Coconut Lime Cake Recipe

By Maria Lichty

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If you are a regular reader of our blog, you know we love all things lime. When I saw Pinch My Salt’s Coconut Lime Cake, I immediately bookmarked the recipe. I knew I had to try it.

Joshua had a meeting the other day, so it was the perfect time for me to bake him a cake. I usually don’t bake cakes because it is just the two of us, but I knew Josh would devour this one and I was right. He loved it!

The cake was moist with a tender crumb. The cake part was really good, but the glaze is what made it shine. The lime flavor was perfect, not too tart, just right. The dusting of coconut also made it a very pretty cake.

When Josh got home, we enjoyed a piece of cake for dessert. Pure bliss! I will be making this one again.



Coconut Lime Cake
(adapted from Pinch My Salt)

(Printable Recipe)

2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sweetened, flaked coconut, divided
1 stick butter, softened
1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon grated lime zest
2 large eggs, at room temperature
¾ cup buttermilk, at room temperature
5 tablespoons lime juice, divided
1 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in the middle. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan, line bottom with a round of parchment paper then butter the parchment paper.

2. Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Measure out ½ cup of shredded coconut and process in a mini food processor until very finely chopped (you can also finely chop it with a knife). Stir the chopped coconut into the flour mixture and set aside. Combine buttermilk and 2 tablespoons of lime juice; set aside.

3. Beat together butter, sugar, and lime zest with an electric mixer until very fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Turn mixer to low speed, add one third of the flour mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.

4. Spoon batter into the buttered cake pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake in the center of a preheated 350 degree oven until golden and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 40-45 minutes. Cool to warm, then turn out of pan and discard parchment.

5. Whisk together powdered sugar and the remaining three tablespoons of lime juice. Poke top of cake all over with a fork then pour glaze over the cake. Sprinkle with remaining ½ cup of coconut.

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Maria

I'm Maria and my husband is Josh. We share a love of cooking, baking, and entertaining. We enjoy creating recipes that are simple, fresh, and family friendly. We love sitting around the table with good food, good conversation, and good friends and family! Our kitchen is always open!
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  1. That looks delicious!!! I’ve been wanting to make something like this for a while now, definitely bookmarking the recipe!

  2. I love the lime too – such a refreshing flavor!! And of course it’s meant to go with coconut – classic pairing!!

  3. YUM!! I’ve been on such a coconut/lime kick lately and I can’t wait to try this! Thanks for sharing!

  4. I’m am all about coconut lately – I think it’s the combination of Spring and Easter! This cake looks wonderful!

  5. that sounds delicious! i’m allergic to coconut, but i could easily go for just a lime cake. mmmm.

  6. Yum! This sounds great. I am such a big lime fan. Much more than lemon for some reason. This looks like a perfect springtime dessert.

  7. So yummy looking and a good combo. If you like cakes, but don’t want to make a whole one, you should look into mini pans. They’re awesome for small batches!

  8. Thanks everyone! The lime and coconut combo is divine!

    Barbara-You shouldn’t make your own b-day cake! That is your day to get spoiled! Let me know if you want me to bake:)

    Sugarlens-A lot of exercise, we eat healthy, and we share our treats!

    Esi-Thanks for the tip. I will look for the mini pans!

  9. Love the lime and coconut combo! Baking cakes when you only have 2 people in the house can be dangerous… still doesn’t stop me though 😉 hehe

  10. Maria this looks awesome! It look like a rich cake but with the coconut and lime I bet it was delish!

  11. This looks wonderful, and you know I’m always looking for new ways to use buttermilk! 🙂 And I am a believer in that coconut/lime combo after making Dorie’s coconut butter thins. This cake looks fabulous!

  12. Oh I love lime too and this coconut lime cake looks so refreshing just like spring we have here in the u.k. Beautiful combo of flavours Maria.

  13. Hey Maria! We were in Clearwater Beach, which is on the Gulf Coast…I think Palm Beach is on the Atlantic coast, so the other side of Florida. It will be beautiful there though I’m sure! When we went the weather was *perfect*! Enjoy your vaca.!

  14. Cathy-I always think of you when I make a recipe with buttermilk:)

    Kristen-Thanks for the info! Glad you had a fun trip. I can’t wait to go to the beach!

  15. Your so sweet always baking something for Josh! He’s gonna get chubby! I love the look of this cake and the recipe sounds wonderful. Thanks for sharing!

  16. This looks great…I’ve been craving lime and coconut cake/pie!! May have to try this soon!

  17. I made a Florida Pie from Dorie Greenspans book Baking. It was wonderful so I can imagine the flavors in that cake. This is a keeper!

  18. Mmmmm, this is the third blog I’ve seen this on and it looks even better the third time around!
    ~ingrid

  19. I didn’t see it on PMS, but I bookmarked it here! Totally making this, probably next week when I’m in town at my Mom’s. It will be the perfect thing to make together! She reads your blog btw!

  20. Mmm, this cake does look totally divine. I love lime and coconut together. And that glaze sounds FABULOUS. Man, I wish I could’ve come home and gotten a piece of this cake, too. Lucky Joshua!

  21. Ummm, like a fluffy cloud of coconut!

    Nicole was one of the 1st blogs I started reading…good eats – great gal.

  22. I’ve being looking for a good coconut cake since last week (fb and twitter included!!) I finally found it!!!!

    thanks

  23. My daughter made this cake today,it is so good,between the three of us(husband included).We finished half of it.It is pretty awesome.It is definitely a keeper!!

  24. my flaked coconut is unsweetened, do u think i should add more sugar? plz reply..waiting for ur reply to make this cake

  25. i sent to my daughter in law ans she made this for my birthday, i must say we all LOVED it…it is everything you said and then some..

  26. I made these as cupcakes for my sister’s birthday 2 days ago. I used gluten-free flour and since I had no flaked coconut I just put in 3 tablespoons of coconut flour and subbed some coconut oil for some of the butter. On top of the glaze I put a heavy cream-ground lime zest-icing sugar frosting and then candied lime slices. They disappeared. Thank you!

  27. I made this cake last night for a Cinco De Mayo party at work today and it was fantastic! Everyone was raving about the cake and how they had never had anything like it before. It had a light texture and wasn’t too sweet like I was expecting. The lime flavor really came through (definitely use freshly squeezed lime juice) and the coconut was a great addition on the top. It was easy to make as well!

    Thanks for sharing a great recipe – this will for sure get filed away in my dessert arsenal 🙂

  28. I just made a double double recipe for Fathers’ Day and all four cakes turned out great! We live in Costa Rica at altitude so I had to adjust the baking time a bit, but they turned out very much like the picture. Thanks for the great recipe!