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Strawberry Coconut Cake

Last Updated On: March 25, 2024 | Published: March 18, 2024 by Melissa Diamond | 1 Comment
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This moist, fluffy, and flavorful Strawberry Coconut Cake is the perfect dessert for spring and summer!

The combination of soft strawberry coconut cake layers with coconut whipped cream filling and coconut cream cheese frosting is divine. Keep this recipe in mind for your next special occasion!

Strawberry Coconut Cake, sliced, on a cake pedestal.

How to Make Strawberry Coconut Cake

Based in part on our strawberry sour cream cake as well as our recipe for homemade strawberry cupcakes, this strawberry coconut cake is soft, moist, and delicious.

You can find the full recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here is a quick look at our steps!

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and grease and flour three 8 inch cake pans. We also like to line our pans with circles of parchment paper.
  • In a medium sized bowl, add these dry ingredients: cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Whisk to blend for 30 seconds.  Set aside.
  • In another bowl combine these wet ingredients: sour cream, strawberry puree, strawberry extract and vegetable oil. Blend and set aside.
Wet and Dry Ingredients.
  • In the bowl of your mixer blend the butter until smooth. Gradually add the white sugar and mix on medium speed 3 to 5 minutes until fluffy and lightened in color.
  • Add the room temperature eggs one at a time, mixing after each until the yolk is blended.
Photo Grid of butter in mixing bowl, then creamed butter and sugar, and then butter, sugar, and eggs.
  • With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and the sour cream mixture alternately, beginning and ending with the flour mixture (3 additions of dry ingredients, 2  additions of wet ingredients.) Add a small bit of pink coloring gel too if you would like!
  • Mix just until combined. Fold in the ½ cup of flaked coconut.
Photos of strawberry coconut cake batter.
  • Divide the cake batter between the three prepared 8 inch cake pans.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. The cakes should spring back when lightly touched.
Photos of the cake layers in pans, before and after baking.

Assembling the Cake

Once the cake layers have cooled, it is time to put the cake together!

Today, for our filling, we used a soft and creamy coconut whipped cream frosting, and a simple coconut cream cheese frosting. Both recipes are very easy to make, and are flavored with coconut extract.

  • Place the first cake layer on the cake base or pedestal. Pipe a dam of cream cheese frosting around the edge of the layer (about ¼-1/2 inch from the edge). We do this with a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away.
  • Fill with a layer of coconut whipped cream, and top with strawberry slices. Then, top with the next cake layer and repeat. Then, top with the last cake layer. Fill in any gaps between cake layers with frosting.
  • Apply a thin coat of frosting around the sides and on top of the cake (This is the crumb coat). Then, chill the cake for about 15 minutes in the freezer (or longer in the refrigerator) to firm everything up before applying the second coat of frosting. If your frosting is too soft, place the bowl in the freezer for 5-10 minutes (or longer in the refrigerator) until the consistency thickens.
  • Press flaked coconut gently on top and around the sides of the freshly frosted cake. We topped ours with a strawberry.
Photos of assembling and decorating the Strawberry Coconut Cake.
  • This cake should be refrigerated. However, for the very best flavor and texture, bring the cake out of the refrigerator 2-3 hours before serving. This will allow it time to warm and soften.
Strawberry Coconut Cake, sliced, on a pedestal.

Recipe FAQs

Yes, because of the sliced strawberries, coconut cream cheese frosting, and coconut whipped cream filling, this cake needs refrigeration. Store in an airtight container or under a cake dome.

However, for the very best flavor and texture, remove the cake from the refrigerator 2-3 hours before serving. This will allow it time to warm and soften.

Yes! Just as with the majority of our cake recipes from white cake to pound cake, brownie cake and more, these cake layers freeze beautifully.

After baking, allow them to cool to slightly warm or room temperature (we prefer warm). Wrap each layer individually in plastic wrap followed by foil. Freeze for up to three months!

To thaw, move the cake layers to the kitchen counter. After about 30-45 minutes, you can upwrap and assemble the cake as usual.

Many of our favorite cake recipes contain sour cream, from lemon blueberry cake to sour cream pound cake, chocolate sour cream cake and more.

Sour cream adds richness to cakes without thinning the cake batter. (This is especially helpful for recipes that have suspended ingredients like fruit, nuts, or chocolate chips).

Many of our cake recipes call for cake flour. Cake flour has a lower protein content than all purpose flour. This lessens the development of gluten in the cake batter, which results in a more tender cake.

A few more examples of favorite recipes with cake flour are pistachio cake, five flavor pound cake, and coconut cream cake just to name a few.

When it comes to fruity cakes like today's recipe, as well as our lemon cake, cherry cake, orange cake, and more, we often rely on extracts for an added boost of flavor.

The flavor from fruit juices and purees tends to bake out or at least lessen. Flavor from extracts (or even in the jello powder that we mention as a substitute) is stronger.

However, aside from extracts, the freshly sliced strawberries between the cake layers add wonderful flavor as well.

Yes! If you prefer to work with cake mix recipes, we have a great doctored cake mix version of strawberry cake.

You can use this cake mix recipe to make your three strawberry cake layers (and fold in a bit of flaked coconut if you'd like).

More Strawberry Cakes

We have many more cakes with strawberries! Just a few of our favorites are our homemade strawberry cake, strawberry cake from a box mix, strawberry pound cake, and strawberry shortcake cake.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! We would love for you to check out our full collection of hundreds of cake recipes as well as our section of free cake decorating tutorials.

