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Cherries In The Snow

This Coconut cake is breathtakingly beautiful. It starts off with a Coconut cake that is moist and airy with coconut and vanilla infused in each bite. It also has Coconut flakes to bring the coconut experience to another level. We then make a cherry compote to bring in the coconut cherry flavor profile all together. The cherry compote is tart yet sweet and is held in place by both cornstarch while cooking, and a coconut cream cheese dam we will create around each layer of this triple layer cake to hold the cherry compote in place. We will then create a cream cheese coconut frosting and enrobe the entire cake with it. To decorate we will place coconut flakes on the entire cake. We will then pipe small pillowy mounds on the edge of the entire top of the cake and top each mound with a perfect fresh cherry. Two things will simultaneously happen...You will be taken aback by the beauty and once bitten you will be speechless at how tart, sweet and moist this heavenly bite can be.
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Ingredients
  

Cherry Compote

  • 2 Lbs. Cherries (fresh, pitted and destemmed)
  • 8 Cherries (fresh with stems and seeds in them, for garnish Put to the side.)
  • 1 Cup White Sugar
  • 4 ½ Tbsp. Cornstarch
  • 4 ½ Tbsp. Lime juice
  • 2 Cup Water. (for compote)
  • ¼ Cup Water (for cornstarch)

Coconut Cake

  • 1 ½ Cups Coconut oil
  • Pam Butter spray (As needed for greasing your pans.)
  • 2 Cups White Sugar
  • 5 Jumbo Eggs (room temperature)
  • 2 Tablespoons Vanilla Bean Paste
  • 2 Teaspoons Coconut extract
  • 2 Teaspoons Almond extract
  • 3 Cups Cake Flour (if you don't have it, DIY Measure 1 cup of all purpose flour and remove 2 Tbsps. replace it with 2 Tbsps. of Cornstarch and whisk or sift thoroughly. Remember you need 3 cups. So make it 3x’s.)
  • 2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
  • ½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 Teaspoon Sea Salt
  • 1 Cup Coconut Milk (unsweetened)
  • 1 Cup Sweetened Shredded Coconut

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 2 8 oz Blocks of Cream Cheese (full fat and at room temperature.)
  • 6 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
  • 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Bean Paste
  • 1 Teaspoon Coconut Extract
  • 4 Cups Powdered Sugar.

Decorations:

  • 8 Cherries with stems
  • 1¾ Cup Shredded Coconut
  • 1 Bag Small piping bag filled with 8 Tablespoons attached with Decorative tip of your choice

Instructions
 

  • Gather your Cherry Compote ingredients.
  • Wash and deseed cherries.
  • In a 2 ½ Quart saucepan over medium heat, place your cherries, sugar, lemon juice, 2 Cups of your water (reserve your ¼ cup for your cornstarch slurry that you will add soon.)
  • Cook and stir until your sugar has completely dissolved.
  • Combine your Cornstarch with your remaining water to make a slurry. Stir well until completely combined.
  • Add it to your saucepan.
  • Continue to stir while cooking until your compote has thickened.
  • Place a wooden spoon into your cherry compote and when your compote is thick enough to coat the back of your spoon you are ready!
  • Remove and place into a mason jar.
  • Let cool completely in the refrigerator.
  • Gather Your Coconut Cake Ingredients.
  • Preheat your oven to 350° F.
  • Using your Pam Butter spray, spray your three 9" pans. Set to the side.
  • In a large bowl place your flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  • Combine well using a whisk.
  • Lets get your mixer ready by placing a paddle attachment to your mixer's arm.
  • In the mixer’s bowl place your Coconut Oil and Sugar. Mix until combined (about 3 minutes on medium)
  • Place your individually cracked eggs that you placed into small separate bowls into your oil and sugar mixture one at a time. Until completely combined.
  • Add your Vanilla bean paste, coconut and almond extracts and mix well into your mixer bowl and mix until combined. (your mixture may look curdled. Keep going this is normal.)
  • Turn off the mixer and add your dry ingredients that you set aside into your mixer.
  • Place your mixer speed on low. Incorporate all ingredients until well combined.
  • Scrape down your bowl sides if needed and continue mixing to get everything well combined.
  • Now add your milk to the batter and mix until just combined.
  • Fold in your coconut flakes using a spatula.
  • Evenly divide your batter into the three prepared pans. Smooth the top with a knife.
  • Bake for 45 minutes on the middle shelf of your oven. Until a toothpick comes out clean.
  • Cool on a baking rack for 30 minutes, turn out on the rack to finish cooling. While we wait, let's get the frosting ready.
  • Let’s get our frosting ingredients ready.
  • In the mixer let’s attach the whip attachment to the mixer's arm.
  • In the mixer’s bowl let's add our cream cheese, coconut oil, vanilla bean paste and coconut extract on medium speed until well combined and fluffy.
  • Turn off mixer and add powdered sugar.
  • On low speed, combine and gradually increase the speed to high until light and fluffy.
  • Place 8 tablespoons in a piping bag with your favorite tip for mounds on cake top for decorations. Place 1 Cup of your frosting into a piping bag for our dam no tip needed. The rest of the frosting is placed in a cold bowl. Let's assemble our cake.
  • Place one cake layer on your flat surface with parchment sheets underneath to catch and mess.
  • Using a piping bag with no tip and cut with a scissor lets make our dam.
  • Place a continuous bead around the circumference of our cake layer that will hold our cherry compote in place.
  • Using your cherry compote fill in the desired amount inside of the dam of frosting.
  • Place your second layer on top of the first layer.
  • Repeat with the dam and cherry compote with this layer as well.
  • Place the last layer on top of the other two layers.
  • This is were you can have fun with it. Spread your frosting around the entire cake, Sprinkle on you coconut flakes and pipe on your decorative mounds.
  • Using your 8 cherries, place one on top of each mound.
  • You are now ready to Slice and enjoy!