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Giant Coconut Macaroon Cake

A GIANT Version Of The Classic Coconut Cookie - in CAKE!

Ever since the French macaron became a huge CRAZE, it seems like these adorable little chocolate-dipped coconut treats have disappeared! But let’s get things straight - THOSE are called macarons, THESE are macaroons… and that one extra ‘o’ makes all the difference.

To settle the debate once and for all, I’m caking the GIANT version of BOTH sweet treats! To make this Giant Coconut Macaroon Cake, I baked some of my yummy Coconut Cake, filled & iced it in coconut-infused Italian Meringue buttercream and covered it all with some toasted coconut chips. I even made sure to drizzle it with chocolate - because really, that’s the best part!

Which one do YOU prefer?

PS - Check out my Giant French Macaron recipe here!

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Baking the Cake:

1 Recipe of Yo’s Coconut Cake

Icing The Cake:

Simple Syrup
Italian Meringue Buttercream
1 can Creamed Coconut (Coco Lopez)

Decorating The Cake:

3 cups Toasted Coconut Chips
1 ½ cups Dark Cocoa Candy Melts

Item Name:	Availability:
1 x 8” Round Cake Pans, lined with parchment paper
1 x 7” Round Cake Pans, lined with parchment paper
1 x 6” Round Cake Pans, lined with parchment paper
Rubber Spatula
Ruler
Serrated Knife
Small Serrated Knife
Small Icing Spatula	Add to Cart -
Small Offset Spatula	Add to Cart -
Parchment Piping Bag
Simple Syrup Squeeze Bottle	Add to Cart -

Bake Cakes

Prepare one portions of Yo’s Ultimate Coconut Cake recipe. Divide your batter according to the following specifications:

8” round cake pan - 2 ¼ lbs per pan (1 hr 5 mins)
7” round cake pan - 1 ¾ lb per pan (55 mins)
6” round cake pan - 1 ¼ lb per pan (55 mins)

Bake at 350 degrees for the times mentioned above in brackets, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool cakes completely in their pans sitting on a wire rack.

Prepare Buttercream

Prepare your Italian Meringue Buttercream. Split your buttercream in two separate bowls so that there’s 3 cups in each bowl. In one bowl, add ½ cup of Creamed Coconut (like Coco Lopez) and use a whisk to combine. Set aside.

Prepare Simple Syrup

Prepare your simple syrup and set aside at room temperature.

Level Cakes

Once your cakes are completely cool, remove them from their pans and level with a ruler and serrated knife. Flip your cakes over and cut off all the caramelization from the bottoms of your cakes, as well.

Carve A Macaroon “Mound”

Begin by stacking your cake layers on top of each other - from the biggest layer on the bottom to the smallest layer on top. Next, use your serrated knife to carve a little coconut ‘hill’ or ‘mound’ so that it looks like there is a soft, rounded bump on top and rounding down all around the sides until you reach the bottom, making sure to cut off all the caramelization from the sides.

Note: This is a very forgiving cake for beginner bakers. As long as your stacked cakes end up looking like a little mound or hill, you can’t go wrong!

Create Your Layers

Once you’re happy with the shape, separate your three cake layers and cut each layer in half horizontally so that you have a total of six layers of cake.

It’s Simple!

Shower all of your cake layers with a layer of simple syrup. Allow the simple syrup to soak in completely before moving on to the next step.

Stack Your Cakes

Starting with the biggest cake layer on the bottom, begin stacking and filling your coconut cake layers with your coconut-flavoured Italian Meringue buttercream using a small offset spatula until you reach the top. Set aside.

Crumb Coat & Chill

Crumb coat your cake with your coconut-flavoured Italian Meringue buttercream using a small offset spatula & chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

Ice Again

Remove your cake from the fridge and ice again, making sure to get a nice, thick layer of buttercream all around the cake. Set aside at room temperature. (Do NOT chill this time!)

Note: If you run out of the coconut buttercream, you can simply make a little more. Or, if you prefer, just use the plain buttercream to cover the cake instead!

Go Coco-NUTS!

With your freshly-iced cake still at room temperature, press on 3 cups of toasted coconut chips with the palm of your hand all around your cake. You want to make sure that the whole cake is covered and that there’s no buttercream visible. If there’s any areas with buttercream still visible, feel free to spot treat that area and push some more coconut chips directly into that spot until it’s entirely covered.

Note: It’s a good idea to do this step over a large cookie sheet or baking pan so that you can collect all of the fallen coconut chips and use them again. (It’s a lot easier to clean up, too!)

Everything’s Better With CHOCOLATE

No coconut macaroon is complete without being dipped and drizzled in melted chocolate! First, melt down your chocolate candy melts and use a spoon or spatula to drizzle a bit of chocolate across the top of your cake. Once you’re happy with the way it looks, fill a parchment piping bag with your remaining melted chocolate and pipe a ring all along the bottom of the cake to make it look like the bottom of your macaroon has been dipped in chocolate. Set aside until the chocolate hardens, then serve!