Strawberry Coconut Cake

Pink is a girl’s all-time favorite, so for her 4th Birthday, my cute little daughter asked for a glorious Pink cake for the celebration! Strawberry immediately popped up in my mind for the color, but the flavor blend? I mean enough of the simple chocolate or vanilla cakes, so it thought and thought….Tried experimenting with different flavors and ingredients, but what struck me most was the strawberry and coconut flavor blend, and guess what! It turned out to be the most flavorful and exciting combination. The cake became the show’s star, so I thought, why not add it to my recipe collection?

You don’t need a lot of baking expertise, fancy ingredients, or a lot of tools to bake this cake. I even once made it out of the box mix with fresh strawberries and grated coconut. It’s a simple dessert fix for any birthday party, summer festivities, evening tea or as the best wedding cake flavor for every seasons. Try making the same recipe in cupcake molds to prepare Strawberry Cupcakes.

Why would you like this Strawberry Coconut Cake?

• This cake is an easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy recipe. Anyone can prepare it, and the result! A super soft, moist, and fluffy cake.
• You can make it keto-friendly by adding almond flour.
• The recipe can be tailored according to vegans by omitting eggs, using gelatin, and almond or coconut milk.
• Use artificial sweeteners like xylitol, erythritol, or xanthan gum to make it a low-calorie cake.
• Strawberry coconut cake is all about color, sprinkles, and celebration, so bake it for any birthday party, Festivities, tea party, etc. 

Ingredients For Strawberry Coconut Cake

For cake sponge

• 500 g strawberries
• 2 cups All purpose Flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 ½ cup Sugar
• ¾ cup Butter (at room temperature)
• ¾ cup Whole Milk
• 3 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Vanilla essence
• Pink food color (one pinch)

For Frosting

• 2 cup Whipping Cream
• 1 cup Cream Cheese
• 4 tbsp powdered sugar
• 1 ½ cups shredded coconut
• 2 tbsp Vanilla sugar
• Pink food color

Ingredient Notes

Strawberries: Fresh is best so while it’s the strawberry season, stock up on this gooey red goodness to bake this yummy cake. The sweet and tangy flavor blends well with the sweetness of coconut. But no troubles if you are baking it off-season. You can use canned or frozen strawberries, but I always prefer the taste of fresh ones.

All-purpose flour: Flour is what gives the cake its main texture and structure. Make sure to pass it through a sieve before adding it to the cake mixture to remove the impurities and lumps.

Sugar: Sugar balances the tang of strawberries and the tropical flavor of coconut with its sweetness. I prefer to use powdered sugar because it easily blends with wet ingredients. The powdered one especially works well in frosting.

Butter: Keep butter at room temperature for a while before using it. This will soften it. Butter gives the cake sponge a soft and fluffy texture.

Milk: For the best taste, use whole milk which has a thicker consistency because of its cream content.

Pink food color: This is to make the color of the cake the favorite Pink shade of girls. Although Do use only a pinch of it for the sponge and frosting.

Cream Cheese: Cream cheese makes the base for the frosting. It is easy to create the fluff by blending in some whipping cream.

Shredded Coconut: Here comes our star ingredient. Use it to make frosting so that it sits on the top of the cake.

Vanilla sugar: Just like vanilla essence, Vanilla sugar adds a nice flavor to the frosting.

Coconut milk cream: It thickens the consistency of the frosting and adds more flavor to it.

Tips to make the Strawberry Coconut cake:

• Since we have started using gadgets, we all tend to mix our cake batters with electric hand beaters, but this does not make it fluff much. If you want a soft, spongy, and fluffy cake, do mix all the dry ingredients and fold them gently into the well-mixed wet ingredients.
• You can make this as a layered cake, but be sure to bake each layer in a separate baking tin, so that all layers bake evenly.
• Slice some fresh strawberries and place them between the layers for an extra fruity flavor.
• Allow the cake to thoroughly cool down before you set the frosting or cut its slices. Setting up frosting on a hot cake might make the whipping cream go runny.

How to make the Strawberry Coconut Cake?

Step one: Make Strawberry Puree

Wash and clean the strawberries. Place them in a blender and process until it forms a smooth puree. 

Pour it into a nonstick pan and cook until it reaches a thicker consistency.

Step two: Prepare the Cake mix

In a mixing bowl, place butter sticks and beat with the help of an electric beater. Add sugar and cream it again until thoroughly mixed.

Add eggs to the mixture one by one and keep beating in between so that the eggs get well incorporated. Add vanilla extract. The texture of the mixture will now resemble a dough.

Mix Plain flour and baking powder separately in a mixing cup and add to the egg mixture. Beat well until incorporated.

Add milk and beat again. When the mixture becomes a thick liquid, add strawberry puree and pink food color and beat again.

