The Perfect Coconut Key Lime Pie Cake
Coconut Key Lime Pie Cake – Layers of coconut lime cake, coconut buttercream, key lime curd, toasted graham cracker, and toasted coconut.
Coconut Key Lime Pie Cake
Resharing my Coconut Key Lime Pie Cake as green is in the air with St. Patrick’s Day around the corner and this pop of green from the lime curd is just so fun!
The idea for this cake originally came from my stepdad. He is the biggest fan of key lime pie. For months and months he begged me to do a key lime cake, but I keep putting it at the bottom of my cake list because the flavor didn’t really speak to me (probably because it’s a pie flavor and pie isn’t really my cup of tea, as you know).
But as I started to think about this flavor, I realized the reason I was hesitating to make this particular cake was because I couldn’t figure out what I wanted in it.
I was later at Porcupine Grill in Salt Lake with my mom and stepdad, and per usual, Garry ordered the key lime pie for dessert. I took a bite to see if his love of the dessert had rubbed off on me at all. And while I didn’t suddenly love key lime pie, this bite did turn a light bulb on in my head!
The cake itself didn’t need to be lime flavored like I was originally stuck on. This cake just needed a lime element to it. Something with a real lime flavor like you get from the custard in the pie. It also occurred to me that I definitely needed a graham cracker crust. The one element of the pie I decided not to throw into the cake was the meringue topping. It’s too airy and flavorless for a cake, in my opinion.
So without the meringue element, I started to brainstorm other flavor combinations and quickly settled on coconut as the companion to the key lime. With coconut and graham cracker crust in the mix, I was ready to make this cake.
Graham Cracker Crust or Crumbs (Updated)
The graham cracker crust is the same one I use for my Ultimate S’mores Cake and bakes beautifully with the moist and tender coconut cream cake on top.
UPDATE: However, I know that it can be difficult to cut through the crust on the bottom of the cake, so I’ve updated the recipe to include the option of making graham cracker crumbs to use between cake layers instead. The option for the graham cracker crust is still there. I just wanted to make sure you had options.
Buttercream
I also did a coconut buttercream that I flavored with coconut emulsion for a soft, creamy coconut flavor. The tart key lime curd in between each layer provides a nice balance to all the sweetness in the buttercream and cake. I also decided to throw in some toasted coconut – simply because I love different textures in my cake.
Just take a look at all those scrumptious layers! (This is a look at the old version with the graham cracker crust).
After finishing the cake, I was excited to get my hands on the scraps and create a sample piece for myself. I’ll be honest, I was hoping to at least like it, but didn’t expect to love it… but you guys, I seriously died over this cake! I couldn’t stop eating it and literally danced around my kitchen I was so excited about this cake!
Assembly Tips
Stacking and Crumb Coat
Final Coat
The cake layers are moist, the curd is subtly tart, the buttercream is incredibly silky, and the graham cracker crust and toasted coconut are the perfect accents to this pie turned cake!
Enjoy!
Coconut Key Lime Pie Cake
Ingredients
FOR THE LIME CURD
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (120 g) fresh lime juice (about 4 large limes)
- 4 teaspoons (7.2 g) lime zest
- 3 whole eggs at room temperature
- 3 egg yolks at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) LorAnn key lime flavor
- 4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
- Green food gel optional
FOR THE GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST/CRUMBLE (See instructions to make either option)
- 1 1/2 cups (180 g) graham cracker crumbs, about 12 rectangular crackers (this is best done in a food processor or blender, but can be done by placing the graham crackers in a zip-lock bag and rolling over the crackers with a rolling pin)
- 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 (1.5 g) teaspoon salt
FOR THE COCONUT LIME CAKE
- 3 cups (345 g) cake flour
- 1 tablespoon (10 g) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon (5.6 g) salt
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups (350 g) granulated sugar
- 8 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon (16 g) coconut emulsion
- 1 teaspoon (4.2 g) vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons (11.2g) lime zest
- 1 cup (231 g) canned coconut milk, mix the cream and the liquid really well.
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
- 2 cups (452 g) unsalted butter, slightly chilled
- 1/4 cup (60 g) cream of coconut
- 6 cups (750 g) powdered sugar, measured then sifted
- 4 teaspoons (16.8 g) coconut emulsion
- Pinch of salt
- *This buttercream recipe makes enough to fill and cover your cake. If you want to add additional piping you’ll want to make an extra ½ batch.
