White Coconut Cake

This is the snow-white coconut cake that shows up at every Southern celebration. Two layers of egg-white cake covered in billowy boiled frosting and buried under a generous blanket of flaked coconut. No yolks in the batter, so the crumb stays pure white and incredibly tender.

The meringue folded into the batter is what makes this cake special. Egg whites beaten with vinegar and sugar to soft peaks get carefully incorporated into the butter-flour base, creating an airy, almost angel-food-like lightness inside a rich butter cake structure. The vinegar stabilizes the meringue so it holds up during folding without collapsing.

Alternating the dry ingredients and milk when mixing keeps the batter smooth and prevents the gluten from overdeveloping. Sifted cake flour (not all-purpose) is essential here for that fine, delicate crumb.

Kitchen Tips

• Fold the meringue in gently with a rubber spatula. Three additions work best, folding each in until just barely combined.
• Line the pan bottoms with wax paper and grease the paper. This cake is delicate and will stick without proper prep.
• Cool in the pans for exactly 5 minutes, then turn out. Too long and the cake steams and gets gummy.
• Apply the frosting while it’s still warm and spreadable. Boiled frosting sets quickly.

Variations

• Toast the coconut in a dry skillet before pressing it onto the frosted cake for a nuttier flavor and golden look.
• Add coconut extract along with the vanilla for a more intense coconut flavor throughout the cake.
• Fill between the layers with lemon curd before frosting for a coconut-lemon combination.