This is the cakey kind of Lemon Coconut Slice, with a lemon coconut butter cake topped with lemon icing, cut into little squares so it’s perfect with a cuppa. And because the icing is the crusting sort, it’s practical for bake sales or tucking into lunch boxes!
Aussie Lemon Coconut Slice Cake
I’m sure this style of cake isn’t exclusively Australian, but I call it Australian because it’s a copycat of lemon cake slices I grew up seeing in cafes and at school bake sales. These days, you’ll even find packaged versions in grocery stores!
It’s a thin lemon butter cake cut into handheld pieces and thickly iced with a glaze that crusts on the surface, making it practical for wrapping, stacking and transporting without frosting smearing everywhere. Sometimes it has coconut in it, sometimes it doesn’t. I like it with, so mine does!
I’ve seen it called Lemon Slice, but in my simple mind, bars and slices have compact bases like these Lemon Bars, whereas this is actually a thin cake. Hence the awkward name – Lemon Coconut Slice Cake!
Ingredients in Aussie Lemon Coconut Slice Cake
Here’s what you need to make this.
1. For the cake part
1 very big lemon or 2 regular lemons – We need 1 tablespoon of zest and 2 tablespoons of juice for the cake, and 7 – 8 teaspoons for the icing. Fun fact: lemon flavour is in the zest. The juice just makes things tangy. 🙂
Flour – Just plain / all-purpose flour, not self-raising flour (wrong amount of baking powder built in for this cake).
Desiccated coconut – This is the finely shredded type that is like panko breadcrumb size, called shredded coconut or finely shredded coconut in the US. Not shavings or flakes (too large), not coconut powder. Make sure it’s unsweetened (standard in Australia).
Note: You can leave the coconut out if you prefer, and make a lemon cake. That’s actually how this recipe started out, but then I added coconut and like it even more. 🙂
Baking powder – This is what makes the cake rise. We only need 1 teaspoon. Don’t substitute with baking soda, the cake gets a bit of a hump in the middle (we want flat for this slice-cake).
Unsalted butter – Softened to room temperature so it can be creamed.
White sugar – Caster / superfine sugar if you’ve got it (it’s finer so dissolves more easily) other regular sugar works too (granulated sugar).
Large eggs – Eggs around ~50 – 55g/2oz each, from a carton labelled “large eggs” (which are 600g for a dozen which suggests 50g each, but not all eggs are exactly the same weight – selfish hens! Why can’t they lay exactly the same size eggs every single time!! 🙄😆).
Milk – Just regular milk is the liquid for this cake! Make sure the milk is at room temperature as fridge cold milk can make butter solidify and you’ll up with greasy little butter pockets in the cake, and it won’t rise as well.
Salt – Just a tiny amount, to bring out the flavours in everything else.
2. For the thick glaze icing
This icing is actually just a glaze, but I make it very thick so it spreads like a buttercream frosting rather than a typical runny glaze that is see-through and runs down the side of the cake. It will set with a crust on the surface and it’s not greasy like buttercream, which makes these slices really practical – you can stack them, wrap them in cling wrap, pack them into lunch boxes and bundle in gift bags without icing smearing everywhere.
Here’s what you need:
Soft icing sugar / powdered sugar – If you’re in Australia, get the type of icing sugar called SOFT Icing Sugar rather than PURE Icing Sugar (which sets harder, like royal icing). If not presented with these options, just get what you can. 🙂
Lemon juice – This is the liquid to make the icing. We only use a very small amount – 7 to 8 teaspoons for 2 cups of icing sugar – which sounds like nowhere near enough, I know! But trust me, keep mixing and smearing and that enormous pile of icing sugar will come together into a thick, smooth icing that stays on the surface rather than running down the sides like typical glazes.
Desiccated coconut – For sprinkling.
How to make an Aussie Lemon Coconut Slice Cake
The most important thing with this recipe is to ensure the eggs and milk are at room temperature, not fridge cold, else the butter will solidify and you’ll get little hards bits of butter in the batter rather than mixing in smoothly.
