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If this coconut eton mess cake with whipped ricotta cream doesn’t brighten your day, then I don’t know what will. You see, I told you!! SPRING!!
I know, I know, spring doesn’t officially start until Sunday, but I just could not help myself. Gimme all the color please! Let’s recap: we started with this KILLER Shawarma Chicken Salad, then moved on to these pretty Blueberry Muffin Yogurt Bowls, killed Wednesday with this Green Goddess Zucchini Pasta and now we are ending on a major high note with this pretty, berry filled, Coconut Eton Mess Cake!!
So yeah, Bring-On-Spring, I am SOO ready!
WATCH HOW-TO VIDEO HERE:
Also, I’m pretty excited for Easter as well! I kind of love Easter. It’s just fun. Fun colors, fun food and then ok, I love the idea that with Easter comes lots and lots of chocolate. 🙂 Oddly, there is zero chocolate in this cake, but it’s still cool, cause there is coconut, whipped ricotta and all this delicious fresh fruit. Lovin it.
I’m going to attempt to keep things short today. I’m getting my wisdom teeth pulled in the morning and well, I’m basically trying to get as much done before then as possible. And yes, I am totally having a feast for dinner tonight in fear of the “soft foods” diet.
UGH.
Honest truth? I’m not sure how long the whole “soft foods only” thing will last with me. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I will totally be eating all the ice cream my stomach will allow, but I just can’t go very long without REAL food…aka crunchy tacos, granola, big ass salads and um basically, foods that need chewing. This should be interesting…
But anyway, this COCONUT ETON MESS CAKE!!
Isn’t it pretty? And fun?!? So perfect for Easter, it just kind of screams – SPRING! Ok and even summer too, I’m most definitely excited for that! Oh, and in case you were wondering…it’s still snowing here.
So if you’ve never heard of Eton Mess, it’s a traditional English dessert, usually made in a dish, with fresh fruit, smashed pieces of meringue, and cream. Super simple, but super delish. There are a ton of different fruit combos that can be used, but strawberries and bananas are most traditional… clearly I didn’t go completely traditional.
I took the idea of fresh fruit with smashed meringue and cream and basically put it all into a cake (not a new idea, but so much more fun!). BUT not just any cake, nope, a vanilla coconut cake. It’s EVERYTHING. I know at first glance you might think this cake looks difficult make, but it’s actually the complete opposite. An Eton Mess (Cake), is well, messy… so you really can’t go wrong. Just add fruit, cream and smashed meringue and inevitably your cake will be pretty and perfect!
As I said, the cake itself is a yummy and crazy moist vanilla coconut cake. The cake portion alone is awesome and perfectly sweet, so I didn’t want to go too crazy with the toppings. I went with a whipped ricotta cream and some fresh strawberries, raspberries and passion fruit. I also had a few blood oranges on hand so I added some slices of those in as well. You can really go with any of your favorite fruit combos, all berries would be delicious! Once you have your cream + fruit, just crumble on some homemade or store-bought meringue.
See, simple?!?
And then decorate with edible flowers or just add more fruit. Best part? Not only is this cake delicious, but it doubles as the perfect center piece for Easter Brunch or Easter Dinner.
COOL! 🙂
Oh but guys?
Do you think this cake would make the “acceptable” list once I get my wisdom teeth pulled?? I still have two slices left (that I’ve secretly hidden from family). I’m thinking they will be the perfect treat once the Novocaine wears off…
Coconut Eton Mess Cake with Whipped Ricotta Cream.
Servings: 8 Servings
Calories Per Serving: 1298 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Coconut Cake
- 3 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/4 cups canola oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup honey
- 3 whole eggs + 3 egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups full-fat canned coconut milk
- zest of 1 lemon
- 6-8 homemade or store-bought meringues
- edible flowers for decorating (optional)
Whipped Ricotta Cream
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 16 ounce whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
To assemble the Cake
- 1 cup fresh strawberries divided
- 2 cups fresh raspberries divided
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1-2 blood oranges
- 2 passion fruits
- 6-8 homemade or store-bought meringues
- edible flowers for decorating (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 8-inch (or 9 inch) round cake pans, or line with parchment paper, then butter/spray with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand held mixer) beat together the canola oil, sugar, honey, eggs + egg yolks and vanilla until smooth. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients with the mixer on low until there are no longer any clumps of flour. Add the coconut milk and mix until combined. Batter should be pourable, but not super thin. Stir in the lemon zest.
