that was my starting points was Raffaello cake. Although the cake is really beautiful and delicious I can’t say that it tastes like Ferrero Raffaello confectiones. It has moist and soft almond sponge made with browned butter.
The filling is made with white chocolate, coconut milk, cream and Greek yogurt, but it also has a hint of lemon flavor thanks to freshly squeezed lemon juice added into melted chocolate. It’s coated with thick layer of desiccated coconut. In the end it is the perfect combination of all these flavors. I made several changes from original recipe. I skipped grated lemon zest in the filling, because I thought it will be overpowering, and I was right (I’m not a fun of lemon in my cakes )
Perhaps I’m a little late to sharing this recipe with you as it would be perfect white dessert for Christmas or New Year but as they say, better late than never. Actually I made this lovely Almond coconut cake as a surprise for my husband to serve it after New Year’s dinner. He is a huge fan of Ferrero Raffaello confectiones.
If you want to see a smile on his face just give him a box of Raffaello, and he will literally devour them in no time. I know that homemade cake would not be able to create that unique combo of crispy shell filled with milk cream and blanched almond, covered with flakes of coconut that my husband simply adores, but I was willing to try anyway.
Almond sponge was just a breeze to make, but the filling gave me a headache. First of all it takes much more time to make than I thought because I had to wait for hours to chill it. I got stuck late into the night in my kitchen because I started to make a cake in the evening.
And second, the filling was so thin and runny even after it was cooled so I almost gave up and throw it in the sink. But around two in the morning I decided to pour the filling mixture over the cake layers because the cake is making in the mold anyway, and went to sleep.
All night I turned in bed and could not wait for morning to see what happened. I thought that I would just find a huge mess in the fridge. I thought the filling will never thicken enough. It would be such a shame, I am food blogger so we have desserts all year round and now we will celebrate New Year’s Eve without dessert!!! My husband will not stop joking at my account until next year. I waited for the morning with the same anxiety as a child when waiting to finds a gift from Santa Claus under the Christmas tree.
But this Almond coconut cake was the best surprise. When I remove the cake from the mold it was the most beautiful cake I have ever made. The filing was so smooth, thick and luscious. I was relieved and I can’t describe you how happy and pleased was my husband when he tried his dessert.
Almond Coconut Cake
Prep Time: 35 minutes- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Ameerican
Description
Almond Coconut Cake is a delicious blend of almond, coconut, white chocolate and lemon flavors. Almond sponge cake and white chocolate coconut filling with a hint of lemon topped with Raffaello candies and desiccated coconut.
Ingredients
For almond sponge:
- 7 large egg whites
- 1 and 3/4 cups ( 225 g) powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon (125 g) unsalted butter
- 3.5 oz (100g) toasted almonds-ground
- 1 cup (100g) sifted cake flour
- A pinch of salt
Filling:
- 14 oz. (390 g) white chocolate-chopped
- 1 and 1/3 cups Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon gelatin dissolved in 3 tablespoon cool water
- 2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
For decoration:
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoon powdered sugar(or more to taste)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 8–10 Raffaello pralines
- Shredded/Grated coconut (approximately 1 cup)
Instructions
The cake should be made a day ahead because it has to chill overnight in the fridge before you will be able to assemble it completely!!!
To make the almond sponge:
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and line two baking trays with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a small saucepan heat the butter until lightly browned, then let it cool completely.
- Mix the egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Gradually add powdered sugar and mix until combine. Mix in cooled browned butter. Gently stir in ground almond and flour.
- Divide the mixture on the two baking trays forming a thin layers (10 x 14 inch each).Bake for 15-16 minutes (until light golden)
- Let the almond sponge cool, then cut 2 circles from each layer. You should cut out one 7 inch round layer (that will be the base layer) and three 6 inch round layers.
- You can cut the leftover sponge into small rectangles and oven-dry them to make tasty breakfast biscotti.
To make the filling:
- Dissolve the gelatin in cold water.
- In a small saucepan heat the coconut milk and heavy cream until it boils. Remove from the heat and let it cool for a few minutes, then add chopped white chocolate and stir until it has melted completely. Add the dissolved gelatin and stir until it’ melted completely through the heat of the coconut milk and chocolate. Finally, stir in lemon juice and let it all cool to room temperature (it will take some time to cool the chocolate and milk mixture to room temperature, about an hour and you should stir it periodically)
- Add the Greek yogurt and put it in the fridge for a few minutes to thicken. NOTES: When you combine the chocolate mixture and yogurt and set it in the fridge for 10-15 minutes it will seems chilled but it will still be thin and runny!!! Don’t worry it will thicken overnight while the cake is in the mold and placed in the fridge!!!
To assemble the cake:
You’ll need ring from springform pan or pastry ring (it should be 7 inch in diameter and 3.5 -4 inch tall)!!!
- Place the 7 inch layer of sponge in a spring form and pour 1/4 of the filling. Continue with 6 inch sponge and pour 1/4 filling on each. Place the cake in the fridge overnight (or at least for 5-6 hours)
- Beat 1/3 cup heavy cream with 1 teaspoon vanilla and powdered sugar to taste, until stiff peaks form. Spread the cream on top of the cake then gently remove the cake from the mold and decorate the side and top with coconut, garnish the top with Raffaello candies.
- Store in the fridge.
21 comments
This cake looks amazing !!!!!! However, I am deathly allergic to anything citrus. Is it necessary to add the lemon juice to this recipe? Could I substitute anything else for the lemon juice? Thanks…Judy
★★★★★
Hi Judy, you can skip the lemon juice, add about 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract.
I will try this for my bday this week. Where do I get gelatin to buy? I wish you had posted a picture of the filling texture .By the way this cake looks absolutely scrumptious and moist. Can’t wait to try it.
