This gluten free ube coconut cake was dreamt up as a very special birthday cake for a very special person in our lives: our mom Lynn! If you’ve read through our other recipes or follow along with our gluten free baking adventures on our Instagram, you’ll know that our mom has been one of the most constant sources of inspiration, and knowledge, for our baking hobby. And after the recent unexpected and scary events that led me to need to come back to Oregon in order to get distance from Oxford, I happen to be home around her birthday – so I finally get to make her a cake! In relation to those scary Oxford events – my mom has been a constant support and a lighthouse in a storm. She’s always led by example in how to love fiercely and how to seek understanding and compassion. This time, on top of that, she supported me when trusting my gut was key in getting me out of a dangerous situation and has ensured (along with my dad, Kendra, and our grandma) that I have an always-safe space in Oregon where I can recuperate and process what unfolded so quickly. Thank you, mom, for always being there.
On to the cake! Mom LOVES coconut, and she fell in love with ube in the last couple of years, so combining the two (that go together wonderfully) seemed like the best way to whip up a birthday surprise (not entirely, I did run the recipe idea by her to make sure it was something she’d enjoy). So here it is in all its glory: a three-layer coconut cake, packed with coconut milk, extract, and tons of toasted unsweetened coconut for maximum coconut flavor without too much sugar, filled with toasted coconut pastry cream (I could literally eat it with a spoon all day – whoever invented pastry cream was brilliant), and covered in deep dark purple ube buttercream! If you’re new to ube – it’s an awesome, deeply delicious purple yam and I’ve loved it in lots of Filipino desserts though it’s used in other South East Asian recipes too! I highly recommend doing a quick Google search for ube recipes to see what you find!
If you already love coconut or ube or both, here are some more gluten free recipes to try out: coconut ube panna cotta, ube angel food cake, coconut custard pie, pineapple coconut cake, giant ube white chocolate muffins, giant toasted coconut muffins, or coconut butter cookies!
Gluten Free Ube Coconut Cake
Equipment
- Three 9-inch round cake pans
- Electric mixer
- Piping bags and tips
- Offset palette knife
- Cake scraper
- Cake turn table (optional)
- Three cake pan strips (optional)
Ingredients
Coconut Cake Recipe
- 1 ½ Cups full fat coconut milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Cup plus 2 Tbsp canola or vegetable oil
- 5 tsp coconut extract
- 2 ¼ Cups white sugar
- 3 Cups gluten free 1-1 flour mix with xanthan gum in it (if your mix does not contain xanthan gum, add 3/4 tsp now)
- ¾ Cup arrowroot starch
- ¾ Cup sweet rice flour
- 2 ¼ Cups desiccated unsweetened coconut, toasted instructions below
- 2 ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp salt
- 12 large egg whites
Coconut pastry cream
- 1 Cup whole milk
- 1 Cup full fat coconut milk
- 6 large egg yolks
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ Cup cornstarch
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp salted butter
- 2 tsp coconut extract
- ¾ Cup unsweetened desiccated coconut, toasted instructions below
Ube Buttercream
- 5 Cups room temp salted butter
- 7-8 Cups sifted powdered sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp ube extract
- 1-3 Tbsp heavy cream optional
Decoration
- Toasted coconut flakes
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, in a large bowl, start soaking your cake pan strips in cold water (this is optional). Lightly grease your three 9-inch round cake pans, then line the bottom with a round piece of parchment paper, and lightly grease the parchment paper, then set aside. Put all of your desiccated coconut into a large frying pan and heat over medium, stirring frequently, until coconut is lightly toasted (it will smell fragrant and turn golden – not brown!). Once toasted, pour into a medium bowl to cool.
- In another large bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, vanilla and coconut extracts, and oil until smooth. Add in the flours, starches, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cooled toasted coconut and mix until combined.
- In a separate clean large bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form (this will take up to 10 minutes), then slowly fold the egg whites into the cake batter ⅓ at a time until fully combined and smooth.
- Set batter aside, and then fasten your now-saturated cake pan strips around the outside of the cake pans (I turn the cake pans upside down to do this). Then pour the cake batter into the three prepared 9-inch pans and bake for 30-35 minutes until a skewer inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean. Let cakes cool completely before turning out. Once cooled, turn out cakes, wrap cakes in plastic wrap, return to pans, and freeze for at least 2 hours (this will make construction a lot easier).
For the Pastry Cream
- While the cakes are baking or while they’re freezing, make the pastry cream (it will take a while to chill in the fridge). Pour your whole milk and coconut milk into a small saucepan and heat over medium-low, stirring frequently. Once boiling, remove from heat and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until lighter and fluffier, about 30 seconds. Add in the cornstarch and whisk to combine. Slowly add 1/4 cup of the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly, to temper it. Then continue to slowly pour in the remaining milk until fully incorporated into the yolk mixture. Pour mixture back into the saucepan and turn heat back on (med-low) and whisk constantly while it continues to cook. It will thicken suddenly so keep stirring. Once it has thickened, stir in the butter and the coconut extract. Then scoop into a smaller bowl, press plastic wrap onto the pastry cream, and chill in the fridge for at least an hour. Once chilled, remove and stir in the toasted coconut. Keep in fridge until needed for cake construction.
For the Ube buttercream
- In a large bowl, beat the room temp salted butter until lighter and fluffy (up to 5 minutes). Then add in 1 cup of the sifted powdered sugar at a time, beating in between additions. Finally, add in the ube extract and salt and beat to combine. If needed, add 1 or more tablespoons of heavy cream to make the buttercream less stiff and more workable/pipeable. Taste the buttercream as you go and add more flavoring or powdered sugar if needed.
For the Cake Construction:
- If you’d like, toast off some large unsweetened coconut flakes in a pan now and then let cool for construction. Once the cake layers are frozen, carefully unwrap the plastic wrap, and prepare a cake turntable. Place a cake board onto the turntable and add a small circle of buttercream onto the cake board, then place one of the cake layers on a cake board + buttercream to glue it in place. Then frost the layer with a thin layer of the buttercream, using a palette knife to smooth the frosting. Then scoop some of the buttercream into a piping bag and cut a 1/2 inch opening in the tip. Pipe a ring around the edge of the cake layer as a barrier and fill the circle with half of the coconut pastry cream. Then place a second cake layer on top of this and repeat the layer and ring of buttercream and pastry cream. Then place the final layer on top.
- Crumb coat the entire cake with more of the buttercream, then freeze or chill the entire cake for 15 minutes to set the cake and the frosting. Remove the cake from the freezer and add a final layer of the buttercream. Press toasted coconut flakes around the base of the cake if desired. Then scoop the excess buttercream into a piping bag with a tip of your choice. Pipe buttercream around the top edge of the cake. Then freeze for 10 minutes to set the frosting.
- Add any other decor desired like fresh flowers. Store in the fridge and then let it come to room temperature before serving (~2 hours). Store leftover cake in the fridge as the pastry cream must remain chilled.
Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your cake!
Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber
