High Altitude Chocolate Coconut Cake

This high altitude chocolate coconut cake features my signature high altitude chocolate cake, frosted with fluffy coconut cream cheese buttercream, covered in crunchy coconut flakes and chopped dark chocolate. Chocolate cake with coconut frosting is simple to decorate, but makes a beautiful dessert for any holiday or special occasion.

You might also love these high altitude cake recipes for classic coconut cake, pistachio coconut cake, and strawberry coconut cake.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Easy to Decorate. One of the things I love about coconut cake is that you don’t have to have any cake decorating skills at all. Your frosting doesn’t need to be perfectly smooth, because you’re just covering it all up with crunchy coconut flakes. A few dark chocolate squares or truffles on top of the cake adds the perfect finishing touch.

Soft and Moist. The chocolate cake is a wonderful cake recipe that stays soft and moist for days after baking. It pairs perfectly with any flavor of buttercream.

High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

Chocolate Cake

• ½ Recipe Chocolate Cake. I used half my chocolate cake recipe to make a three layer 6-inch cake. For a standard sized 8-inch cake, make the full cake recipe.

Coconut Buttercream

• Cream Cheese + Butter. When making cream cheese frosting, you’ll get a much more stable consistency by using half butter and half cream cheese.
• Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the buttercream.
• Meringue Powder + Corn Starch. Adds stability to the cream cheese and improves the texture of the frosting.
• Salt. Balances the sweetness.
• Vanilla + Coconut Extracts. When I make my classic high altitude coconut cake recipe, I use coconut cream in the buttercream. But I felt that would make the frosting on today’s cake too soft, when combined with the cream cheese. So instead I simply use coconut extract for flavor.
• Coconut Flakes. I rarely use sweetened shredded coconut, since I don’t like how it looks or tastes. Unsweetened natural coconut flakes look beautiful and taste amazing on a cake.
• Chocolate. As I thought about how to decorate this chocolate coconut cake, I considered a chocolate ganache drip on top, so that the cake wouldn’t look the same as my other coconut cakes. But I knew the ganache wouldn’t drip smoothly over the coconut, and I’d be unhappy with how it looked. So instead, chopped dark chocolate mixed into the coconut flakes and pressed onto the cake was the perfect simple solution.

Instructions

Chocolate Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly spray the bottoms of three 6-inch round cake pans with non-stick baking spray.
• Prepare 1/2 the recipe for Chocolate Cake, as instructed. For a standard-sized 8-inch cake, make the full chocolate cake recipe and use three 8-inch cake pans. You will also need to double the coconut buttercream.
• Divide the batter between the prepared pans, and bake for about 20-22 minutes, until the tops of the cakes spring back when gently touched, and a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Set the pans on a cooling rack and cool the cakes completely before frosting.

Coconut Buttercream

• In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter for 1 minute, until smooth.
• With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar by spoonfuls, the meringue powder, corn starch and salt, mixing until combined. Add the extracts.
• Increase the speed to medium, and beat the buttercream for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl down several times, until light and fluffy.
• Stack, fill and frost the cooled cakes with the buttercream. I recommend applying a thin crumb coat first, chilling the cake for 30 minutes, then frosting the cake with a final coat of buttercream.
• Chop the chocolate so that you have a mixture of fine pieces and chunks no bigger than 1/4 inch. Combine the chopped chocolate with the coconut, then press the mixture all over the top and sides of the cake. Do this by just scooping up handfuls, pressing it against the sides, and gathering up what falls onto the counter to press it back onto the cake.

Recipe Variations

Sheet Cake. For a 9×13 inch cake, follow the baking instructions for this chocolate sheet cake.

8-Inch Cake. Today’s photographed cake is a smaller 6-inch cake that serves 8 people. For a standard sized 8-inch layer cake that serves 16 people, make the full chocolate cake recipe. You will also need to double the coconut cream cheese buttercream.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.

Frequently Asked Questions

How should I store leftover chocolate coconut cake?

Store the cake in an airtight container or cake carrier for up to 3 days.

Can this cake be frozen?

You can freeze the assembled and frosted cake in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

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