Meringue, in its toasty glory, is the star of this delicious coconut Meyer lemon cake. The balance of flavors and textures between moist cake, creamy lemon curd, and toasted Swiss meringue makes your taste buds sing!
My grandfather was a colorful man. He lost a leg in World War II, and like many of the men in his generation, he was a proud man that could be rather stoic at times. One leg or not, Grandpa was a man you didn’t want to cross. As a young child, my grandfathers stern nature was rather lost on me. It seemed a perfectly normal thing to steal his wheelchair, taking it for a joyride while he was napping in his chair. Later to abandon it for other pursuits, leaving him stranded on the other side of the house. The whole neighborhood would know it when he woke up because he’d bellow, “Kirsten Lizard! Get back here with my chair!!”
When he called me Kirsten Lizard, I knew I was in big trouble.
On one such napping occasion, I’d taken Grandpa’s wheelchair for a ride to the bathroom when I was in need of a shower. Mid-shampoo, I heard him yelling for me to bring him his wheelchair. Hurrying out of the shower, I threw on a bathrobe before flying–soaking wet–down the hall, pushing his chair in front of me. I had no sooner rounded the corner when I slipped on a fresh pile o’ poo that their puppy, Peanuts, had deposited on the floor. I ended up “a$% over applecart” on the shag carpeting, the wheelchair on top of me.
Righting both myself and the wheelchair, I steeled myself to make eye contact with Grandpa. Surely, I thought, I was really in trouble this time. When I finally looked up, he let out a whoop of a laugh and said, “LIZARD! C’mere kid!” I crossed the room to sit on his lap while he continued,“Sometimes ya gotta slip in some sh*t to come out smellin’ like a rose!”
All was forgiven.
I remember that moment whenever I’m faced with a challenge, no matter the size, that I’m trying to overcome. In fact, even though he died when I was still in elementary school, Grandpa’s colorful sayings come back to send me into a fit of giggles at the most opportune times.
The recipe development process for this coconut Meyer lemon cake was definitely one of those challenges.
I wanted to come up with something a little different than an old family recipe, yet still as comforting.
My first thought was a lemon cake with a fabulous coconut curd filling, coated in meringue. Lime and coconut are totally BFF, so why not lemon and coconut? I’ll tell you why not–because the whole thing was just weird. Individually, every component of the cake was delicious. But meshed together? Well, it was just…odd. Then I tried a coconut cake with coconut curd–which was awesome until I added the meringue and it got weird again. Mind you, I’m not talking about a meringue buttercream, but an egg white meringue that goes on top of a pie.
I was intrigued about the whole meringue-over-cake idea, so naturally I was super bummed that the flavors weren’t playing nice with each other. I wasn’t ready to give up on the meringue, but I didn’t want to cop-out with a straight up lemon/lemon combination. Lemon meringue–although delicious–was just so…ordinary. Would now be a good time to mention that I’m not a huge fan of meringue to begin with?
“Let’s top a cake with something you really don’t like. Oh! And try not to get frustrated when your first few attempts are gross and fail.” Welcome to the inner workings of my mind.
Still I forged on, only this time, making coconut cake with a lemon curd filling, then adding Swiss meringue.
And it was good. Really good.
So I guess this time I slipped in meringue and came out smelling like…a cake.
♥♥♥
Since I’ve already shared a slightly different version of this coconut cake, as well as my favorite lemon curd, I’m going to focus on the Swiss Meringue portion of the show. Don’t worry! A complete recipe will follow at the end of the post! (Including an all lemon variation, if you are so inclined.)
For illustration purposes, just assume that cakes are baked, curd is cooling, and we’re getting ready for cake assembly.
Traditional meringue kind of skeeves me out because while it’s fluffy, it has a strange texture/mouth feel as melts. Traditional meringue looks creamy, but in reality it’s not so creamy as it’s…bubbly. And there’s uncooked eggs in there. And it’s weird.
As I continued to research the intricacies of meringue for this recipe, I searched “creamy meringue” to see what I could find. What I found were several opinions that insisted that Swiss meringue was beloved by both Meringue Lovers and Haters alike because of it’s creamy texture.
What makes a meringue a Swiss meringue? The application of heat. For starters, granulated sugar is whisked into the egg whites to soften the protein bonds in the whites.
When set over a pot of simmering water,
the hot steam from the water breaks down the sugar while the the egg whites are being brought to a “safe” temperature for consumption. (160°F)
After five to ten minutes of gentle whisking, the sugar melts, leaving a delicate egg foam in it’s place.
To be sure, rub a bit of the egg foam between your fingers. If it feels gritty, the sugar hasn’t completely melted, so it should be simmered longer. If the foam feels smooth, your ready to whip up the meringue.
Transfer the egg foam into the bowl of a stand mixer, add a little vanilla bean paste and whip it until stiff peaks form.
When the meringue has been whipped to stiff peak stage, it will take on a glossy, marshmallow-like appearance.
When a whisk-full of meringue is inverted, the meringue peak will remain upright for several seconds before gently falling back onto itself. Perfect!
Level the cakes, sandwich the lemon curd between them, and apply the Swiss meringue as you would frosting. Only this is straight up meringue…no buttercream involved. 😉
Meringue must be toasted, so if you don’t own a kitchen torch, assemble the cake on an oven-proof plate.
