This delicious Lemon Coconut Cake has a velvety soft texture and wonderful flavor!
Soft lemon cake layers are glazed with luscious lemon curd and filled and frosted with whipped coconut cream cheese frosting in this delicious recipe.
We love this combination of flavors and actually have a scratch version of Lemon Coconut Cake in our Recipes Section as well!
Lemon Coconut Cake Mix Recipe
You can find the full, printable cake recipe further down in this post. Here is a quick rundown of our steps! **Note: Ignore the instructions on your box of cake mix ;0)
- Preheat: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Prepare the Pans: Grease and flour three 8x2 round cake pans. We like to line the bottom with parchment also.
- Dry Ingredients: In the bowl of your mixer, combine the dry ingredients: white cake mix, cake flour, sugar, and salt. Mix to combine.
- Milk & Lemon Mixture: Next, Add lemon juice, lemon extract, and lemon zest to the 1 ¼ cup milk (It will turn to a buttermilk consistency).
- Add Remaining Ingredients: Add eggs, cream cheese, vegetable oil, and milk/lemon mixture to the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl.
- Mixing: Mix on medium speed with an electric mixer (we used a stand mixer with paddle attachment) for 2 minutes. You can stop at the halfway point to scrape the sides of the bowl down with a rubber spatula if needed).
- Fill the Pans: Divide the cake batter between the three prepared 8 inch cake pans. Bake at 325 for 22-25 minutes. Baking times may vary, check with a toothpick or wooden skewer for doneness- if it comes out with no crumbs or just a few attached, they are ready.
- Cool the Layers: Cool the freshly baked cake layers in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes before turning out.
Why is there Cream Cheese in the Cake Batter?
Although many of our scratch cake recipes now have cream cheese as an ingredient in the cake batter, this is our first cake mix recipe that we've tried it with!
Cream cheese not only adds to the richness of the cake, but it does something magical to the texture as well ;0)
The additional fat in cream cheese as well as the boost of acidity (which softens gluten) are likely the reason for this. The cake layers are soft and have a wonderful velvety texture- if you haven't tried it, you must!
Scratch Cake Recipes that use Cream Cheese in the Batter
Here are just a few of our popular scratch recipes that contain cream cheese in the cake batter as well! Many of them are referred to as "Velvet Cakes" for their velvety texture.
Lemon Velvet Cake, White Velvet Cake, Chocolate Velvet Cake, and Vanilla Velvet Cake are just a few favorites.
There are many more! I'm sure that we will be making several more cake mix variations as well! ;0)
What Does an Extra Egg do to a Cake Mix?
Most cake mixes, including the cake mix that we used in our recipe, call for 3 eggs.
Adding an additional egg not only adds richness, but also makes it ever so slightly more dense (in a "from-scratch" way), and it also results in a finer crumb.
How to Make Lemon Curd Filling
Lemon lovers will fall in love this this flavorful lemon curd filling! This is our go-to lemon filling- it is easy to make and so delicious.
Because our cake layers have a light lemon flavor, the lemon curd filling gives it a wonderful lemony boost of flavor.
Here are the steps, but you can find the full recipe further down in this post!
- First, Combine sugar, cornstarch and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly, until mixture thickens.
- Boil, stirring, for 1 minute more.. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Spoon about ½ cup of the hot mixture into a small bowl with egg yolks and stir quickly until combined. Continue stirring, while pouring the egg mixture back into the saucepan.
- Return pan to medium heat and cook, stirring, until the curd is thickened and lemon colored (1-2 min). Remove from heat and mix in the butter, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
- Let the lemon curd cool, then press plastic wrap onto the surface, this will prevent a skin from forming on the top. It will cool more quickly if you pour into a shallow baking dish like a 9x12 casserole dish, etc.
- Refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the cake. It should be cool when assembling the lemon coconut cake.
What Frosting is good for Lemon Coconut Cake?
We used a light and delicious whipped coconut cream cheese frosting as a filling (along with the lemon curd) and as a frosting for our cake.
You could have also used a coconut cream cheese frosting (not whipped) or a coconut buttercream frosting (add 1 teaspoon coconut extract to our Classic Vanilla Buttercream recipe).
However, we wanted to go with something nice and light! The consistency of whipped coconut cream cheese frosting is much like whipped cream, but with a bit more stability.
It also has a hint of tanginess from the sweetened, softened cream cheese folded into it.
Assembling the Lemon Coconut Cake
Place the first lemon cake layer on the cake plate or pedestal.
Pipe a dam of the whipped cream cheese frosting around the edge of the cake layer (about ¼ inch to ½ inch from the edge).
Fill with a layer of lemon curd, followed by a layer of whipped coconut cream cheese frosting. (I applied the dam as well as the filling with a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away.)
As you can see, I piped a spiral of the cream filling on top of the lemon curd, and then lightly spread it with an offset spatula.
This is much easier than trying to spread frosting on top of the very soft lemon curd filling.
Repeat for the second cake layer, and then top with the third cake layer. Fill in any gaps between the cake layers with additional frosting.
Frost the cake with a layer of the coconut whipped cream cheese frosting. Then, press coconut all over the sides and top of the cake.
We had some leftover frosting which we used to pipe stars around the top edge of the cake with a french tip, and then we topped with small lemon wedges.
More Lemon Cake Recipes
We LOVE lemon desserts and have made many lemon cake recipes over the years!
I'm going to list a few of our favorites below (including another doctored lemon cake mix recipe), but you can find our full roundup of popular lemon cake recipes here: The Best Lemon Cake Recipes
Lemon Mascarpone Cake from Scratch
Lemon Pineapple Cake from Scratch
Does this Cake Need to be Refrigerated?
