Coconut Cake with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

Do you like coconut?  Then you are going to love this cake!  I started to really love coconut when I spent an entire summer in Hawaii in my early twenties.  I couldn't seem to get enough of all things coconut.  As a result, I love all the products that come from this amazing plant.  This particular recipe calls for coconut flour, coconut oil, and shredded coconut to give it the rich coconut flavor without the need for artificial flavors.  I originally found this recipe here, and I didn't change it too much.  It has no refined sugar or flour and it's actually grain free.  It's super moist and tastes very sophisticated.  I promise you won't know this is processed free.

For the cake:

10 eggs

1 cup coconut oil, melted

1 cup pure maple syrup

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cup coconut flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. sea salt

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

 

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  In a large bowl combine the eggs, coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla.  Add the coconut flour, baking soda, and salt and continue to blend.  Once this is smooth, stir in the shredded coconut.  Grease two 9 inch cake pans with coconut oil and divide the batter between both pans.  You could add parchment paper to the bottom of the pan to make for easy removal, but it's not necessary.  Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool completely before removing from pans and frosting them.

For the frosting:
16 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Let the cream cheese soften to room temperature.  Using a hand mixer, combine the cream cheese, maple syrup and vanilla and blend until smooth.  Stir in the shredded coconut.  You can spread this on the cake right away or refrigerate it for later. 

This makes enough frosting to cover the cake and fill the middle of the two cake layers.  If you want to cut each layer, making this into a four-layer cake, make more frosting.  I also like to sprinkle a little more of the shredded coconut on the top right after I frost it.  Delicious!!