Lime-Ginger Cake with Coconut Cream Frosting

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Lime-Ginger Cake with Coconut Cream Frosting is the cake you need for a summer party. It bakes at a low temperature, so you’re not dying in the kitchen. It uses one bowl that you just have to wash between the batter and the frosting. And, best of all, you can have the whole thing done during naptime.

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Who else is a huge fan of the naptime bake? Because, I’m here to say that there’s something intensely satisfying about getting a cake made, photographed, and written up in a perfectly silent house during that two hour nap. LOVE IT! So, go ahead and add this recipe to the list of impressive things you totally have time for (P.S. Tag me in the Insta pix because I want to see your cake!).

Cake Born from Leftovers

Truth time: I had no intention of making this cake when I started out the day. But, every time I opened our crisper drawer, I was greeted by the Ball Jar holding the rest of a can of coconut milk, 2 lonely limes, and a huge root of ginger leftover from our Taste of Thailand dinner.

Now, any sane woman with a bottle of rum is like, “There’s a cocktail in there.” I am not that woman. As much fun as it would have been to get a tropical drink going at *looks at watch* 12:15 pm, I A) don’t have rum and B) try super hard not to day drink when I’m home alone with my kid.

Instead, I decided to make some adjustments to a lemon cupcake recipe and Google how to make frosting with coconut cream… and adjusted that as well. Sorry, I know it’s hypocritical to ask you to follow my recipes when I’m over here not following anyone else’s recipes. Stick with me, though, because this is GOOD.

Starting from My Favorite Recipe Book

Like I said, I started with a recipe for lemon cupcakes. Why is that? I’m glad you asked! So, I have this cupcake cookbook by Krystina Castella. Back in my days at ModernMom, I reviewed her other book (Crazy about Cookies) and fell in love with her recipes.

Well, one of the greatest things about her cupcake recipes is that they make exactly 12 cupcakes, and if you don’t have cupcake liners or the time to frost all those little buggers, her recipes are the perfect size for a 9-inch cake pan.

So, when I needed a lime cake recipe, this was the first place I looked. And bless her psychic heart, she had a tip in there to turn lemon cake into lime cake. I just made a couple tiny tweaks and added in some ginger.

So, How Do You Make a Lime-Ginger Cake?

To make this cake, you’ll start with the creaming method. Use room temperature unsalted butter for the best result, and using your stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat it thoroughly with sugar. It’ll fluff up very nicely. Then your room temperature eggs go in, and you want to beat those very well to get just a little air into the batter. This is the base on which to build.

Now, working quickly but gently, you’ll add in your flavors: lime zest, lime juice, ginger, and sour cream. The sour cream adds moisture and supports the sour flavor of your lime. At this point, you could also add some green food coloring because it’s just fun to cut into a colorful Lime-Ginger cake.

Finally, your dry ingredients need to be sifted in and gently folded in. You don’t want any clumps or dry spots, but you also don’t want to over mix it. The danger of over mixing is that you’ll end up with a tough cake with giant wormholes throughout. It’s not pretty or fun to eat.

Bake the batter in your prepared pan, and remember that it will have to cool completely before you frost it.

Making a Coconut Cream Frosting

There are several vegan recipes for a perfect coconut cream frosting, but I needed something slightly different. I wanted the light, airy quality of a meringue with the island flavor of coconut and ginger. So, here’s how you make the frosting of your dreams come to life.

Start by warming up your coconut oil and coconut milk for about 30 seconds in the microwave. This should be enough that both liquify. Whisk them well to incorporate and then pop the bowl in the fridge to resolidify. This is essentially a coconutty substitute for butter.

Then, you will whisk an egg white to the soft peak stage. It sounds like we’re going the way of Italian buttercream, but this is a bastardized hybrid of Italian buttercream, American buttercream, and vegan buttercream. It’s just good, and that’s all you need to know.

I moved my egg whites to a different bowl, and dumped that coconut cream/oil mixture in for a turn. Whip it well until it is voluminous and airy before you whip the egg whites back in. Sift in your powdered sugar until you get to the desired consistency, if a bit dry, and then mix in your ginger and lime.