Yes, because of the lemon curd and whipped coconut cream cheese frosting, this cake should be refrigerated until closer to serving time.
For best taste and texture, remove the cake from the refrigerator about 2-3 hours before serving.
This will allow the cake and frosting to soften, and will also enhance the flavor!
Enjoy the Recipe!
Thanks so much for stopping by! If you give this Lemon Coconut Cake Mix Recipe a try, we would love for you to leave a comment or photo below!
Lemon Coconut Cake (Doctored Cake Mix Recipe)
This moist Lemon Coconut Cake from Cake Mix is so soft, moist, and delicious! You will love the combination of lemon cake layers with lemon curd filling and coconut whipped cream cheese frosting! The cake is covered in a coat of flaked coconut as well for a beautiful, impressive dessert
Ingredients
- 1 box white cake mix ( Do not follow directions on the box, use only the ingredients listed below. We used Duncan Hines Perfectly Moist Classic White cake mix)
- 1 cup (121g) cake flour
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
- 1 package (8oz) Cream Cheese- (Not Reduced Fat), Allow to soften completely
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (we use canola)
- 1 ¼ cup milk (we used whole milk)
- Zest and juice of one lemon ( this is about 1 T zest, ¼ cup juice)
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon Extract (smell it to make sure it is still good- it should smell lemony)
- 4 whole eggs
For the Lemon Curd
- ¾ cup (150g) sugar
- ¼ cup (30g) cornstarch
- 1 cup (236g) water
- 2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) butter
- 1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest
- 4 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
For the Whipped Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
- One 8 ounce (226g) package cream cheese, softened. It must bee full fat, not reduced fat or cream cheese in a tub, those are too soft.
- 1 cup (115g) powdered sugar, measure then sift
- 1 teaspoon (4g) vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon (2g) coconut extract (adjust amount to your liking)
- 1 ½ cups (348g heavy whipping cream
Decoration
- 1 14 oz (396g) bag of Sweetened Coconut (We use Baker's Sweetened Angel Flake Coconut)
- to press into the frosting on the outside of the cake.
- Small fresh lemon wedges for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Grease and flour three 8x2 round cake pans. We like to line the bottom with parchment also.
- In the bowl of your mixer, combine the dry ingredients: cake mix, cake flour, sugar, and salt. Mix or stir to combine.
- Add lemon juice, lemon extract, and lemon zest to the 1 ¼ cup milk (It will turn to a buttermilk consistency).
- Add eggs, cream cheese, vegetable oil, and milk/lemon mixture to the dry ingredients
Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. (Stop at the halfway point to scrape the sides of the bowl if needed). - Divide the cake batter between the three prepared 8 inch cake pans. Bake at 325 for 22-25 minutes. Baking times may vary, the cake is done when a toothpick can be and inserted and removed with no crumbs (or just a few) attached. Or, if you can lightly touch the center and it springs pack, it is done.
For the Lemon Curd
- Combine sugar, cornstarch and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly, until mixture thickens and comes to a boil (3-4 minutes).
- Boil, stirring, for 1 minute more.. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Spoon about ½ cup of the hot mixture into a small bowl with egg yolks and stir quickly until combined. Continue stirring, while pouring the egg mixture back into the saucepan.
- Return pan to medium heat and cook, stirring, until the curd is thickened and lemon colored (1-2 min). Remove from heat and stir in the butter, lemon juice, and lemon zest.-- Let the lemon curd cool, then press plastic wrap onto the surface, this will prevent a skin from forming on the top. Refrigerate.
- This will fill a 2-3 layer 8 or 9 inch cake with some leftover. The recipe can be halved.
- I have refrigerated the lemon curd for a week and it was fine....I'm not sure how long it will keep beyond that
- Makes 1 ¼ cups
Whipped Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
- Freeze your mixing bowl and beaters 15 minutes before whipping the cream (30 minutes if chilling in the refrigerator.
- Use the whisk attachment for a stand mixer, or beaters on your hand mixer. Beat the cream until stiff peaks form. This can happen very quickly so don't walk away from the mixer. You are at the stiff peak stage when you lift the beater and the cream stands straight up forming a peak or falls over slightly. Keep in the refrigerator while completing the next step.
- In another bowl combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar, coconut extract, and vanilla. Mix until very smooth. Fold this into the whipped cream. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Assembling the Cake
- Place the first cake on a cake plate or pedestal. Pipe a dam of the coconut whipped cream cheese frosting around the edge of the cake layer (about ¼-1/2 inch from the edge).
- Spread a layer of lemon curd within the dam. Then pipe on the whipped coconut cream cheese filling. I do this with a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away (same one that I used to pipe the dam). Lightly spread/smooth the top of the filling with an offset spatula.
- Top with the second cake layer and repeat. Then, top with the third cake layer. Fill in any gaps between the cake layers with additional frosting, then frost the cake.
- Press coconut all over the sides and top of the cake. We had some frosting leftover which we used to pipe stars around the top edge of the cake with a french tip, and garnished with small lemon wedges.
I like that this cake doesn't use frosting with a lot of icing sugar like many of the cake recipes do.
Going to try this one i have a lemon or yellow box cake mix. Would that be a good substitute for white?
Hi Jody, yes that should be just fine!
hi your lemon coconut cake looks delicious but here in Ireland 🇮🇪 you cannot get block Philadelphia cheese for the frosting any suggestions
Patricia obrien