Easter Cake (Seems Like a Nest!)

Out of all of the seasonal sweet offered in shops all year long, I believe Easter sweet takes the cake. (See what I did there?) Easter bunny, you’ve obtained the best thought. Give me a basket filled with peanut butter eggs, please!

Right now I’m sharing a enjoyable Easter cake dessert, a recipe I initially revealed again in 2017 and have served each Easter vacation since. This lovely birds’ nest cake actually makes an impression, however one of the best half is… adorning this Bundt cake couldn’t be simpler! Undoubtedly a lot easier than a layer cake, although in case you’re up for a problem, my carrot cake and coconut cake recipes additionally make for a candy finale to a springtime meal.

Listed here are one of the best elements to make use of in your Easter cake and why:

• Cake Flour: To maintain this coconut Bundt cake smooth, and stop it from being too heavy, cake flour is a should. For those who can’t discover it, you can also make this DIY cake flour substitute.
• Baking Powder + Baking Soda: Each leaveners elevate this cake up because it bakes.
• Salt: At all times wanted for taste.
• Butter: For that unparalleled buttery cake taste. That you must cream the butter, so be sure you’re beginning with correct room temperature butter (it might be cooler than you suppose!).
• Sugar: We’re utilizing granulated sugar to sweeten this Easter cake.
• Lemons: For one of the best taste, use contemporary lemons. You’ll use each the zest and the juice; keep in mind to zest first, earlier than slicing and juicing—a lot simpler than attempting to zest a squeezed lemon half!
• Coconut Oil: Utilizing oil in muffins helps to maintain the cake moist; and right here you’ve the additional advantage of slightly additional coconut taste, too.
• Eggs: Key for binding the elements collectively, so the cake doesn’t collapse (see beneath!). Use entire eggs right here, for a denser-style cake. My common coconut cake makes use of simply egg whites, and is far lighter and fluffier.
• Vanilla + Coconut Extracts: Taste and extra taste.
• Bitter Cream + Complete Milk: A cautious ratio of those 2 elements provides this cake one of the best steadiness of construction and moisture.
• Sweetened Shredded/Flaked Coconut: I like to recommend utilizing sweetened shredded coconut, generally offered as sweetened flaked coconut. It’s moister than unsweetened coconut, and that makes a giant distinction within the cake’s texture. I decreased the added sugar within the cake batter to make up for the sweetness. A cup goes into the cake batter; save the remainder for feathering the nest!

For at this time’s coconut Bundt cake, my workforce and I went by means of 3 rounds of testing to land on perfection:

1. I began with a few of the similar elements and ratios as this lemon coconut cake. Bundt muffins can tend to end up heavy and dry, and my first attempt at a coconut model was each. The feel was overly dense—even powerful. I’m fairly positive mama chicken wouldn’t deem this a suitably smooth nest for her eggs!
2. The second cake my workforce and I examined had higher taste and was positively softer, however utterly crumbled aside once we minimize into it. (Did you see that on my Instagram stories the opposite week? The coconutty cake crumbles tasted scrumptious over a bowl of orange sherbet, although!)
3. For the third attempt, I took a observe from my cranberry orange Bundt cake and used a mix of bitter cream and entire milk to attain the best steadiness of construction and moisture. We additionally decreased the quantity of coconut within the batter, which was inflicting extra crumbliness, and added another egg, to assist with binding the crumb collectively. The third time was certainly the appeal, and that’s the recipe you’ll see right here at this time.

Silky clean cream cheese frosting is very easy to unfold on a Bundt cake as a result of it glides proper on. As well as, it’s a superb “glue” for all of the fluffy, feathery coconut on prime.

You’ll taste at this time’s cream cheese frosting with contemporary lemon juice, however be happy to additionally add 1/2 teaspoon of coconut extract to the frosting in case you’d wish to amp up the coconut taste.

I wish to toast slightly little bit of the sweetened coconut so as to add some colour variation on prime of this Easter nest cake. It additionally provides that scrumptious crispy texture and toasted taste.

For a distinction of texture and colour, I toasted about half of the coconut. You’ll be able to go away the coconut untoasted or toast all of it—the choice is yours.

Unfold the coconut on an ungreased baking sheet, and toast in a 300°F (150°C) oven for about 6–8 minutes, till it’s golden-brown. Let it cool utterly earlier than utilizing. Tremendous straightforward.