White Lily Celebration Coconut Cake: A Fluffy, Moist, and Easy Recipe
This exquisite white coconut cake recipe, originally known as the “Coconut Celebration Cake” from the beloved Southern flour company, White Lily, is a true testament to classic baking. Its elegant design typically features a round, multi-layered structure, generously adorned with a unique and incredibly delicious frosting. What makes this cake truly special is its signature frosting, a delightful blend of rich sour cream, granulated sugar, sweet coconut flakes, and light, airy whipped cream. It’s a dessert that perfectly embodies the spirit of celebration, no matter how grand or small the occasion. Whether you’re marking a major milestone or simply finding joy in life’s little victories, like getting your car brakes fixed, this cake offers a delightful excuse to gather and enjoy something truly special. While the original recipe often calls for a larger, three-layer cake, we’ve adapted it here into a more manageable, yet equally impressive, smaller version, perfect for intimate gatherings or when you desire a slice of heaven without an overwhelming quantity.
The allure of a homemade coconut cake lies in its tender crumb, vibrant coconut flavor, and the sheer joy it brings. This recipe elevates that experience, offering a cake that’s not just visually stunning but also incredibly satisfying to bake and taste. We’ll guide you through making a cake that is moist, fluffy, and bursting with tropical notes, all crowned with that signature tangy-sweet sour cream frosting. Get ready to create a memorable dessert that will undoubtedly become a favorite in your baking repertoire.
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Achieving the Perfect Crumb: The Role of White Lily Flour in Your Coconut Cake
One of the foundational elements of this outstanding coconut cake is the flour. The original White Lily recipe specifically calls for White Lily flour, renowned in Southern baking for its unique qualities. White Lily is a soft winter wheat flour, which means it has a lower protein content compared to standard all-purpose flours. This characteristic is crucial for achieving the incredibly tender, delicate, and almost cake-like crumb that is a hallmark of Southern cakes. This soft texture contributes significantly to the overall moistness and melt-in-your-mouth experience of the finished product, making it an ideal choice for a celebration-worthy dessert.
While White Lily flour used to be noticeably lighter by volume (cup per cup) than typical all-purpose flour, its density seems to have shifted slightly in recent years. This highlights an important baking principle: for consistent and accurate results, especially in baking, weighing your ingredients is always preferred over volumetric measurements. For this recipe, the key is to use exactly 170 grams of flour, regardless of the brand. If you are using White Lily, this will likely translate to approximately 1 ½ cups. However, if you opt for another popular brand like King Arthur or a standard all-purpose flour, you might find that 170 grams measures out to be closer to 1 ⅓ cups. The slight difference in volume underscores why a kitchen scale is a baker’s best friend.
Using White Lily flour undeniably contributes to a softer, more delicate cake texture. If White Lily is not readily available in your area, or if you prefer to experiment, another excellent option would be to use 170 grams of cake flour. Cake flour is specifically milled to be finely ground and has a lower protein content than all-purpose flour, making it a suitable substitute for achieving a tender crumb. However, it’s worth noting that I haven’t personally tested this specific recipe with cake flour, so while it should yield good results, there might be subtle differences in texture compared to using White Lily. Regardless of your flour choice, always remember to weigh it for precision; it’s the simplest way to ensure your White Lily Celebration Coconut Cake turns out perfectly every time.
Crafting a Taller, More Elegant Cake: The 6-Inch Pan Advantage
Traditionally, many celebration cakes, including the original White Lily version, are baked in two 8-inch pans, yielding two thinner layers. While this approach certainly works, I’ve found that using two 6×2 inch cake pans offers a remarkable advantage, especially for presentation. Six-inch cake pans have become increasingly popular and are much easier to find these days, making them a fantastic choice for home bakers. The beauty of baking in these smaller pans is that the cakes will be significantly thicker, providing a canvas for a more impressive and stately dessert.
Once your individual 6-inch cakes are baked and cooled, the real magic begins: you can easily split each thick layer in half horizontally. This simple technique transforms your two 6-inch cakes into a stunning four-layer cake! The result is a much taller, more dramatic cake that genuinely embodies the “celebration” aspect of this recipe. Despite their seemingly small diameter, the added height from the extra layers makes this cake appear grand and elegant. It creates a beautiful visual impact when sliced, revealing multiple layers of moist coconut cake interspersed with generous dollops of the creamy sour cream frosting.
Beyond aesthetics, splitting the layers also allows for a better cake-to-frosting ratio, ensuring a burst of flavor with every bite. When preparing your 6-inch pans, make sure to grease and flour them thoroughly, and consider lining the bottoms with parchment paper circles to guarantee easy release. This small step can prevent heartbreaking sticking, ensuring your beautifully baked layers emerge intact and ready for assembly. Embracing the 6-inch cake pan method for this White Lily Celebration Coconut Cake will elevate your baking and delight your guests with its refined appearance and irresistible taste.
