You’ve had lemon cake before, but have you ever tried a lime cake?
How about a lime coconut cake?
I certainly never had. That is, until I developed this Lime in the Coconut Cake recipe.
(How could I possibly call it anything else??? 😄)
Lime Cake Inspiration
I’ve always been a fan of lemon desserts. (Try my Doris Day Lemon Cake or White Chocolate Lemon Blondies!)
But last year, I really started getting into lime as a secondary dessert flavor, like in my Pear Pie.
I decided to experiment with a dessert where that crisp, sweet, yet tart lime flavor would be more prominent. The coconut in these cakes adds a delicious, unique texture, but the lime flavor really takes center stage.
And it’s heavenly.
Enhancing the Lime in Lime Cake
There’s nothing that disappoints me more than a lemon-flavored dessert that doesn’t taste all that lemony. And that was definitely something I wanted to avoid with these lime cakes!
My secret to getting an intense lime flavor here is three-fold.
Lime Juice
Lime Zest
Lime Extract
Yep, lime extract. Did you know that existed?
It was a new discovery for me, and now I can’t get enough! You can find my favorite lime extract here on Amazon [aff. link]. Using lime extract in these cakes really brings out the natural lime flavor of the lime juice and zest. And the thing that I love most about this particular lime extract is that it’s completely natural tasting itself. This lime extract really is the ultimate reason why these perfectly moist little cakes are also so perfectly sweet and tart.
Two Things!
You may remember how much I love baking with desiccated coconut from my Boy Meets World Cookies. Desiccated coconut is shredded coconut that has been dried. So there’s no moisture in desiccated coconut, unlike most shredded or flaked coconut you find at the grocery store. I use desiccated coconut again here, and it adds a great textural note to the smooth and moist crumb of these cakes. Desiccated coconut can be hard to find at the grocery store, so I buy favorite here on Amazon [aff. link].
And one more thing! You can certainly make this Lime in the Coconut Cake in an 8×8 inch or 9×9 inch pan. But I recommend using this gorgeous bundtlette pan from Nordic Ware [aff. link].
Can you believe how stunning this pan is?!!! I’m such a fan of all Nordic Ware products, and this bundtlette pan is definitely a favorite. You won’t believe how easy it is to get these cakes out of the pan, and a beautiful mold like this can turn any cake into a work of art.
A New Favorite
Make these lime cakes ASAP, and I’m sure you’ll find yourself as big a fan of lime flavored desserts as I am. 😋
Lime in the Coconut Cake
Ingredients
For the wet ingredients:
- 1/3 cup butter, melted
- 1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp oil, I use canola oil
- 2 Tbsp lime juice, freshly squeezed
- 3 Tbsp lime extract
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 ½ tsp lime zest
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ cup almond milk, or milk of choice
- 2 egg whites
For the dry ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 1/3 cup coconut, shredded and desiccated
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
For the icing:
- 1 2/3 cups powdered sugar, plus a few more Tbsp if the icing is too thin
- 2 tsp lime zest
- 2 tsp lime extract
- 3 Tbsp lime juice
- Dash of salt
Instructions
Whip the egg whites
- Separate 2 egg whites from their yokes (we won’t need these yokes in the recipe), and put the egg whites in a very clean mixing bowl.
- With a handheld or stand mixer with very clean beaters, beat the egg whites on medium speed until stiff peaks form, about 3-4 minutes.
- A quick note: when you begin beating the egg whites, they will first become a bubbly foam, but after 3-4 minutes the egg whites will get really light and fluffy—like clouds—and stiff peaks will form. You know the peaks are stiff enough if when you take your egg beaters out of the egg whites, the peaks hold their shape and kind of lift out of the bowl with the egg beaters. (Check out my Chiffon Cake Recipe for photo reference!)
- Set aside, and proceed quickly with the following steps.