If you’re a kitchen-gadget-geek like me, you’ll think of uses for said kitchen torch. Then you’ll have one when you need it. Evenly apply the flame of the torch to the meringue until the exterior appears dry, with parts of it being nicely browned. OR pop the assembled cake into a preheated 400°F oven until achieving similar results.
The result is fluffy, coconut flavored cake, filled with tangy lemon curd, with gorgeous Swiss meringue.
This is one cake in which it’s more than the adversity that makes it memorable.
♥♥♥
Do hear your relatives speaking in your mind during certain situations?
Did you have a colorful relative, too?
♥♥♥
Kirsten Kubert
Yields 9-inch layer cake
Tender coconut cake layers filled with tangy Meyer lemon curd, and frosted with swiss meringue and toasted to make this cake a delicious show stopper.
45 minPrep Time
1 hrCook Time
1 hr, 45 Total Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1/2 C. unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ½ C. granulated sugar
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 tsp. coconut extract
- 2 ¼ C. all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 1/3 C. buttermilk
- 1 tsp. cornstarch
- 1/3 C. granulated sugar
- 2 ½ tsp. fresh Meyer lemon zest (about 1 lemon)
- ¼ C. fresh Meyer lemon juice (1-3 lemons, depending on size)
- 4 Tbs. unsalted butter
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1 C. granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp. cream of tartar
- ½ tsp. clear vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans well; set aside.
- In a medium size bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt to combine; set aside.
- Cream the butter together with sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Stir the eggs into the creamed mixture, one at a time, until incorporated. Stir in the vanilla and coconut extracts to combine.
- Gradually mix in the flour mixture into the creamed mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, in 3 separate additions of each, beating well after each addition. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.
- Cool cakes in the pans for 5 minutes, after which gently run a knife around the edges before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely. (Can be done one day ahead.) While the cakes are cooling, prepare the lemon curd.
- Combine sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Stir in lemon juice, and lemon zest, until well combined. Heat saucepan over medium-low heat; at the same time, add butter and stir until melted. Cook until beginning to thicken and bubble, stirring constantly. (About 10 minutes.) Remove from heat, and cool slightly for 2 minutes.
- Crack the eggs into in a liquid measuring cup. Using a fork (or a piece of egg shell,) to remove the chalazae—the white rubber band looking thing attached to the yolk that keeps it centered in the egg. (Removing them now will eliminate the need to strain the curd later.) Lightly beat the eggs, until just blended.
- Temper the eggs by stirring about a third of the slightly cooled sauce into the eggs while stirring the eggs to incorporate it—doing so will slowly bring the eggs closer to the sauce temperature so as to avoid scrambling the eggs. Then pour the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan, and stir all contents to combine.
- Return the mixture to the stove top, set over medium-low heat, and continue cooking and stirring for about 2 more minutes, or until curd has thickened.
- Dip a spoon in the curd, and run your finger down the center of the spoon. The curd is done when the slight stripe made with your finger remains for a couple of seconds on the spoon before starting to run back together.
- Pour the curd into a shallow bowl, cover with surface waxed paper and cool for several hours in the refrigerator. The waxed paper will prevent a skin from forming on the top. (Can be done one day ahead.) When the curd has cooled, prepare the Swiss meringue.
- Fill a medium saucepan with 1-inch of cool tap water. Bring the water to a simmer (tiny bubbles but not boiling) over medium heat. While the water is coming to simmer, whisk the egg whites with the sugar and cream of tartar in a tempered-glass bowl until frothy. Set the bowl of egg white mixture over the pot of simmering water, ensuring that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. (Double-boiler style.)
- Gently whisk the egg whites continually as they warm over the simmering water until the sugar completely dissolves and the egg whites are warm (about 5 minutes.) The egg whites will be white and foamy. Rub a bit of the foam between your fingers—it should feel smooth. If the mixture feels grainy, the sugar hasn’t melted completely, so keep heating it until melted.
- Transfer the warm egg white mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium speed with a whisk attachment until stiff peaks form. (To test for still peaks, remove the whisk attachment and invert it. The peak should stand upright for several seconds before partially falling back onto itself.)
- If you own a kitchen torch, get it out now to brown the meringue after the cake is assembled. If not, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F to brown the meringue in the oven.
- Level the cake layers (if necessary), placing one of the layers bottom side down, onto an a cake plate. If you will be browning the meringue in the oven, be sure that the cake plate is oven-safe. Spread the chilled lemon curd over the top of the bottom layer, to within ¼-inch of the edges. Place the second layer, top side down, over the filling, gently pressing until the filling comes to the edge of the layers, but doesn’t spill over.
- Spoon half of the meringue onto the top layer of the cake, spreading to the edges with an off-set spatula. Spread the remaining meringue around the sides of the cake. Create different textures in the meringue by swirling it with the spatula.
- Use a kitchen torch to dry the exterior of the meringue and brown it to your liking. I prefer to dry the meringue all over, and then brown just the edges of the textures created with the spreader. The same affect can be accomplished by placing the cake into a preheated 400 degree F oven until the meringue is browned to your liking.
- Coconut Meyer Lemon Meringue Cake is best served at room temperature the day it is made.
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