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Almond Joy Cake Recipe

Layers of fluffy and moist coconut cake, coconut-almond buttercream, decadent chocolate ganache filling and topping, and sliced almonds to give every bite the perfect crunch. It tastes like an Almond Joy in delicious cake form!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Cooling Time 3 hours
Total Time 4 hours 25 minutes
Servings 15 slices

Ingredients

Coconut Cake

  • 2 3/4 Cups (290g) sifted cake flour* DIY recipe in notes
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3/4 Cup (170g) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 Cup (60ml) vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 Cups (300g) granulated sugar
  • 5 large egg whites, room temperature
  • 1/3 Cup (80g) sour cream, room temperature
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp coconut extract
  • 1 Cup (240ml) canned full-fat coconut milk, room temperature
  • 1 Cup shredded sweetened coconut

Coconut-Almond Buttercream

  • 2 Cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 7 Cups (840g) powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • 2 tsp coconut extract
  • 3 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Chocolate Ganache

  • 1/2 Cup (92g) milk chocolate chips
  • 1/2 Cup (120ml) heavy whipping cream

Additional Garnishes (optional)

  • 1/3 Cup sliced almonds

Instructions

Make The Coconut Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F (177ºC). Prepare three 6-inch cake pans or two 8-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with baking spray and fitting a parchment paper circle to the bottom of each pan.
  • Sift the cake flour and then measure by spooning and leveling it in your measuring cup (or sift it into a bowl on your kitchen scale to measure by weight). Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
  • In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or with a handheld mixer and large bowl), beat the butter on high speed for 2 minutes until creamy. Add the sugar and vegetable oil, then continue to mix on medium-high for another 2 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Slowly add the egg whites while mixing on low speed until well combined. Turn the mixer off and add the sour cream, vanilla extract, and coconut extract, then turn the mixer to high speed and beat for 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl and paddle.
  • With the mixer in the off position, add the dry ingredients. Turn the mixer to low speed and mix until just combined, then add the coconut milk in a slow stream and mix until just incorporated. Turn the mixer off and gently fold in the shredded coconut with a silicone spatula.
  • Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake for 32-36 minutes. They’re done when they spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack for an additional few hours of cooling. Make sure they’re entirely room temperature before applying any frosting.

Make The Coconut-Almond Buttercream

  • With a hand mixer or paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream the butter on medium-high until it’s creamy and light (almost white) in color. About 7 minutes.
  • Add the powdered sugar a few cups at a time and mix on low speed, scraping down the bowl and paddle after each addition. Add the vanilla extract, almond extract, coconut extract, milk, and salt. Continue mixing on low speed until fully incorporated, about 1-2 minutes.

Make The Chocolate Ganache

  • Place chocolate chips into a heat resistant bowl (glass or metal) and set aside. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, warm the heavy whipping cream. Whisk it occasionally until it just starts to simmer.
  • Once simmering, pour the cream into the bowl of chocolate and let sit for about 30 seconds. Then, whisk the mixture together until it’s uniform in consistency and there are no bits of chocolate left on your whisk.
  • Place a piece of plastic wrap over the surface of the ganache and refrigerate until cooled and thickened to the consistency of creamy peanut butter, at least 1-2 hours or up to 1 week. This consistency is what you'll use to fill the cake, and the remaining ganache will be warmed to drip consistency afterwards.

Assembly

  • Once the coconut cake layers are cooled, level them to your desired height. Place the first cake layer onto a cake circle (glue it down with a little buttercream). Add about 2 cups of the coconut-almond buttercream into a piping bag and snip off about 1/2 inch opening on the end. Pipe a ring of buttercream around the edge of the first cake layer, then fill the center with chocolate ganache until it reaches about halfway to the top of the buttercream dam. Sprinkle the ganache filling with sliced almonds, then fill in the rest of the space with coconut-almond buttercream. Place the next coconut cake layer on top and repeat the filling and stacking process before adding the last layer of coconut cake on top, upside down so that the bottom of the cake layer becomes the top of the cake. Crumb coat the cake with a thin layer of coconut almond buttercream and place the cake in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes to let the buttercream firm up before your final frosting.
  • To achieve the design pictured, frost the cake with a layer of coconut-almond buttercream and use a cake comb to create a grooved finish. While the frosting is still tacky, place sliced almonds in a mosaic pattern around the bottom of the cake. Refrigerate the cake while you prepare the ganache drip.
  • For the Ganache Drip: Heat the remaining chocolate ganache in the microwave in 5-10 second increments, stirring after each one, until it's slightly above room temperature (for tips on dripping a cake read this post!). Pour the ganache over the top of the cake and use an angled spatula to push the ganache over the edges. Refrigerate the cake for 5 minutes more to let the ganache set up while you prepare the piping bag for the buttercream rope border.
  • For the Buttercream Rope Border: Fit a piping bag with Wilton Tip 1M and fill it with the remaining coconut-almond buttercream, then pipe a rope border around the top edge (see blog post above for tutorial). Garnish the rope border with the remaining sliced almonds.

Notes

*DIY Cake Flour Recipe: To make your own cake flour, spoon and level one cup of all-purpose flour and remove 2 Tbsp. Add 2 Tbsp of cornstarch. Repeat per the amount of cake flour you need, then sift the flour and cornstarch mixture 4 times (don’t skip that step!). After sifting, spoon and level to re-measure the amount of cake flour you need. If measuring with a kitchen scale, you’ll want to measure out 325g of homemade cake flour (since all-purpose weighs more than store bought cake flour).
Make Ahead Tips: 
  1. The coconut cake layers can be made ahead and stored (wrapped in plastic) at room temperature for up to 2 days. Alternatively, you can wrap the cake layers in plastic and store them in the freezer for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to use them, thaw them to room temperature before continuing with the frosting and decorating process.
  2. The coconut-almond buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day. Alternatively, you can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and re-whip with your stand mixer on medium for one minute to bring it back to frosting consistency.
  3. The chocolate ganache can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. You can use it as a cake filling straight from the refrigerator. When you're ready to use it as a drip, bring it back to *slightly* above room temperature by microwaving it in 10 second intervals, stirring after each one, until it's drip consistency.