Summery Strawberry Coconut Cake

This summer has been... interesting...  being the first real "summer" for us, since Chase just started preschool last year.  I totally underestimated how much I actually got done during the 4 hours he was at preschool each week.  Back when I posted our dino treats I mentioned we had started doing some summer units, to keep him preoccupied, and to keep me from going insane.  We've now moved from dinos to continents and we'll probably do one continent every week or two until school starts in September.

I LOVE doing these units with him and he is in heaven, but so much of my free time now is prepping school stuff instead of baking.  (Seriously... homeschoolers... I have no idea how you do this.)  Luckily I have a ton of posts backed up so hopefully I won't be too absent, and I might even get an Arctic-themed treat posted sometime this week.  I love to bake but I also love to spend time with my kids, especially while they're so young and they still like me.  {kinda.}

Now that it's July and it finally feels like summer, I thought it was time to post this summery cake. 

Strawberry cake.  Coconut cream cheese frosting.  Fresh strawberries.  Coconut. 

It's a little slice of summery heaven. 

This  is so yummy I had to give half of it away so I wouldn't eat it all.  The fresh strawberries really make this cake, so I wrote this up as a 4 layer cake (just by cutting each 9 inch rounds in half across the middle) to make room for more strawberries and frosting. I also wrote up the frosting as 1 1/2 times what I did to make enough for each layer, and give you some extra to frost the cake adequately... *cough*.

Don't freak out when you see how much sugar the frosting calls for,  mmkay?  

It's worth it. I promise.

Happy July!!

Summer Strawberry Coconut Cake

Recipe adapted from Candy Jamamas

Strawberry Coconut Cake:
-1 box white cake mix (I like Betty Crocker French Vanilla)
-5 Tbsp strawberry Jello powder
-2 Tbsp flour
-1 tsp baking powder
-2 Tbsp sugar
-3/4 cup vegetable oil
-4 eggs
-1/4 cup water
-1/2 cup pureed strawberries
-1 tsp vanilla
-1/2 tsp coconut extract
-1 cup coconut, finely shredded in food processor (plus about 1/4-1/3 c. to garnish top of cake)
-1 lb pkg of strawberries to fill cake & garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in bowl of a stand mixer and stir together. Beat in oil, eggs, water, strawberry puree, vanilla, and coconut extract. Mix well then stir in shredded coconut. Pour into two greased/floured 9-inch round pans. (I usually cut out a circle of parchment paper and place that in the bottom of each of my pans, then spray the sides.  My cakes pop right out every time.)

Bake 25-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and leave on cooling racks to cool completely.


Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting:
-1 1/2 bricks of cream cheese, softened (12 oz.)
-3 sticks butter, softened
-1 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
-11 1/4 cups powdered sugar.  (Yes... ELEVEN cups of sugar.)

Beat room temperature butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add coconut extract. Slowly beat in powdered sugar. Add a tablespoon or so of milk if icing is too thick. (Careful- if you add too much, the frosting will slide right off your cake.)


To Assemble:
Cut each cooled cake round in half across the middle (equator) using a serrated knife.  (Be sure they are completely cooled before you do this or you will have a mess of crumbs!) Place the bottom of one of the cakes on a cake plate.  Frost with a thin layer of frosting.  Top with sliced strawberries.  Place the top half of that cake on top of the strawberries.  Frost with a thin layer of frosting and top with sliced strawberries.  Repeat until you get to the final layer. Frost cake with the rest of the frosting.  Garnish top with shredded coconut and fresh strawberries.

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