We go to church with Miss Pat. She’s known for her sewing skills and for being a great cook. She’s been making this coconut cake for years and people rave about it so I thought I’d give it a try. And you know what? There’s a good reason why people love it. It’s good! Very good! That’s not to say I didn’t have a few issues when I made it though. I picked Miss Pat’s brain after I made it and she had no idea what went wrong because she’s never had the same problems I did. Now that’s not to say the cake wasn’t good....because it was great! I think I just messed up somewhere along the way but I'm pretty sure I have it narrowed down to the brand of sour cream I used that caused the major blunder. So make sure you use a good quality THICK sour cream (like Daisy) because you’ll use it as the filling between the layers. The brand I used (Kraft) did not hold up well under the pressure of being thick enough. I had a very runny mixture that was supposed to be SPREAD between two of the layer and it ended up being very soupy. No bueno. I ended up only using half the filling mixture on my cake and froze the rest for another cake, another time.
Here are a few other things I found out from Miss Pat AFTER I made her cake:
1) you can use yellow or white cake mix (I used yellow but will use white next time)
2) substitute 1 cup “sweet” milk for the water in the cake mix
3) add a little (1 cup) of the Cool Whip to the sour cream/sugar mixture for the filling
You guys really need to make this cake...it’s super good!
Miss Pat’s Coconut Cake
1 box yellow or white cake mix (Miss Pat uses Duncan Hines)
1 1/2 cups sugar
16 ounces good quality THICK sour cream
2 6-ounce packages frozen coconut (found in the frozen fruit section), thawed
1 8-ounce Cool Whip
1/2 cup shredded coconut, toasted (optional)
Mix cake mix according to the box directions. Divide batter evenly into three greased and floured 9” cake pans. (I used cooking spray and parchment paper. I might try using 8” pans next time for thicker layers.)
Bake cake for 20 - 24 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cool for 15 minutes then remove cakes from pans and allow to cool completely.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar and sour cream until smooth.
Stir in the thawed coconut. (Add 1 cup of the Cool Whip, if desired)
Remove one-fourth of the sour cream mixture to a medium bowl and set aside.
Place one layer on a cake plate and spread half of the sour cream mixture on top.
Repeat with a second layer.
Place third cake layer on top.
Combine Cool Whip in the medium bowl with the reserved sour cream mixture and frost top and sides of cake.
Sprinkle with toasted coconut, if using.
Place cake in fridge overnight. The longer it sets, the better it is.
