This cake combines two delicious flavors which go excellent together: lemon and coconut. Apart from tasting wonderful, it also looks really elegant and would be a perfect cake to serve for a birthday party or a special event. Get ready to zest and juice a lot of lemon, this cake requires a lot which in turn gives it a very lemony, crisp flavor. We cut each cake in half to get three layers of filling, however you could always just leave them be and have one thick layer of filling instead. 
This cake is of course a bit of work, but it's really nice and would be perfect for a party or other event.
Cake: - baking spray
- 2 ½ cups cake flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 5 large eggs, separated
- 2 tsp grated lemon zest
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream
Lemon filling - 1 cup sugar
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¾ cup water
- 2 large egg yolks
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
Frosting - 3 large egg whites
- ¾ cup sugar
- 3 tbsp water
- ¼ tsp cream of tartar
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp almond extract
- 1 ½ cups sweetened flaked coconut
Method:
Cake
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat two 9x13 inch round cake pans with baking spray. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy, then add sugar and beat for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the yolks one at a time and beat in the lemon zest, juice and vanilla. On low speed, add the flour mixture in forths alternately with the sour cream in thirds until well combined, but don't overdo it.
Using the electric mixer again, use clean bowl and beaters and beat the egg whites at high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold in the batter and distribute in the two pans. Bake for 32 to 34 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean with just a few crumbs. Let the pans cool on wire racks for 10 minutes, then turn the cakes out and let cool completely.
Lemon Filling
Whisk sugar, cornstarch and salt together in a saucepan. Whisk in the water, yolks and lemon juice and bring to a boil over medium heat, let boil for 1 minute. At this point, remove from the heat and whisk in the cold butter until smooth. Cover the surface of the sauce with plastic wrap and let cool to room temperature.
Cut each cake in half. Place one of the layers on a serving plate, spread some of the filling, top with another layer, more filling, and another layer then filling until you have distributed the filling in three layers. Top with another layer.
Frosting
Using a heat proof bowl, mix all the ingredients except the extracts and the coconut. Beat for 1 minute with an electric mixer. Then place the bowl over a pot with simmering water and make sure it doesn't touch the water. Beat on high speed until shiny peaks form for about 7 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat and add the extracts. Beat for another 5 minutes off the heat until the frosting is cool.
Frost the cake with the frosting and top it with the flaked coconuts on top as well as on all sides.
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