Coconut Lime White Chocolate Chip Cake

I made myself this cake for Mother’s Day. I’ve been wanting to make the cake since Maria posted the recipe on her great blog, Two Peas and Their Pod, last month. Megan at Megan’s Cookin did a gorgeous version of it for Easter.

Then a couple of days later, my good blogging friend HoneyB posted a recipe for Lime Coconut White Chocolate Muffins and I knew white chocolate would be a perfect addition to this cake. Also, since I rarely use buttermilk, I substituted light sour cream.

I absolutely loved this cake. It had just the right amount of tartness and sweetness. The lime glaze you pour on it after it’s baked adds tons of flavor and a yummy coating like a glazed donut only tart. The cake is moist and dense like a coffee cake.

I even took a nice big piece and put it in a Ziploc bag and wrote “Mom’s – Don’t Eat” on it so that I could have another piece today. (It was my Mother’s Day cake after all.) I’m thinking it might make a good breakfast as soon as I finish this post!

When I make it next time, and I will make it again, I’ll make more glaze and drizzle the last half a cup over the coconut on top. (It’s doubled below.) Here’s my version:

Coconut Lime White Chocolate Chip Cake
(adapted from Pinch My Salt)
2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sweetened, flaked coconut, divided
1 stick butter, softened
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon grated lime zest (save a pinch to decorate the top)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup light sour cream, at room temperature
6 tablespoons lime juice, divided
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 1/3 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in the middle. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan, line bottom with a round of parchment paper then butter the parchment paper.

2. Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Measure out 1/2 cup of shredded coconut and process in a mini food processor until very finely chopped (you can also finely chop it with a knife). Stir the chopped coconut into the flour mixture and set aside. Combine sour cream and 2 tablespoons of lime juice; set aside.

3. Beat together butter, sugar, and lime zest with an electric mixer until very fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Turn mixer to low speed, add one third of the flour mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the sour cream. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of sour cream. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula. Stir in white chocolate chips

4. Spoon batter into the buttered cake pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake in the center of a preheated 350 degree oven until golden and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 35-45 minutes. Cool to warm, then turn out of pan and discard parchment.

5. Whisk together powdered sugar and the remaining four tablespoons of lime juice. Poke top of cake all over with a fork then pour glaze over the top and drizzle down the sides of the cake, reserving 1/2 cup. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of coconut. Drizzle remaining glaze over coconut.