Six Layer Coconut cake with Mango Filling

I was browsing through some recipes website and I stumbled upon Kaitlyn's blog and found this interesting cake recipe. I bough some mangoes last week when I did grocery and I knew that they were sweet and fresh so I figured I could make my own mango puree and make this cake. I knew that this cake was very time consuming and tedious (I like to make easy stuff) but I wanted to try it. Since yesterday was hubby and my wedding anniversary (3 years and 11 months) I used that as a reason to slave in the kitchen.

Ingredients

Cake

• 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 21/4 cups sugar (I used 2Cups but I think I could reduce it a little more)
  
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups unsweetened coconut milk
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 6 egg whites

Filling

• 3/4 cup sugar (I used 1/2cup)
  
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup passion fruit nectar or puree (Used Mango puree)
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 vanilla bean—split, seeds scraped (Didn’t have any so omitted)
• 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons

Topping

• 2 cups large, unsweetened dried coconut flakes (Used sweetened shredded coconut)
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar

Method

1. Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350°. Line the bottom of three 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt at low speed. Mix in the butter, coconut milk, water and vanilla until combined. Scrape down the bowl and beat at high speed until very smooth, 2 minutes.
3. In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, 2 minutes. Fold half of the egg whites into the batter until incorporated, then fold in the remaining whites until no streaks remain. Divide the batter among the cake pans. Bake for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pans on a rack for 15 minutes, then invert them and let cool completely, about 2 hours.
4. Meanwhile, make the filling: In a saucepan, whisk the sugar and cornstarch. Whisk in the passion fruit nectar, egg yolks and vanilla seeds and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until thick, 6 minutes. Remove from the heat; whisk in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until incorporated. Scrape the filling into a glass bowl, press a sheet of plastic wrap on the surface and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.
5. Using a serrated knife, cut each cake in half horizontally to create 6 layers. Set one layer on a cake plate. Spread with 6 tablespoons of the filling. Repeat with the remaining 5 cake layers and filling, ending with a layer of cake. Refrigerate until firm, 1 hour.
6. Meanwhile, make the topping: Spread the coconut on a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes, stirring once, until lightly toasted. Let cool. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the cream with the sugar until medium-firm peaks form.
7. Frost the top and side of the cake with the whipped cream and coat with the coconut. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

* Next time I would double the filling because I did not have enough to spread it and could barely taste the mango. Uncle Richie and Hubby thinks I should not have so many layers next time because it looks like it is going to fall. It will save me a lot of time too if I didn't have so many layers.

My cake don't look as good as Kaitlyn. It was getting late and I was getting hungry. I wanted to make dinner and finish the cake so it has time to refrigerate. I hardly refrigerate it and only managed to refrigerate the cake for about an hour after I spread the icing. The cake is not the healthiest food but we all do need to indulge once in a while right? Although this took me a lot of time but it is definitely worth the work.