The Signature Touch: Mastering the Fluffy Sour Cream Frosting
The frosting for this White Lily Celebration Coconut Cake is not just an accompaniment; it’s a star in its own right, setting this recipe apart from many other coconut cakes. It offers a unique flavor profile and texture that perfectly complements the tender cake layers. The original White Lily version tends to be slightly sweeter, a characteristic I adjusted in this recipe by incorporating a bit more whipped cream, resulting in a frosting that is lighter and exquisitely fluffy, without being overly saccharine. The amount provided in the recipe card is carefully calibrated to be just enough to generously fill the layers and completely cover the entire cake, ensuring every inch is coated in this delectable topping.
Don’t be disheartened if, during the initial mixing stages, the sour cream frosting appears a little runny or less structured than you might expect from a typical buttercream. This is a common point of concern for first-time bakers of this recipe. The key to achieving the perfect spreadable consistency lies in two crucial steps. First, ensure you whip the heavy cream thoroughly until it forms firm peaks. This aeration is what provides the frosting with its essential body and lightness. Second, the addition of the coconut flakes plays a significant role in thickening the mixture. Once the whipped cream and coconut are gently folded into the sour cream and sugar base, the frosting will gain the necessary stability to be easily spread over your cake layers. It will transform into a delightful, cloud-like topping that melts in your mouth.
A vital tip for success with this frosting is to *never* use light or low-fat sour cream. The fat content in regular, full-fat sour cream is essential for the frosting’s structure and creamy texture. Substituting with a lighter version will likely result in a runny, unmanageable frosting that won’t set properly, compromising the overall integrity and taste of your beautiful White Lily Celebration Coconut Cake. Stick to the good stuff, and you’ll be rewarded with a frosting that is rich, tangy, sweet, and perfectly fluffy – the ideal crown for your homemade masterpiece.
Exploring the Classic: The Full 9-Inch Cake Pan Version
While the 6-inch version of this White Lily Celebration Coconut Cake is fantastic for its elegant height and intimate servings, sometimes a grander scale is simply necessary. For those occasions that truly demand a show-stopping dessert for a larger crowd, you might be interested in the full 9-inch, three-layer version of the original White Lily recipe. This classic rendition provides a more substantial cake, perfect for big family gatherings, significant anniversaries, or any event where you want to impress with abundance and classic Southern charm.
The White Lily website is the authoritative source for their original recipes. Keep in mind that website links can sometimes change or be reorganized. Currently, you can find their full Coconut Celebration Cake recipe here. However, if that specific link happens to move in the future, a quick search on their website or navigating through their recipe index should lead you to it. It’s always a good idea to refer to the official source for their traditional methods and proportions, especially when scaling up a recipe. This will ensure you maintain the integrity of their time-honored baking techniques.
The recipe detailed in the card below on this page is my adapted 8-inch (or easily convertible to 6-inch multi-layer) version, scaled down for convenience and modern pan sizes. When contemplating the 9-inch version, remember that larger pans will require adjustments to baking times. Always test for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake. Baking a larger cake can also mean a slightly different rise and texture, so understanding the nuances of your oven and adjusting accordingly is key. Whichever size you choose, both the scaled-down and the full 9-inch White Lily Celebration Coconut Cake promise a delightful experience, bringing a taste of Southern baking tradition to your table.
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Recipe
White Lily Celebration Coconut Cake — Small
Cookie Madness
Pin Recipe
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 ½ cups White Lily Flour (weigh or sift before measuring) (6 oz weight or 170 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon plus a pinch salt omit if using salted butter
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened (114 grams)
- 1 cup sugar (200 grams)
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup whole milk room temperature
- ½ to 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling/Frosting
- ¾ cup sugar (150 grams)
- ½ cup sour cream, regular thick (don’t use light) (120 grams)
- 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut loosely packed
- ¾ cup heavy cream, measure then whip
- More about ½ cup sweetened flaked coconut for garnish.
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease and flour 2 8-inch round cake pans.
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Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
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Beat the softened butter with an electric mixer on medium until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar, and continue mixing until very light. Add eggs, one at a time, beating one minute after each addition.
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Stir ⅓ of flour mixture into egg mixture until blended. Stir in ¼ cup of milk until blended and repeat, ending with the remaining flour. Stir in vanilla extract.
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Divide batter evenly between pans. Bake 20 to 25 minutes (mine took the full 25), or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes before removing from pans. Let cool for 10 minutes, then turn from pans and let cool completely.
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Filling: Stir sugar, sour cream and 1 cup of coconut together. Spread some of this mixture on the cake, leaving behind about a cup – I just eyeballed it.
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Frosting: Fold the reserved cup (or so) of sour cream mixture into the whipped cream. Spread all over the cake and put it in the refrigerator.
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Lay the remaining coconut on a foil lined baking sheet and bake at 350 for about 6 minutes or until edges are browned. Toss it all together so that the coconut is tan and white. Let it cool, then slap it all over the cake.
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Chill the cake for at least one hour or until ready to use.