Coconut Buttercream Frosting

Coconut Buttercream Frosting is absolutely amazing! It’s luscious and creamy with a tropical twist deserving of completing the finest of cakes, specifically, the legendary 1-2-3-4 Cake. Coconut cake is one of my favorite childhood memories. I just wish I had been older to have watched her make this with perfection. It has always been an inspiration to try to replicate; I will try to do my best.

My grandmother was quite the baker. She would often bake for others in our small town of Berlin located on the “Eastern Shore” of Maryland about 7 miles west of Ocean City. She had a huge chest freezer located on the porch area just off of her kitchen. A coconut cake awaiting pick up would be placed on top of the freezer, the base of which was eyeball height to me at the time.

My quest to recreate her coconut cake is ongoing. My search for the perfect recipe has often met dead ends. So I guess I’ll have to go it alone for now. The struggle is real, but the journey is never-ending. Praying for divine intervention as I cook in my kitchen lab will continue. So close…Now, My grandmother, I believe used a 7-minute type of icing before applying the coconut. However, in this case, the weather was humid and wet so I opted to go with a buttercream this time. I’ll save that adventure for another day.

After following the directions to achieve the result shown above, I begin to dollop the frosting on layer one. Disclosure: I split the recipe for 1-2-3-4 Cake in half which was just enough for 2- 6″ layers. I therefore split the frosting recipe in half as well. It was the perfect amount for these two small layers.

Gently press coconut flakes into the sides and top of the cake.

Here’s a Smith Island Cake version of the same cake I made for my birthday! It was quite decadent with all of this frosting between like 9 thin layers of cake. Each bite was so worth it, though.