Fluff + Puff: Coconut Raspberry Snowball Cake

A pretty little beauty of a cake. I love the look of the snowball cake - mine has coconut cake layers with a hint of pure almond extract and it is filled with raspberry jam, iced in vanilla creamcheese frosting and covered in white shredded coconut. Topped with a fresh raspberry, I think it's quite an adorable vintage-looking cake, don't you?

COCONUT RASPBERRY SNOWBALL CAKE

You will need:

For the cake:

1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, room temperature

11/2 cups of granulated sugar

4 eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

3 cups of all purpose flour

2 cups of packed shredded unsweetened coconut

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

2 cups of high quality coconut milk

For the frosting:

1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup (2 sticks) of plain cream cheese, room temperature

4 cups of confectioner's sugar, sifted

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups of sweetened or unsweetened shredded coconut

Make the cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour (or spray with cooking oil) two 9 inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside.

1. Using a stand mixer in a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy.

2. On low speed, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the eggs, vanilla and almond extracts until incorporated.

3. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, shredded coconut, baking powder and sea salt.

4. With the mixer on low, working in thirds, alternate the coconut milk with the dry mixture, mixing until combined. Do not overmix.

5. Pour the batter equally into your round cake pans. Using an offset spatula or butter knife, spread the batter around the pan so it is distributed evenly.

6. Bake in the middle rack of your oven for 26-28 minutes, rotating cake pans halfway through. Check to see if the cake is finished by inserting a clean toothpick in to the center of each cake pan.

7. Set cakes to cool in their pans on wire racks.

Make the frosting:

1. Using a stand mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese together on high speed to combine.

2. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the confectioner's sugar one cup at a time.

3. Add the pure vanilla extract. Beat the frosting on high until light and fluffy.

To assemble the cake:

1. Once cooled, remove your cakes from the cake pans. Using a serrated knife level your cakes to create a flat cake surface.

2. Place one layer of cake on a cake board or cake stand. Using a piping bag fitted with an open circle tip filled with vanilla creamcheese frosting, pipe a dam of frosting starting from the outside of the cake layer working your way in. Pipe three rotations of frosting, leaving an empty space for the jam.

3. Using a spoon, fill the empty space with jam to create a filling.

4. Place second layer on top of cake. Press down lightly to adhere.

5. Using an offset spatula, frost the entire exterior of the cake.

6. Place cake in the freezer for ten minutes for frosting to set.

7. Remove cake from the freezer and add another layer of frosting.

8. Using clean hands, cover the entire cake with shredded coconut. I just grab coconut by the handfuls and pat it into the frosting until covered.

9. Top with a fresh raspberry!