Move to the fridge until you’re ready to frost. I even transferred my frosting to a piping bag just to speed up the icing process further. Plus, it took up less space in the fridge that way.

Frosting Your Lime-Ginger Cake

When your Lime-Ginger cake is completely cooled and your frosting is chilled and kind of firm (but not hard), you are ready to ice. Place your cake on the serving plate and pipe or spread the frosting on the top with an offset spatula. The goal is not perfection. It’s simply to evenly distribute that heavenly fluff.

Take your time arranging the frosting however you want. Then, if you want to go the extra mile, sprinkle extra lime zest on top. Pile a little bit of candied ginger in the center, and garnish with sugared lime slices.

Wait, What are Sugared Lime Slices?

This took a hair more work on my end than I expected, but they looked pretty. While your cake is in the oven, and maybe while you’re running the mixer to beat that egg white, spread a layer of sugar out on a plate and lay 12 thin lime slices on top. Sprinkle more sugar over the top and let the limes set for 1 hour.

The sugar is going to draw a lot of juice out of the limes. At this point, pat the lime slices dry and coat in more sugar. It makes them sparkly and pretty for decoration, and you won’t have to worry about lime juice destroying your frosting.

You could go the extra mile and candy your lime slices. Just be aware that the simmering process will drain the bright green color from the fruit. It’s not quite as pretty a decoration, in my opinion, but it does make it more edible.

Are You Ready to Serve Up a Slice of Lime-Ginger Cake?

This serves 12, but if you’re like my family, we cut the slices a bit big and got 8 servings this time. I never judge about serving size, so whether you get 1 or 16 servings out of this, I hope you enjoy it.

It goes great with a side of milk or a slightly more fun glass of ginger beer and coconut rum with a lime garnish. I think it’s best served cold, so keep it in the fridge!

However, you dish it up, take a picture, and tag me on Instagram. I would love to see how yours turns out. Please subscribe for weekly updates, fun monthly newsletters, and a free 2-week menu planner with a grocery list organizer.

Lime-Ginger Cake with Coconut Cream Frosting

Lime-Ginger Cake features the flavors of a Dark and Stormy cocktail in a light, fluffy, refreshing cake that hardly qualify as "dark" or "stormy."

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12 slices

Equipment

• 9 inch round cake pan
• Stand mixer with paddle and whisk attachments
• Mesh seive or flour sifter

Ingredients

  

Lime-Ginger Cake

• ½ cup unsalted butter softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs room temperature
• ½ cup sour crea room temperature
• 2 tbsp lime zest
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp grated ginger
• 1½ cup all purpose flour
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 2-4 drops green food coloring optional

Coconut Cream Frosting

• 1 large egg white
• 5 tbsp coconut oil
• 5 tbsp coconut cream *see notes
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp grated ginger
• 1 tbsp lime zest

Instructions

 

Lime-Ginger Cake

• Preheat the oven to 325ºF, and butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.
• Cream the butter and sugar for 5 minutes. Scraped down the sides. Then, whisk in the eggs on high for 5 minutes.
• Fold in the sour cream, food coloring (optional), lime juice, zest, and ginger.
• Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Then gently incorporate
• Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake for 30-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Allow to cool in the pan until the pan is safe to touch. Then turn the cake out onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

Coconut Cream Frosting

• Melt the coconut cream and oil together for about 30 seconds in the microwave, and whisk to thoroughly combine. Transfer to a small bowl and refrigerate to solidify but not chill for roughly 1 hour.
• In the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, whip one egg white to soft peaks. Remove from the bowl to set aside.
• Whip the coconut cream and oil mixture until fluffy. Then, add in the meringue. Slowly sprinkle in the powdered sugar to form the frosting and finish with the lime and ginger.
• Frost the cake with an offset spatula.
• Optionally, you can decorate with sugared lime slices, lime zest, and candied ginger.

Notes

*Coconut Cream Notes: Get a can of full fat coconut milk. Place this in the refrigerator overnight. The cream of the coconut milk will solidify at the top for easier scooping. Avoid using the coconut water found at the bottom of the can as it will make your frosting too loose.

Keyword Cake, Coconut, Ginger, Lime

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