Step 3: Baking

Pour the mixture into 2 separate lined baking tins. Bake both tins at the same time at 180 C for thirty mins.

After 20 minutes, check with the help of a toothpick whether the cake sponges are done or not. Bake for another 5 to 10 minutes if the toothpick appears wet.

Step 4: Preparing the frosting

As the cake sponge bakes, take shredded coconut and mix in a drop of pink food coloring.

In a mixing bowl, add cream cheese and vanilla sugar and whisk for two minutes. Add whipping cream, coconut milk cream, and powdered sugar, and whisk again until it becomes fluffy.

Step 5: Setting the cake

Allow the layers to cool thoroughly before setting the frosting. Soak the layers with coconut milk.

Spread whipping cream on the first layer thoroughly. If you wish, add a layer of sliced fresh strawberries as well.

Place the second layer at the top of the cream layer. Cover the entire cake with the whipping cream. Cover the sides with the shredded pink coconut.

Allow the cake to set in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Pour cream into a piping bag and set the nozzle to create a design on the cake top. Use coconut chocolates, fresh strawberries, and whipping cream to decorate.

How to store the Strawberry Coconut Cake?

• Store any leftovers in an airtight flat container and place them in the refrigerator. It can last for 2 to 4 days.
• Do not allow the cake to sit at room temperature for a long time as whipping cream may start to melt and may become sour.
• Consume the leftovers as soon as possible, because the cake does not remain fresh for long even in the refrigerator. The sponge may get soggy and the whipped cream can get runny.

How to Freeze the Strawberry Coconut Cake

• Freezing is not at all recommended because after thawing, the cake might crumble down or get soggy. And the whipped cream may lose its fluff and texture.

Alternative Ingredients you may try for Variation

• If you do not have fresh strawberries, replace them with any seasonal fruit such as blueberries, blackberries, cherries, or even Pineapple. Pineapple with coconut gives a real tropical flavor.
• While adding whipping cream in the layers, add freshly sliced mixed fruit or roasted and chopped nuts such as hazelnuts, pecans, peanuts, etc.
• Replace All-purpose flour with almond flour or hazelnut meal. This will make the cake gluten-free, low-calorie, and keto-friendly. Alternatively, you can check our favorite gluten-free dessert ideas.
• Replace whole milk with coconut milk, almond milk, or soy milk to make the cake vegan and reduce the total amount of calories.
• Eggs can be replaced with Flaxseed meals to make the cake sponge the same texture but vegan-friendly.
• If you do not want to use white sugar, you can use Plant-based sugar Stevia, which is a low-calorie alternative. Artificial sweeteners such as xylitol, erythritol, etc serve the same purpose.

Recipe alternatives

• Strawberry Cupcakes
• Easy Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls
• Margarita Cupcakes
• Apple cinnamon caramel cake
• Raspberry Cakes
• Orange Strawberry Cake
• Strawberry country cake
• Strawberry Buttermilk skillet shortcake
• Coconut and Mango Sponge Cake

Frequently Asked Questions

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4.50 from 2 votes

Best Strawberry Coconut Cake

You don't need a lot of baking expertise, fancy ingredients, or a lot of tools to bake this cake. I even once made it out of the box mix with fresh strawberries and grated coconut.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, French, Italian

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

Author Adalynn Ward

Servings 4 persons

Calories 330kcal

Ingredients

For cake sponge

• 500 g strawberries
• 2 cups All purpose Flour
• 3 eggs
• 1½ cups Sugar
• ¾ cup Butter (at room temperature)
• ¾ cup Whole Milk
• 3 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Vanilla essence
• Pink food color (one pinch)

For Frosting

• 2 cups Whipping Cream
• 1 cup Cream Cheese
• 4 tbsp powdered sugar
• 1½ cups shredded coconut
• 2 tbsp Vanilla sugar
• Pink food color

Instructions

For sponge

• Blend strawberries in a food processor to make a puree. Pour it into a saucepan and thicken it over medium heat.
• In a mixing bowl, add butter and sugar and beat with an electric beater. Add eggs one by one and keep beating.
• Add plain flour, vanilla essence, and baking powder and beat again.
• Pour milk and strawberry puree and beat until the mixture becomes a thick liquid. Add pink food coloring and mix.
• Grease 2 baking tins and pour the prepared mixture. Bake at 180C for 30 minutes or until fully baked.
• Allow the baked cakes to fully cool down before setting up the frosting.

For frosting

• Mix pink foodcoloring in shredded coconut and set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, add cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla sugar, coconut milk cream, and whipping cream and beat until light and fluffy. 
• Soak one layer with coconut milk and spread frosting. Place the 2nd sponge over its top. Cover the entire cake with frosting and shredded coconut.
• Decorate with whipped cream, sliced strawberries, and coconut chocolate.
• Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cake | Calories: 330kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 200mg | Sugar: 27g