Oh – also! Don’t use a stand mixer. The volume of batter is so small, you will spend more time scraping down the sides than actual mixing time. (I tried, it was a pain!)
Dry ingredients – Mix the dry ingredients in a medium bowl (flour, coconut, baking powder and salt).
Cream butter and sugar – Using a handheld beater (don’t use a stand mixer, there’s not enough batter), cream the butter and sugar for 2 minutes until it’s light and fluffy. Start on low speed so you don’t get sugar spraying everywhere, then increase the speed to high when you can.
Beat in the eggs one at a time until it’s mix in, then the lemon juice, zest and vanilla. The batter will look a little curdled once the lemon goes in but it’s ok, it will come together into a smooth batter when the flour is added.
Flour and milk, alternating – Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat on low speed just until the flour is mixed in, then stop. Add half the milk, beat on low just until incorporated, then repeat again with half the remaining flour, beat, milk, beat, then remaining flour and beat. Stop when you can no longer see flour.
Using this method minimises the mixing required to incorporate all the flour and milk (ie if you dump them all in one go, you have to beat for longer to mix in), and less mixing = softer cake. Over mixing batter = hard cake!
Finish by hand – Use a rubber spatula to sweep around the bowl and mix in any stray bits of flour.
Pour into a 20cm/8″ square pan lined with paper and smooth the surface.
Bake for 30 minutes at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan) or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Cool upside down – Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack and cool it upside down. This gives us a perfect flat surface for icing.
Icing (frosting) – This is a very thick glaze, almost like buttercream, so it sits on the cake rather than running down the sides. Mix the icing sugar and lemon juice with a rubber spatula using firm smearing motions. It will seem impossibly dry at first, but persevere – at first it will turn into a dough-like mixture, then into smooth thick icing. Aim for a peanut butter consistency: spreadable, not drippy. If needed, add more lemon juice just 1/2 teaspoon at a time – glazes go from too thick to too runny very quickly, so use a tiny bit at a time!
Ice and shower – Once the cake is completely cool, spread the icing on from edge to edge. Sprinkle with desiccated coconut, then let the icing set for half an hour before slicing into squares or bars to enjoy!
Stays fresh for a week
Another very appealing feature of this cake is that it stays fresh for a week, thanks to the coconut which adds moisture into the cake. Nice not to have to resort to any bakers’ tricks for keeping this cake moist like buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream or oil!
In fact, I swear the cake was even softer and tasted better on day 2, once the lemon and coconut flavours had settled in and the moisture had worked its way through the crumb. A cake that improves overnight and stays fresh for a week – what more could you ask for! 🙂 – Nagi x
Lemon Coconut Slice Cake FAQ
This cake will stay fresh for a week. Keep it in a cool pantry in an airtight container. If it’s hot where you are, keep it in the fridge but I highly recommend bringing to room temperature (cold cake is hard and you can’t taste the flavours as well).
These worked very well with gluten-free flour! The cake was a little more crumbly when cutting but not so crumbly that it’s a problem to eat with your hands. The taste is the same, the texture has the faintest powdery-ness that comes through in some cakes using GF flour, but it is barely noticeable. I think I only notice it because I’m looking for it.
Note: These were tested with White Wings Gluten-Free flour, a brand that is carried by large grocery stores here in Australia. Gluten-free flour blends vary a lot between brands, so I can only vouch for White Wings. However, the fact that it worked so well gives me confidence other good gluten-free flour blends should work too, though results may vary.
I haven’t tried but the recipe as written should work for limes, oranges and other citrus fruit. The only question is how strong the flavour is – lime should be fine, but oranges etc may be a little light on flavour. If you’re after full-on orange flavour, you can’t beat this Whole Orange Cake – rind and all!
