Easy Coconut Sheet Cake

Source: Tastykitchen.com, via Pinterest

Ingredients:

For the cake:
1 box (18.25 oz. box) white cake mix
1 package (3.4 oz. size) vanilla pudding mix
¼ cups canola oil
½ cups water
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs
1 teaspoon coconut extract (my addition)
1 cup shredded coconut

For the glaze:
¾ cups powdered sugar
¼ cups butter
2 ounces, weight cream cheese
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon milk (I used coconut milk, since I happened to have it on hand)

For the frosting:
8 ounces, weight cream cheese
¼ cups butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon coconut extract (again, I added this to give the frosting more coconut flavor)
1 cup shredded coconut
½ cups toasted coconut, for garnish (I made mine by slowly toasting it on the stove over low heat)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour a 13″ x 9″ baking dish. In a large mixing bowl, blend together cake mix, vanilla pudding, canola oil, water, sour cream, and eggs. Blend on medium speed for 3 minutes. Add the coconut and mix well. Pour into the greased pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until lightly brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.


2. For the glaze, cream together the powdered sugar, butter, and cream cheese. Add lemon juice and milk and blend until smooth. Poke small holes in the cake with a knife or toothpick. Pour the glaze over the warm cake. After the glaze has soaked into the cake for a few minutes, place the cake in the fridge and allow to cool completely.


3. For the frosting, cream together the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Add shredded (untoasted) coconut and mix well. Gently spread over the cooled cake. Don’t worry if some of the glaze mixes with the frosting while you are spreading it on—it will be delicious! Sprinkle toasted coconut on top.


4. Store the cake in the fridge to keep it fresh and yummy.

Comments:

This cake was incredible! I made it for Scott's mom's birthday a couple weeks ago -- coconut cake is her favorite -- and it turned out so yummy! Really dense and moist; plus, the glaze and frosting added even more moistness and incredible flavor. As I mentioned, I added coconut extract and coconut milk in the different components of the cake to give it even more of a "coconutty" flavor. This cake is definitely going to go into our dessert rotation!