You will find cake recipes from scratch, cake mix recipes, birthday cake ideas, elegant cakes, and more.

Have you made this? We would LOVE for you to leave a ⭐️ rating as well as a comment and photo below! We really appreciate your feedback!

Strawberry Coconut Cake, sliced, on a cake pedestal.

Strawberry Coconut Cake

BY Melissa and Bebe
This moist and fluffy Strawberry Coconut Cake has the perfect combination of flavors. It makes for a wonderful spring or summer dessert.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 28 minutes
Course: Dessert
Servings: 15
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Ingredients

For the Strawberry Cupcakes

  • 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened (170g)
  • 2 cups white sugar (400g)
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature (Place eggs in a bowl of warm water for five minutes if in a hurry.)
  • 3 cups cake flour (342g)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder (8g)
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda (3g)
  • ½ teaspoon salt (3g)
  • 1 cup sour cream (full fat) (227g)
  • ½ cup plus two tablespoons strawberry puree (Puree fresh or frozen, thawed strawberries) (140g) Liquefy in a blender or food processor. We did not heat on stovetop.
  • ⅓ cup vegetable oil (68g ) (We use canola oil)
  • 2 teaspoons strawberry extract (We often use Watkins brand.) (8g) (If no extract, you can substitute 2 Tablespoons powdered strawberry jello.)
  • ½ cup flaked sweetened coconut (optional) to fold into cake batter.
  • *Pink Coloring Gel- Optional for desired color. We used a small amount.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (226g total)
  • 16 oz cream cheese, softened We used two 8 oz packages, full fat.
  • 1 ½ teaspoons coconut extract (adjust to your liking) (6g)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (4g)
  • 6 to 6 ½ cups powdered sugar (747g)
  • pinch salt

Coconut Whipped Cream Filling

  • 1 cup heavy cream (240g)
  • ¼ cup powdered sugar (29g)
  • 2 teaspoons coconut extract adjust amount to your liking

Fresh Strawberries

  • Fresh strawberries, sliced, to scatter over the whipped cream filling in between the cake layers. (We also topped our cake with a strawberry.)

Instructions

For the Strawberry Cake Layers

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour three 8 inch cake layers. We also like to line our pans with circles of parchment paper.
  • In a medium sized bowl, add cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Whisk to blend for 30 seconds.  Set aside.
  • In another bowl combine the sour cream, strawberry puree, strawberry extract and vegetable oil, blend and set aside.
  • In the bowl of your mixer blend the butter until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and mix on medium speed 3 to 5 minutes until fluffy and lightened in color. If using pink coloring gel, you can add it now or at any time during the mixing process.
  • Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each until the yolk is blended
  • With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and the sour cream mixture alternately, beginning and ending with the flour mixture (3 additions of dry ingredients, 2  additions of wet ingredients.)
  • Mix just until combined. Fold in the ½ cup of flaked coconut. Divide the batter between the three prepared 8 inch cake pans.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. The cakes should spring back when lightly touched.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

  • Add the butter to the mixing bowl and mix until smooth.
  • Add the softened cream cheese, mixing with the butter until well incorporated and smooth.
  • Add the coconut and vanilla extracts
  • Slowly add the powdered sugar, mixing until smooth. Mix on low to medium until smooth and incorporated.
  • Use the frosting while it is still chilled. If it becomes too soft, refrigerate until it firms up a bit or put in the freezer for 5 minutes or so.

Coconut Whipped Cream

  • Chill the mixing bowl and beaters/ whisk attachment in the freezer for 10 minutes.
  • Pour the whipping cream, powdered sugar and coconut extract into the chilled mixing bowl, begin beating on low speed gradually increasing to medium high speed.
  • Mix until the whipping cream thickens to stiff peak stage. (This means, the whipped cream is thick enough that it holds a peak when the beaters or whisk attachment is lifted from the whipped cream.)

Assembling the Cooled Cake Layers

  • Place the first cake layer on the cake base or pedestal. Pipe a dam of cream cheese frosting around the edge of the layer (about ¼-1/2 inch from the edge). We do this with a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away.
  • Fill with a layer of whipped cream, and top with a layer of strawberry slices. Then, top with the next cake layer and repeat. Then, top with the last cake layer. Fill in any gaps between cake layers with frosting.
  • Apply a thin coat of frosting around the sides and on top of the cake. Then, freeze for about 15 minutes to firm everything up before applying the second coat of frosting.
    If you frosting is too soft, place the bowl in the freezer for 5-10 minutes (or longer in the refrigerator) until the consistency thickens.
  • Press flaked coconut gently on top and around the sides of the frosted cake. We topped ours with a strawberry.
  • This cake should be refrigerated. However, for the very best flavor and texture, bring the cake out of the refrigerator 2-3 hours before serving. This will allow it time to warm and soften.

Notes

Substitution for cake flour:  Using all purpose flour (plain in the UK) for each cup of flour in a recipe, remove 2 Tablespoons of flour replace with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour in the UK).  This recipe has 3 cups of flour so you will measure out 3 cups of all purpose flour, remove 6 Tablespoons and replace with 6 Tablespoons cornstarch, whisk to blend.           
This recipe makes 7 cups batter. 
Fresh or frozen strawberries can be used.

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