FOR THE COCONUT
- 1 1/2 cups (150 g) sweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
FOR THE CURD
- In a small sauce pan, combine the sugar, lime juice, and lime zest over medium heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the key lime extract, egg yolks and whole eggs, stirring while you add them. Continue to stir while the mixture cooks for about 5 to 6 minutes. The mixture will thicken during this time. Remove it from the heat and add the butter. Stir until smooth.
- Run the curd through a fine mesh sieve. Once cooled, place plastic wrap directly on top of the curd and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
FOR THE GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Spray three 8-inch or four 6-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray and then line with parchment. Spray again. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar. Stir until all the graham cracker crumbs are damped by the melted butter.
- Divide evenly between the three pans and press down firmly with your hand or the back of a spoon.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool while you make the coconut lime cake.
- OR
FOR THE GRAHAM CRACKER CRUMBLE
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar. Stir until all the graham cracker crumbs are damped by the melted butter.
- Evenly spread the crumbs on the baking sheet, leaving some larger chunks in the mix.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool while you make the coconut lime cake.
FOR THE CAKE
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the sugar together on medium speed for two minutes.
- Gradually add the egg whites, making sure to scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl between additions. Mix on medium-high for 2 minutes after all the eggs are added.
- Add the coconut emulsion and vanilla extract.
- In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk the cake flour, baking powder, lime zest and salt.
- Turn the mixer on low speed and alternately add the flour mixture and the coconut cream, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until combined.
- Evenly distribute the batter over the graham cracker layers (if making with a crust), or pour into prepared pans with no crust, in the three pans and level with an offset spatula.
- Bake for about 23-25 minutes, or until the tops are slightly golden brown and the edges of the cake start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Don’t turn off your oven.
- Let cool in pans for 10 minutes and then invert onto cooling racks to cool completely.
FOR THE COCONUT
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and evenly spread the shredded coconut across the pan in one layer.
- Toast the coconut in the oven for about 10 minutes, checking and stirring every 2 to 3 minutes, until the coconut is golden brown all over.
- Let cool completely before use.
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the butter and coconut cream. Beat on medium-high speed for 1 to 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the sifted powdered sugar, followed by the extracts and salt.
- Turn the mixer to medium speed and beat the frosting until it is light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Before frosting your cake, make sure to mix the frosting by hand with a wooden spoon to push out the air pockets.
ASSEMBLY
- Level each cake layer with a knife or cake leveler.
- Place your first cake layer, right-side up, on a cake plate or cake board. Cover the cake layer with frosting, allowing some of the frosting to go over the edge of the cake, and then pipe a rim around the cake to act as a barrier to the lime curd.
- Pour and spread about 3 to 4 tablespoons of lime curd. Cover with toasted coconut (and the graham cracker crumbs IF YOU DID NOT bake the graham cracker on the bottom of the cake).
- Repeat step 2 and 3 for the second layer, and then place the final cake layer on top, top side up as well. Frost the entire cake with a thin coat of frosting to lock in the crumbs. Freeze the crumb coat for 10 minutes.
- After the crumb coat is chilled, continue frosting the cake and decorate with toasted coconut and lime zest.
LOVE THIS POST, LOVE THIS CAKE AND I LOVE YOUR NEW WEBSITE! ITS BEAUTIFUL!
For the coconut lime cake there is no lime in the recipe?
Yes, there is sorry! Just revised it!
I’m probably just missing something, but in the assembly stage, I’m not seeing where to put the graham layer? Thanks for you help.
You actually just keep the graham cracker layer in the pans after you bake it and then pour the batter on top of it to bake.
I just made the lime curd, but I didn’t see in the instructions when I was supposed to put the LorAnn key lime flavor in. I just put it in when I added the eggs. I hope that was ok! I can’t wait to finish this cake!
Yes it is. Sorry about that miss on my part!
OMG! I can’t wait to dig a fork into this beauty!
Just an observation for you though…Your instructions say to put the final layer of cake, top side down. This would put the graham cracker crust at the very top of the cake, which could be very crumbly to frost. In looking at your pictures, I see that you put all 3 cake layers, top side up. This makes more sense for frosting.
Thank you! I need to correct that.
