Small Batch Cherry and Coconut Cake

Cherry cake is such a classic. My cherry and coconut cake is light, moist and most of all, FULL of flavour! Ready to bake in under 15 minutes!

Watch me make this cake here.

This cake has two cherry cakes with an almond flavouring buttercream, cherry jam decorated with desiccated coconut, glacé cherries and mint leaves.

This cake is little different to your ‘usual’ cake. The cake itself is actually based on a loaf so it’s denser than a usual sponge cake. It’s absolutely scrumptious, 100% vegan, easy to make and bursting with juicy cherries.

Let’s get baking shall we?!!

Happy Birthday Dad!

My dad is the funniest, most caring and overall BEST dad in the world. It’s his birthday today (the day I am posting & writing this recipe) and that only means one thing – CHERRY.

I also made him my popular Vegan Lemon Loaf as well, it’s not his birthday without a fruit packed lemon loaf- haha!

My dad loves bakes including cherry and almond. He also doesn’t like sweet cakes, hence this unique loaf style cake. The cake features a ‘loaf’ style cake, almond flavoured Swiss meringue buttercream, glacé cherries and desiccated coconut.

He loves cherry Bakewell and thought id replicate the flavour of Bakewell by adding a drop of almond extract / flavouring into the buttercream. As I mentioned below, Swiss meringue buttercream isn’t as sweet as American style buttercream so the almond flavour really POPS!

Why have I frosted with Swiss meringue as opposed to American buttercream?

American buttercream is exceptionally sweet. For small batch / mini cakes like these, I want you to taste as much cherry and coconut as possible, without it being overly sweet.

Swiss meringue takes down the sweetness leaving you with a silky smooth, not too sweet buttercream. I always tell people its like eating a buttercream cloud- haha!

Why you need to make this cake:

Easy to make
Cake can be made in one bowl
Scrumptious
Light and fluffy
Looks adorable with the cherries on the side
Fun to make
The perfect addition to any dinner table / celebration
Fruity and refreshing
Bursting with cherries

How to make a Cherry and Coconut cake?

Firstly- lets start off with the cakes. These cakes are absolutely scrumptious! They take a couple of minutes to make prior to baking. Just add all the wet into the bowl, sift in the dry, mix, toss the cherries income flour, fold into the batter and pour into the lined cake tins. It’s that simple!

It can be made in one bowl to meaning less washing up- win, win!

Secondly- Swiss meringue buttercream. I flavoured by buttercream with some almond which taste phenomenal with the cake. In the centre, I made a-little well and filled it with cherry jam / conserve. This adds more flavour and a hidden core which is tasty when you get a mouthful of it!

Decorations- This cake reminds me of a Lamington with the desiccated coconut. That was the kind of look I was going for, but obviously in a 2 tier cake version- haha!

The outside of the cake is coated in coconut, which the glacé cherries and mint leaves really make this cake a wow-factor!

Love cherry? You’ll love these cherry recipes:

Vegan Small Batch Black Forest Cake

No-Bake White Chocolate and Cherry Cheesecake

Black Forest Tartlets

Cherry Chocolate Mousse Cake

Notes*

What is aquafaba?

Aquafaba is the water from a can/tin of Chickpeas.The Chickpea water or brine as its called, acts as an amazing egg substitute for cakes, meringue buttercreams etc. You can also buy it in a carton. Check it out here.

What vegan block butter to use?

As Swiss meringue uses liquid from the aquafaba, having a stiffer butter is key. I like the Naturli Vegan Block or Flora Plant Based Block Butter Alternative.

Prepration: 10 minutes

Baking: 55-60 minutes

Serves: 6-8

Level: Easy

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Ingredients for the loaf cake

120ml of dairy-free yogurt (plain or vanilla)
180ml of dairy-free milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract / vanilla bean paste
3 tablespoons of sunflower oil
Squeeze of lemon juice (optional)
150g of icing sugar
250g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
80g of glacé cherries

Ingredients for the frosting

150g of dairy-free block butter (see notes*)
250g of icing sugar
1 teaspoon of almond extract / flavouring
30ml of aquafaba (chickpea brine) see notes*

+ Extras you’ll need for filling and decorating

Cherry jam / preserve
Desiccated coconut
Glacé cherries
Mint leaves

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Method (cake)

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees c fan, and line two, 6 inch spring form cake tins with grease proof paper.

2. In a bowl, mix together the dairy-free yogurt, milk, vanilla extract, lemon juice and oil. Whisk together with a hand whisk to combine.

3. Sift in the icing sugar, flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Fold into the wet until smooth.

4. Roll the glaće cherries in some flour to coat them. This helps to prevent them from sinking in the batter when baking.

Fold in the cherries until evenly distributed.

5. Divide the batter equally between the two cake tins and tap the tins on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.

Place into the middle of the oven and bake for 55-60 minutes. You will know they are done when you put a knife or skewer in and it comes out clean and they are springy to the touch.

6. Place the cakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool fully.

Once cool, pop them into a sealed container to keep them fresh before frosting.

Method (swiss meringue buttercream)

1. In a large mixing bowl, add in the dairy-free butter, whip until creamy. I use a stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment, a hand mixer will work great too.

2. Sift in the icing sugar and pour in the almond extract / flavouring, whip on high speed for a couple of minutes to incorporate it.

3. Pour in the aquafaba and whip for 5 minutes until it turns light and creamy. Don’t over whip it or it can become too soft. If it does, just add in more icing sugar until it’s thick and creamy. The buttercream should be airy and light. You might need to add in some more butter to get it to the right consistency.

Tip- If the buttercream ever looks like its splitting, add chunks more butter at a time while its still whipping on medium / high speed. It’ll come back together within a minute or two.

4. Place one of the cakes on a serving plate or cake stand. Dollop some of the buttercream on top and spread out until even using an off set spatula or pallet knife.

Make a well in the middle of the buttercream and fill with 2 heaped tablespoons of cherry compote / jam. Sprinkle over some desiccated coconut (optional).

5. Place the second cake layer on top. Press it down gently so it sticks.

Coat the whole cake with the buttercream. To create this naked effect, only coat the cake with a very thin crumb coat. A top coat isn’t needed.

6. While the buttercream is fresh, press desiccated coconut all over the cake- up the sides and ontop. The easiest way to do this is scoop a handful of desiccated coconut in your hand and press up to the sides of the cake.

7. Press glacé cherries and mint leaves around the cake (as seen in the photos).

To store:

Keep this cake stored in a sealed container in the fridge. Best eaten within 3 days of making.

Un-iced cakes can be stored in a sealed container at room temperature for 2 days.