We’ve been having some majorly cloudy mornings lately and that makes me want to do one thing: Bake. I don’t know why really. Maybe it’s because it feels like Christmas, or maybe that’s just the lie I tell myself, but either way, I bake.

Anyway, I woke up the other morning and it was cloudy, so I said to myself “Eff it, self. Let’s bake a cake.” I have all this tequila laying around because of my projects with Patrón, so I also decided to make it boozy. Because why not? Day drinking and cake for breakfast sounds grand.

I had that “put the lime in the coconut” song stuck in my head. So I did. In a cake. I went a little crazy, so it might seem like there’s a lot of steps, but it’s still super easy.

Coconut Lime Tequila Cake

Cake Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs
3 cups sifted cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup coconut cream

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. With a mixer, cream room temperature butter until light and fluffy. Add sugar and continue to beat for 5 minutes. Gradually add the eggs (one at a time) and mix well. Sift together the dry ingredients. Add them to the butter mixture alternating with the coconut cream.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Let cake cool in pans for 15-20 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. Let cool completely.

Coconut Custard Filling Ingredients

1/2 cup coconut cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbs cornstarch
1 cup Flaked coconut
Mix cornstarch with cream until dissolved. Add cornstarch/cream mixture, coconut cream, and sugar to a small sauce pan. Gradually heat to a simmer while stirring. Remove from heat. Whisk egg yolks in a bowl. Slowly add half of the cream mixture to the egg yolks while whisking constantly. Pour the egg yolk mixture back into the sauce pan and bring back to a simmer. Cook for 2-4 minutes until thick and creamy. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl. Cool in an ice bath or cover mixture with plastic and store in refrigerator for 2-3 hours until chilled. Toss flaked coconut in a pan over medium heat until toasted. Set aside.

Tequila Lime Soak Ingredients

2 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup white tequila (like Patrón Silver)
2 tablespoons lime zest

In a small pot over medium heat, mix lime juice and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved and starts to simmer. Remove from heat. Stir in tequila and lime zest. Set aside.

Buttercream Frosting
(I just used a standard buttercream with lime zest thrown in. You can use your favorite frosting.)
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk
zest of one lime

Cream together the butter and vanilla. Sift the powdered sugar and add it to the butter mixture. Scrape down the bowl often to make sure all everything is mixed in. Add milk one tablespoon at a time until it’s your desired consistency. Beat until smooth for about 2-4 minutes.
Cake Assembly Directions

Slowly spoon the tequila lime mixture over both of the prepared cake rounds and let the cake absorb the liquid.

Next spoon the custard filling and half of the toasted coconut on one cake round and place the other on top.

Ice the cake and then coat the sides with the remaining toasted coconut.

Cut. Eat. Nap.