Watch how to make it
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Aussie Lemon Coconut Slice Cake
Ingredients
Dry:
- 1 cup plain flour / all-purpose flour (Note 3 for gluten-free)
- 3/4 cup desiccated coconut , unsweetened (Note 1)
- 1 tsp baking powder (make sure yours is still active)
- 1/8 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
Wet:
- 125g / 8 tbsp unsalted butter , softened (Note 2)
- 3/4 cup white sugar , caster/superfine or regular/granulated
- 2 large eggs , at room temperature (~50-55g/2 oz)
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 2 tbsp lemon juice , at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup milk , full fat, at room temperature
Lemon Icing:
- 2 cups soft icing sugar / powdered sugar , sifted
- 7 – 8 tsp lemon juice , BE CAREFUL! Goes from perfect to runny with the teeniest amount too much!
- 2 tbsp desiccated coconut , for sprinkling
Instructions
ABBREVIATED RECIPE:
- Whisk Dry, set aside. Cream butter and sugar, beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla, zest and juice. On low, beat in 1/3 flour then 1/2 milk, repeat, finishing with flour. Finish mixing by hand. Bake in 20cm/8" lined pan 30 min at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan). Cool upside down, spread with icing, sprinkle with coconut.
FULL RECIPE:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced). Grease and line a 20cm/8" pan with paper.
- Dry ingredients – Whisk the Dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Cream butter – Using a handheld electric beater, cream the butter and sugar in a separate bowl until it is smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes (don't use a stand mixer, there is insufficient volume).
- Eggs, lemon and vanilla – Beat in the eggs one at a time until smooth. Then add the vanilla, zest and lemon juice and beat just until combined. It will look a little curdled at this stage, that's ok, it comes together in the next steps.
- Alternate flour and milk – Add 1/3 of the flour and beat on low until mostly mixed in. Add half the milk and beat just until incorporated. Repeat with another 1/3 of the flour, the remaining milk, then the remaining flour, mixing only briefly after each addition. Stop beating as soon as the flour disappears, then finish mixing by hand with a rubber spatula, making sure all the flour is mixed in. The batter should be like softly whipped cream – not runny, but not thick like peanut butter, with little lumps from the coconut.
- Bake – Scrape batter into the cake pan and smooth the surface. Bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then cool upside down on a rack – we will ice the base as it's nice and flat. Fully cool before icing.
- Spread with the Lemon Icing, all the way to the edge. Then sprinkle with coconut while wet, so it sticks. Let the icing set for 1 hour before slicing to serve!
Lemon icing:
- Persevere! Put the icing sugar and lemon juice in a large bowl and use a rubber spatula to mix, using a smearing motion to combine until the glaze becomes a thick spreadable consistency like peanut butter (rather than the runny drippy kind). Be patient, it takes time to mix and assertive smearing to combine just a bit of lemon with lots of icing sugar! Only add extra lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon at a time if needed – glazes go from too thick to runny very easily!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
For lemon lovers 🍋🍋🍋
Life of Jaffle
The idea for this cake came with the first ripe lemons on my dwarf lemon tree, which of course immediately became Jaffle’s favourite toys. Because that’s the rule, right? Everything that’s mine is his!
Though, he trotted off gleefully with his prize and I think he gave it a few enthusiastic squeezes in his mouth that must have released a bitter little spritz of lemon because he suddenly stopped, looking confused and unimpressed. 😂
Just a note on Sunday evening to say hello but demur that for the first time since Nagi began posting this did not arrive 100kms south of her! Wondering whether I am in ‘bad books’ after all these years 🙂 ? And why? Loved the Jaffle testing lemons photos . . . cannot comment on what looks like a very usable recipe as do not ever bake 🙂 ! Best to all . . . but DO see my name is still on your send list 🙂 !
Eha! You’re certainly not in my bad books!! 😂 Sorry the email didn’t arrive, how strange! Perhaps check your spam folder? And I’m glad you enjoyed Jaffle’s lemon adventures, even if you won’t be making the cake! – N x
*huge smile* Yes, I always check the spam . . . but this one now arrived whilst I was looking at the page 🙂 ! Hope you do forgive me my abysmal ‘sense of humour’ about the rest . . . just had to ‘tease’ when my address omitted itself . . . actually a couple of yours haven’t climbed the 300 metres up the hill . . . but Mr Google is a close friend, so . . .
I made these this morning as muffins and there are only 4 left. Delicious!