I finally made this cake to sell at an event… which means I didn’t get to eat it… but the scraps were DELICIOUS! So addicting. Can’t wait to make it again all for me! 🙂 Thanks for the amazing recipe!
Oh yes, you have to make it again so you can try it! It’s so good!
This cake looks amazing! I am going to make it for my moms birthday but i am trying to figure out how i can make it 2 days ahead of time. Should i make the cake up to the crumb frosting level and keep frozen until the day of? I want it to be as fresh as possible. Any tips would be greatly appreciated! I can’t wait to make this!
Yes, you can definitely make it all the way through the crumb coat or even do the entire thing. When you’re done, freeze it for 30 minutes to set the frosting and then wrap the entire thing in plastic wrap to freeze until the night before the party. Move to the fridge overnight and then room temp without the plastic wrap in the mid morning.
I can’t even begin to Express my love for a crust in a cake… this cake is AMAZING!!! Followed the instructions to a T and turned out beautiful!!! Thanks so much!!!
Thank you so much!
You may want to update the graham cracker crust instructions to include the salt! I forgot to add it – it’s listed in the ingredients but not the steps. 🙈
Thanks for catching that!
Hi Courtney! Your site is lovely. You are so talented. Just curious…what type of cream of coconut do you use. The link doesn’t seem to be working. If its similar to Grace cream coconut, do you grate it in the batter? Please confirm. Thanks so much!
Sorry about that. The cream of coconut I use comes in a bottle and can be found in the alcohol aisle at the grocery store.
Does the butter need to be softened in the cake portion? I made this last night and they baked flat and I’m thinking it’s because my butter was very room temperature? I really try not to over mix so I’m thinking it was the butter?
Yes, softened butter is best. If you try it again, maybe even use my new coconut cake recipe for that portion. I think I’ll update it on the key lime pie cake too.
I was wondering what coconut emulsion is? And where can we get the lime flavoring?
Coconut emulsion is like an extract but creamier, and without the alcohol content. You can get lime flavoring at most grocery stores.
Hi Courtney!
I made this cake this week for an event last night. People went CRAZY for it and it was gone in less than 10 minutes- the room was almost silent as people devoured the cake. Not a crumb was left!! The lime curd is the star here but every part of this cake is delicious. Thanks for a great recipe 😁
Yay! I love hearing that!
Hi! I’m in a pinch and my LorAnn’s key lime flavoring won’t be delivered in time and I can’t find anything similar in any local stores. Are they any substitutes that would work in it’s place or could I leave it out all together? Thank you!
Lime extract will work
Hi Courtney! In the lime curd directions there isn’t any key lime extract. Do you add it with the eggs or after you run it through a sieve?
Thanks!
I can’t find that cream of coconut or anything like it in the grocery stores I’ve been to. I’m up in Canada so maybe it’s just not available? Could I use coconut cream instead or would it not have as much flavour? Or maybe a coconut flavouring syrup for putting into drinks?
Yes you can use coconut cream. Don’t use the coconut syrup for drinks.
I just made this cake for a friend’s birthday tomorrow and can’t wait to try it! My cake layers didn’t rise very high, though. I used all really fresh ingredients. What else could it be? Also, does this cake have to be refrigerated due to the lime curd? Thanks!
That’s ok! As long as your layers didn’t sink, you are all good! Some cakes are just heavier than others.
It seems you didn’t put where to layer the graham cracker layer!!
The graham cracker is baked on the bottom of the cake layers…
Hi Courtney, I really want to make this cake this weekend but I can’t find any coconut emulsion in my stores. Would coconut extract work? If so, would I use the same amount as the emulsion?
Yes you can use coconut extract!
I just made this cake for my birthday and it was AMAZING! The flavors and textures are amazing! It was a big hit!
Thank you so much!
Hi Courtney! I’m planning on making this for my boyfriend’s birthday – looks SO GOOD – I’m just wondering whether an ingredient is missing from the cake part of the recipe. There is an extra bullet point that just says “T” and I’m not sure if something was accidentally deleted. Thank you!!!
Yes it’s one cup of canned coconut milk. Not sure why it got deleted! It’s there now!