- Pour the batter among the 3 cake pans and bake 25-30 minutes, until the tops are just set and no longer wiggly in the center. Remove and let cool five minutes, then run a knife around the edges of the pan. Grab 3 large flat plates, line them with wax or parchment paper and invert the cakes onto the paper lined plates. Cover and let the cakes cool completely before assembling.
Whipped Ricotta Cream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand held mixer) fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add the ricotta and heavy cream, continue to whip until the the ricotta is smooth and the cream has fluffed, about 6-8 minutes. Add the honey + vanilla and whip until combined. Keep the cream covered in the fridge until ready to assemble.
Assemble the Cake
- In a bowl, mash together 1/2 cup chopped strawberry and 1/2 cup raspberries until you have a loose sauce.
- Place one cake layer on a serving plate or cake stand and drizzle lightly with honey. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta cream over the cake and then swirl 1/3 over the mashed berries into the cream. Crumble 2-3 meringues over top. Add a handful of fresh chopped strawberries, raspberries, orange slices and passion fruit. Repeat with the remaining 2 cake layers. Be careful not to over fill your layers with fruit or the cake will be hard to slice.
- If desired, decorate the cake with edible flowers.
Notes
*Coconut Cake adapted from [Martha Stewart | http://www.marthastewart.com/341935/coconut-layer-cake].
YUP. For sure, I mean, cake cures all!! ?
Stunningly beautiful! Happy Spring!
Thanks Terri! Have a great weekend! 🙂
Incredible — sharing!
Thank you so much, Sue!! Have a great weekend! 🙂
Tieghan, this cake is absolutely beautiful!!!! 🙂 Hope you have a great weekend!
Thanks Lucia! Have a great weekend! 🙂
As long as the cake is soft enough to mash on the roof of your mouth with your tongue, you should be okay. 😉
That being said, this is so beautiful. Lovely to see an Eton Mess without bananas.
haha! Thank you and Have a great weekend! 🙂
CAKE CAKE IT’S MY (UN)BIRTHDAY! LOL! This looks absolutely stupendous–I’d put it in a museum but eat it before anyone would get to take pictures! I’m so happy that spring is coming up soon–this means beautiful flowers, green grass, sunlight, more raw foods and spring cleaning!
hehe! Thank you so much, Cassie! Have a great weekend! 🙂
This cake! Yessss!!! Perfect for a soft diet! 😉
Thanks so much, Rebecca! Have a great weekend! 🙂
This cake is all kinds of beautiful! I am so with you…it’s pretty much Spring!! And I need something like this to add alllll the pep to my step!
Thanks so much, Katrina! Have a great weekend! 🙂
Wow this cake looks perfect! You are amazing Tieghan!
Thank you so much! Have a great weekend! 🙂
Srsly gurl. This cake is STUNNING. Good luck with the wisdom teeth… it’s never fun. Just say a prayer that you don’t get dry socket and you’ll be eating this cake in no time!
hehe! Thank you so much! Have a great weekend! 🙂
CAN’T WAIT to try this one ! I’m watching masterchef australia while browsing food blog. No need to say I want to eat & cook everything right now ! But this cake ! It’s splendid and look so yummy. It’ll go for sure into my to do list for when we start the fresh fruit season here ! (I’m from canada and this morning we just received snow again, it’ll have to wait a little bit ahah)
Thank you so much!! It’s snowing here too! Have a great weekend! 🙂
This cake is so stunning and just screams spring!! The photos are also so bright and spring-y and just gorgeous (as always)!!
Thank you so much! Have a great weekend! 🙂
Stunning photos! This cake is the best comfort food for post-wisdom-teeth-pulling 🙂
Thanks so much! Have a great weekend!!
oh what a beautiful mess!
Thanks Debi! Have a great weekend! 🙂
Wow this cake looks absolutely beautiful! Totally brighten up my morning seeing this! Stunning photography!
Thank you so much, Linda!! Have a great weekend! 🙂
This cake-just gorgeous! Good luck with the wisdom teeth. Try to keep icing your jaws as much as possible the first 2 days. It really helps with the pain and swelling/bruising. You make great smoothies so they should be good to sip. They will probably tell you not to use a straw at first. With your fortitude you’ll get through this in no time!
Thank you so much!! Have a great weekend! 🙂