This cake mix hack is pretty quick to make but tastes best if you wait a few days to dive into it. As usual, I’ll give you the recipe first with helpful hints and baking tips at the end.
Ingredients:
1 box GF yellow or white cake mix (I actually used Pillsbury Gluten Free Funfetti)
3 eggs
1 cup water
1/3 cup cooking oil
2 cups sour cream
1 cup sugar
1 cup coconut (My grandmother’s recipe called for frozen unsweetened coconut, but I think any type will do. I used unsweetened coconut that was shelf stable. If sweetened is what you have, try it.)
1 thawed 12 ounce tub of gluten free whipped topping (Cool Whip is reported by many in the know to be GF. I used a store brand with the same ingredients.)
Kitchen tools that will be helpful:
2 eight or nine inch pans to bake the cake in layers; a stand or hand mixer; mixing bowl; spatula; liquid measuring cup; 1 cup dry measuring cup; a cake platter with a domed cover or a tall cake keeper that is big enough to hold a layer cake but will still fit in your fridge; an oven (just added that in to see if you were still reading 🙂
How to:
Follow the directions on the back of the box of cake mix, adhering to the suggested baking times for two eight- or nine-inch pans. Remember to grease the baking pans so that you can (hopefully) get each cake out in one piece. When the cakes are baked, let them cool for 10-20 minutes before removing from the pans.
While the cakes are baking, mix together two cups of sour cream, one cup of sugar and one cup of coconut. Once these ingredients are well incorporated, remove one cup of the mixture to add to the whipped topping. Take the reserved cup of sour cream mixture and gently fold it into the entire 12 ounces of whipped topping. Cover and keep both the sour cream mixture and the whipped topping mixture in the fridge until you are ready to use them.
After removing the cakes, let them cool completely. Then use a serrated knife – a large one like you might slice fresh bread with – to cut the cakes in half, creating four layers in total. If you don’t slice them perfectly evenly, don’t worry – no one will ever know!
Place the bottom layer on the cake platter that you will be using to both store and serve the cake. Spoon about one third of the sour cream mixture on top of the bottom layer and spread evenly with a butter knife or spatula. Top with the next cake layer and add another third of the sour cream mixture. Then repeat the process for the third layer of cake, topping with the remaining sour cream mixture. Then put the fourth and final layer of cake in place.
Remove the whipped topping mixture from the fridge and begin to spoon it onto the top of the cake, using a spatula or flat side of a butter knife to spread it on the sides. This is not an “icing” that will be perfectly smooth and that is fine. When you are done it will look pretty.
Once all of the whipped topping mixture has been spread on the cake, cover the cake with a domed top that will not touch the icing. Place the entire thing in the fridge for three days. Enjoy!
Confession time: The last time I made this, it didn’t make three days. We tried it at the 18 hour mark. It was pretty good but definitely improved as time went on over the next few days.
Trouble-shooting:
Oh. No. The layers fell apart! No biggie. If you make a mess of the cake trying to remove it from the pan, you have a couple of options. 1) You can turn the cake into a punch bowl or salad bowl cake by cutting it into chunks and alternating layers of cake, sour cream mixture, and whipped topping mixture in a punch bowl or large salad bowl. End up with the whipped topping mixture on top for prettiest results. 2) Make individual servings in parfait or wine glasses by cutting the cake into 1″ cubes or chunks (no need to be perfect at this point!) and layer with the sour cream mixture and whipped topping mixture – again ending up with the whipped topping mixture for prettiest results.
If you don’t own a cake plate with a domed lid: You can either go the punch bowl route (see above) or go old-school with some tooth picks and plastic wrap. To use the tooth pick method, stick tooth picks about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way into the top and sides of the cake. You will need to use quite a few toothpicks for this – I would guess at least 20. You are trying to make the cake look kind of like a porcupine so that when you cover it with plastic wrap, the film is supported by the tips of the toothpicks. Why is this important? If you put any kind of wrap directly onto the cake, the icing is going to stick to the wrap and make a real mess.