Coconut Snack Cake
with raspberries and cream
Over the last few months (or years, if I’m honest), I’ve been completely over social media. It’s never been a comfortable space for me—it’s often seems like in order to attract an audience, you have to be willing to put so much of yourself and your life out for all to see and it’s just always felt a little uncomfortable to me.
I stepped into the food writing/recipe development space with dreams of becoming the next David Lebovitz or Deb Perelman or Joy the Baker. I loved the long form blog posts, voraciously reading about kitchen mishaps or weekly routines from my best kitchen friends, complete with a few photos and a recipe that I would add to my “to try” list. I’d check in with them weekly, hungry for this form of casual food writing that made me feel like I was sitting in their kitchen alongside them as doughs were mixed or cakes were layered.
It was disheartening, then, when it felt like the entire recipe development field had picked up and moved onto Instagram and TikTok and recipe writers were having to turn those long, cozy essays into under 60-second videos in order to get eyes on their work. For many years, I just felt like I couldn’t keep up.
But then I found Substack. This beautiful little space on the internet for people who love the writing the same way that I do. When I began my Pastry School 101 newsletter two years ago, it felt like a big burst of life came back into my work. To find a space for writing and reading and connecting has allowed me the opportunity to create recipes and essays that feel authentic to me, rather than performing a content creation dance for the algorithm.
I love it here and if you’re reading this, I’m so glad to share this tiny corner of the internet with you.
and on that note…
Here are a few Substack newsletters that I have been loving recently:
Eat Like a Farmer by Michelle Aronson because I’m currently very deep into my spring garden planning era.
Edible Living by Sarah Copeland whose Newlywed Cookbook was the very first cookbook I bought myself when Martin and I got married 10+ years ago and she’s been one of my favorite writers ever since.
Food, etc by Allegra D’Agostini because I get giddy anytime Allegra’s work comes across my screen whether it’s her Substack recipes that always feel both elegant and casual in the best ways or her stunning photography on my Instagram feed.
and now for cake…
This cake doesn’t need too much of an introduction—it’s a simple snack cake highlighting the time of year when spring has started to peek it’s head out from under the chill of winter, but hasn’t yet made it's grand arrival.
There is a thick, fluffy coconut cake layer filled with toasted coconut, coconut oil, and canned coconut cream plus a pillowy layer of mascarpone whipped cream and a rustic swirl of berries. You can make it in an afternoon and keep it in the fridge for snacking all week long.
on the reverse creaming method
This cake does utilize the reverse creaming method and I want to be sure to touch on that technique because, after all, this newsletter is called Pastry School 101.
The reverse creaming method is used often in cakes that fall into the high-ratio category meaning that the ratio of sugar to flour and eggs to fat are high. These higher ratios give extra moisture to cakes and help to extend the shelf life a bit (think grocery store bakery cakes). In steps the reverse creaming method. Using this technique, the fat (in our case, softened butter and coconut oil) is mixed directly into the dry ingredients, creating a coarse, bread crumb-like texture, before the eggs and liquid are added. Because the fat is able to coat the flour, it inhibits gluten development, resulting in a super tender crumb. It works well in creating thick, dense cakes that are fluffy and moist, rather than dry and crumbly.
coconut snack cake with raspberries and cream
makes one 8” cake
Ingredients:
for the cake:
175 g (¾ cup) granulated sugar
180 g (1 ½ cup) cake flour
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp kosher salt
113 g (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened
40 g (¼ cup) coconut oil, solid
2 large eggs
200 g (about 1 ½ cups) coconut cream, canned
40 g (2 tbsp) plain yogurt
65 g (¾ cup) finely shredded coconut, toasted
for the raspberry compote:
4 oz raspberries, fresh or frozen
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
for the cream:
6 oz (¾ cup) heavy cream
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 oz mascarpone cheese
Procedure:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Coat an 8” cake pan with a thin layer of butter and place a round of parchment paper in the bottom. Set aside.
Toast the coconut on a pan in the oven until lightly browned and fragrant and then set aside to cool.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk briefly to disperse.
Add the softened butter, in cubes, and coconut oil and mix on medium speed for about 2 minutes, until all of the fat has been well incorporated and the mixture is crumbly.
Add the eggs and vanilla and mix another minute or two, until combined.
Add the (well-shaken) coconut cream and yogurt and continue mixing until you have a smooth, thick batter. Fold in the toasted coconut.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 35-45 minutes, until deeply golden in color, the edges have begun to pull away from the sides of the pan and the top of the cake springs back when lightly touched. Let cool completely.
To make the raspberry compote, combine raspberries, maple syrup, vanilla, and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook for 10-15 minutes, until berries have broken down and the liquid has thickened. Cool completely before serving and store in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Compote can be made up to 5 days in advance.
To make the whipped mascarpone cream, whip heavy cream in the bowl of a mixer with the whisk attachment until it reaches soft peaks. Add the sifted powdered sugar, vanilla, and mascarpone and whip for another 30 seconds or so, until whipped cream is smooth and thick.
Dollop a thick layer of cream over the cooled cake, and top with the raspberry compote and more toasted coconut.