So excited to make this, as your cakes have not let me down ever. Going with the crumb option, I’ve decided. But rookie flavoring question….. The Lorann Key Lime flavor that I bought on Amazon is labled “super strength”. That’s the same as what’s linked in the ingredient list but just want to make sure that’s right and so that I don’t overpower the cake if I bought the wrong kind. Thanks if you see this and can help!
I would do half the amount!
Just wanted to let you know, I made this cake for our county fair and it won first place!! I kept the crust bottom-loved it. Also, the top two layers legit SLID OFF in the car, and I had to push it back on, needless to say- a real mess. STILL won first place because the flavor and texture is amazing. Love your cakes, haven’t lead me wrong yet! Thank you!!
Well this is the greatest thing I’ve ever heard! Thank you so much for telling me!
Where is the actual recipe? It’s not shown here
Should be there!
i absolutely love your cakes and recipes!
Thank you so much!
Hi Courtney!
First, I can’t wait to make this cake for my mom’s birthday!! I made your chocolate buttercream yesterday for my father in laws cake and he isn’t an icing person, but he LOVED it!!
For this recipe, is the canned coconut milk unsweetened or just labeled as coconut milk? There were a couple options, so didn’t want to choose the wrong one!
So glad you loved the chocolate buttercream! For this cake, yes, used the canned coconut milk in the cake. For the buttercream, you’re using the bottled cream of coconut, usually found in the alcohol aisle. I think I linked them both in the post.
Did you use green food coloring in the curd? If yes, which color to get that specific shade of green?
You can use any green you like!
Last weekend I got married and this was our cake! I made it with no trial beforehand. After all the reviews I was confident it was going to be stellar. This recipe is absolute perfection and the cake is divine. It is a perfect summery cake (January is summer in Australia). I can’t wait to make more of your cakes! Thank you for sharing your recipes!!!!
PS – the cake layers freeze beautifully before assembling and decorating.
Thank you so much!!
This looks and sounds delicious. Would it be possible to replace the lime flavored ingredients with lemon?
Hi there! Was thinking of trying this recipe except I’m not a fan of coconut so was thinking of doing your white chocolate cake recipe instead but I’m not sure what I would do for the buttercream and wondered if you had any suggestions?
Could these be made into cupcakes?
I am so excited to make this cake!
I’m struggling to find some of the coconut ingredients… The only canned coconut milk I could find was by the sweet and condensed milk and seems to have a similar consistency… Is this the right ingredient?? I found coconut milk in a carton but figured that was not right.
How long will the curd last in the fridge?
About two weeks.
You mention a coconut emulsion. What is that?
I know shredded coconut, sweetened shredded coconut, coconut milk, cream of coconut. What is the emulsion?
Thanks.
It’s a water based flavoring. Extract is fine too
I have a question. What size baking pans did you use?
8-inch x 2-inch Fat Daddio pans.
I’m making this today for my son’s 16th birthday tomorrow. I split it into three 9 inch pans cause that’s what I have. And I accidentally put the lime flavoring into the cake instead of the coconut one. 🤦♀️ Wish me luck!!
I think you’ll be ok since you have the coconut buttercream with lots of great flavor. Can’t wait to hear how it turns out!
Really excited to try this. How would you suggest modifying the recipe for a 10 inch layer cake?
Double the recipe.
Hey Courtney!
I’m a big fan 😀
This is my favorite of all your cakes and I’ve made probably 30 of your cakes.
I don’t see the salt in the written instructions for the graham cracker part. Just wanted to let you know.
Thanks for your innovative cakes! Love them!
Can I turn this recipe into a four layer cake, or would I need to 1.3x the recipe? If I can, what should I adjust the cook times to?
I live in Park City, should I make any adjustments for high altitude?
No. It’s already adjusted for Utah.
Hi! My daughter wants to make this cake for the fair. Do you have any ideas for an alternate filling that she could swap the curd for, but still taste like a “key lime pie” cake? The rules say that it can’t require refrigeration. Her heart is set on making this cake.
Thank you!
Oh bummer! Ok here’s my idea… use some lime zest and a little flavoring in the graham cracker crumble (or crust – depending on how she makes it. I would suggest a custard, but that would need to be refrigerated too. Ugh! So sorry!
While toasting the coconut and checking every 3 mins , my eyes became burned when opening the oven. I googled what happened to me and found this happens.
I used angel flake coconut .
Maybe I used the wrong coconut, I wished I had known that toasting gives this unpleasant problem.