Cream the wet ingredients
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, use a handheld or stand mixer to cream together the oil, melted butter, sugar, vanilla extract, lime extract, and lime zest until well combined, about one minute.
- Now add the egg. Beat with your mixer until combined.
- Now add in the milk, and again mix until the milk is completely incorporated.
Mix in the dry ingredients
- Add the flour, coconut, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to the other ingredients, and mix with your handheld/stand mixer until smooth and combined, but don’t over mix!
Fold in the egg whites
- Now fold in the egg whites with a silicon spatula (see photos in my Chiffon Cake recipe for folding technique.) You want to completely combine the egg whites into the cake batter, but fold softly so as not to deflate them.
Bake the cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
For the bundtlette pan
- If using the Nordic Ware bundlette pan (I highly recommend!!!), oil the pan well, and fill each bundtlette cavity about 3/4 of the way full. You will have just about 3/4 cup of batter left over. I use a little 8 oz ramekin for the remaining batter, and I bake the ramekin alongside the bundtlettes.
- Bake for 21-23 minutes, until the cakes are mostly firm to the touch—there will be a slight jiggle. Don’t overbake!
- Let the bundtlettes cool for 10 minutes, then carefully take them out of the pan. I like to use a butter knife to help loosen the cakes a little bit, if necessary, then I carefully use my hands to pull each cake out.
For an 8x8 inch or 9x9 inch pan
- If not using the Nordicware bundtlette pan, pour the cake batter into an oiled 8x8 inch or 9x9 inch pan.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the cake is mostly firm on top—there will be a slight jiggle—and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean.
Make the icing
- While the cakes cool a bit, make the icing.
- In a medium sized bowl, add 1 2/3 cup powdered sugar, lime zest, lime extract lime juice, and salt.
- Mix it altogether with a fork until smooth. You want the icing to be thick enough that it doesn’t pour easily. We’ll drizzle the icing over the cakes, and if it’s too thin, the icing won’t stay where it’s drizzled.
- If the icing is too runny at this point, add 1 Tbsp more powdered sugar. If it’s still too runny, add 1 more Tbsp of powdered sugar.
Ice the cakes
- After you’ve removed the bundtlettes from the pan, ice them while they’re still slightly warm.
- I like to dip a butter knife in the icing, and drizzle it over the top of the cakes, but feel free to get creative, and use as much or as little icing as desired.
Serve and enjoy!
- Serve the cakes alone or with a nice cup of almond milk. Enjoy!
6 Responses
I love sweet + tart desserts! They are so perfect for hot summer days. I don’t think I’ve ever had a lime cake, and I certainly didn’t know about lime extract. But you’ve got my attention with this recipe! This sounds like a tropical paradise with the coconut + lime in there. And excellent choice on making these into mini-bundtlettes (that’s a new word to me). Individually-sized desserts are always so much fun!
Oh I totally agree David! Why is cake better when we get our own little mini cake?!! 😆. It always is that way for me and I can’t explain it. Isn’t lime extract intriguing? I am addicted to the stuff now! So much fun, definitely give it a try!
These are so cute, Shannon! I love lemon and lime but don’t seem to bake many lime cakes or cookies as the kids don’t appreciate those flavours just yet. I just imagine the coconut and lime flavour combo is heavenly though. I had no idea there was such a thing as lime extract, so thank you for that information – I need to check it out. And yes, I couldn’t agree more – Nordic Ware is the bees knees!!
Thanks Katerina! I was so intrigued by the lime extract as well! Definitely one of my new favorite ingredients to cook with. And yes, Nordic Ware is so amazing! Love all their beautiful pans. ♥️
No, I haven’t had a lime cake, let alone one with coconut. But I’d sure love to! Your bundtletttes are so tempting! The recipe looks super interesting. All that juice, zest, and even extract – I’ll bet these are delicious.
Thanks Jeff! Definitely my new favorite cake, such a unique combo that somehow makes sense haha. I’m all about lime these days!