★★★★★
I’m a sucker for coconut. This looks amazing!
I made this recipe and really have quite a few critiques. If you plan on trying this, take heed and read this:
1. First of all, be prepared, this will be a very small cake if you follow the instructions. Regardless, I think the batter should have been doubled to get decent thickness for the layers. I followed her instructions to the letter and the layers were so thin. They were almost like crackers when I pulled them out of the oven, not at all sponge-like. I had two spring form pans that were both too big. A 7-inch springform is not the standard size. Its really small. So, my solution was to cut the layers into rectangles (I ended up with 6) and put them in a loaf pan. If you go this route, a handy tip is to cut a piece of parchment and line it across the pan with the edges overhanging. That way you can easily lift it out of the pan.
2. I think the toasted ground almond is a very strong flavor for such a light cake. I wasn’t quite sure I liked that flavor. If you toast the almonds (and I would very lightly, barely toast them), I would also toast the coconut that gets put on at the end. I think this would carry that toasted flavor better throughout the cake. An alternative would be to not toast the almonds and just ground them as is, especially if you’re not going to toast the coconut.
3. I tripled the whipped cream frosting part of the recipe. I wanted my entire cake covered with the whipped cream.
4. Beware, the Rafaello’s were impossible to find. I tried 6 different stores: grocery, Italian markets, and even a chocolate shop. The owner at the chocolate shop which has candy from all over the world said that the company that producer has had some production problems and that may be why they’re so hard to find.
5. My last critique is for the author of this recipe. Please proof read your recipes before posting them. They are so many typos and I think that’s really unprofessional when you’re have your own blog. Proofread!
6. I will say, that the taste of this recipe was good. My crowd enjoyed it. I’m very critical of my baking (and I suppose other’s as well). At one point, I was ready to throw the layers away after they came out of the oven. I’m determined and don’t let a recipe get the better of me. So, I persisted and had to make some adjustments. My point is, you should’t have to do that in a recipe unless it’s by personal choice.
★★
Dear Simone,
Take that stuck up stick out of your ass. If you don’t like the recipe.. well nobody cares. Maybe you are just not a good baker? And as for criticizing someone else’s spelling…. perhaps you should also proof read your own before posting?
Example:
5. My last critique is for the author of this recipe. Please proof read your recipes before posting them. They are(THEY ARE?) so many typos and I think that’s really unprofessional when you’re have (YOU ARE HAVE..??lol) your own blog. Proofread, Simone, Proofread!
Couldn’t agree more with Tanika! Go take your negativity some place else. You obviously have nothing to do with yourself if you’re sitting here, criticizing people about their recipes and spelling. Get over yourself.
Thank you for the feedback, Simone. I was hoping to make this for a party I will be attending in three days. Do you think it would be better to make the layers in a traditional 9 inch round cake pan and then slice them in half to form two layers vs. baking in a 10×14 and cutting circles from the sheet? Did you use parchment to bake them in the 10×14? I’m an experienced baker, however, not with sponge cakes.
Jan did you make this cake? And how did it turned out? Are the layers too thin as the previous comments?
Jan, sorry for the late response. I just saw your post. If you haven’t made this yet, I think that’s a good idea to make them in a round pan, but I’m not sure how easily you’ll be able to cut them in half. If you try it that way, I would definitely double the batter recipe so you can make thick enough layers to slice through them. I did use parchment and the parchment was stuck to the layers. I think I forgot to mention how it took me forever to peel the parchment off and it kept tearing. I would still use parchment but maybe spray it with cooking spray. Hope this helps. I’m interested to see how yours turned out.
Your picture shows the thick layer of frosting on the outside edge of the cake, it is not the whipped cream. It is definitely the same as the filling material. There are no directions for this. How was that accomplished?
Hi Janet you should place the ring of springform pan or pastry ring around the bottom layer, it has larger diametar than other three cake layer so the frosting will fill the edges.
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For the filling – is the coconut milk canned or carton? They are so different.
Also, do you think the recipe would turned out substituting dairy free yogurt and using cream of coconut (cream layer of canned coconut milk) for the heavy cream?
Hi Maria, I used canned coconut milk. I don,t know about the substituting, I haven’t tried, sorry.
It didn’t say to peel almonds, but when we put them in mix, the mix was darker than expected
If I do not prefer to use gelatin, What you offer to use instead
I just made this recipe yesterday (even not winter season yet lol) as I saved it months ago and simply haven’t made it yet.
The part of the bread was beautifully fluffy before put it into the oven, once outside not too sponge consistency but more compact; I liked the taste of it itself.
Regarding the filling, I followed the instructions, added as indicated and next day it was with a nice consistency and no runny at all however I must say making half of the indicated portions would have been enough as I had about half of it as leftover (I’ll try to recicle that filling with some fruit tarts or something similar haha) and for my personal taste it was too sweet with that amount of white chocolate. I thought the lemon juice would neutralize more than it actually did. Something you could consider if you don’t like too much sweetness in your desserts. But I would never knew if I wouldn’t try it, right?
As far from previous comments regarding the size being small, well, that’s true but honestly that’s something you can realize after reading the whole recipe (before making it) and looking at the size of suggested circles 😀.
Looks delicious! The photo drew me in immediately. ALWAYS read recipe directions completely before making. I plan on making sometime.
This cake is very delicious (although I did change the sponge from almond to chocolate, through cocoa powder), but Simone’s comments are good to follow…the cream on top for example really does need to be double. I made the filling outside the form and then assembled and had it in the fridge some more and it worked well. I did this because I wasn’t entirely sure it would work the way the recipe is written. For instance, would the layers not fall to the ground as they are quite thin? Either way it worked 🙂 I also added red currant on top to contrast the extreme sweetness of the cake.