Rebecca! Muffins!! I love that idea! And only four left is a pretty convincing review. 😂 – N x
I really love your dog
Should have called it Lemon
We have two beautiful goldens
Ha! Lemon would’ve been such a cute name 🥰
Thank you so much for sharing spin on the lemon coconut slice. How lusciously light and aimple to whip up with staples from the pantry and fridge. Loved it and will be binging it for a while to come.
So glad you loved it Claire! Amazing what you can make with a few pantry staples, isn’t it! – N x
Dozer from heaven *waves paw like a Jedi* “Jaffle, those are not the balls you’re looking for”
BAHAHAHA!!! 😂😂 I can SO imagine Dozer doing this! Though I doubt Jaffle would listen. – N x
There is nothing wrong with that! Beautiful cake, easy recipe, love it!
Thank you DW!! – N x
Thank you for enlightening others of the word “Jaffle”. I also knew of it’s invention, now others will know how it came to be. One for Australia.
I’ll add that lemon is my all time favourite flavour of anything and everything, so I’m so glad to receive this recipe as well. Thank you from one JB to another JB.
Love that Jaffle’s name has sparked a little Australian history lesson! 😂 And from one lemon lover to another, I hope you love the cake! – N x
Made the cake today. Delicious! And so easy. Thanks!!!
YAY!! So happy you loved it Jennifer! – N x
Going to try this but in cupcake size pans so will reduce the cooking time. Looks great. 👍
That should work nicely! Just reduce the baking time as they’ll cook much faster. Hope you love them! – N x
Ahh!! YAY!! I’ve been looking for this exact recipe forever ~ slice cake is a THING!! IKYKY. Making it tomorrow!! 😍🍋 Thanks Nagi! X
YES!!! 😂 Slice cake is absolutely a THING! So happy I could finally deliver the recipe you’ve been looking for! – N x
I made it this morning for my dad’s 87th birthday tomorrow. He loves lemon flavoured cakes and we have to travel, so it’s a great option. It smells absolutely delicious. I did leave out the coconut, I’m sorry, but he doesn’t do coconut.
Thank you. 🙂
Oh please don’t apologise for leaving out the coconut, I specifically made sure it works without! 😂 Happy 87th birthday to your dad! I hope he loved his cake! – N x
Aussie Lemon Coconut Slice Cake. Made it this morning after being given a bag of lemons yesterday, then as if by magic the recipe arrived. Very nice & easy, Tastes (-ed) delicious, even though I added all the wets together first, then all the drys – and all at same time. 30 minutes was perfect. Icing took about double the stated recipe – set nicely with the coconut.
Ha! Talk about perfect timing! 😂 Love that it worked even with your shortcut mixing method. Thanks for sharing John! – N x
Can I use Nutelex in place of the butter to make it both gluten and dairy free?
Love your recipes Nagi!!
I haven’t tried I’m sorry Christine, and I don’t know enough about it to know if it would work. Sorry!
Can confirm Nuttelex and GF flour works!
Anything lemon is my favourite. Made Aussie Lemon Coconut Slice 10/10. Why is mine flatter? Measured my slice tin, folded the dry ingredients, it rose then flattened
Hi Suzanne, at what point did it flatten?? It is not a super tall fluffy crumb so it shouldn’t rise so noticeably. Did you check your baking powder is still active?? I’m surprised, this is not the sort of cake that should rise enough to fall. And definitely used baking powder not baking soda??
Please advise if sugar can be adjusted if using sweetened coconut. I do not use coconut often enough to keep both sweetened and unsweetened.
I would say you just reduce the sugar content. This is an Aussie recipe we don’t get sweetened coconut here in Australia . This article may help https://bakingbites.com/2009/11/sweetened-vs-unsweetened-coconut/
Hi Jane, I’d just reduce the sugar by 1/4 cup 🙂 – N x
Hey Nagi, love everything of yours that I try! I have copious lines atm, can I use these instead of lemons?
Using limes sounds delicious! I’m not an expert, but I think it should work.
YES! That would be amazingly delicious, coconut and lime goes so well together 🙂 – N x
A family member can’t have dairy. I know I can use coconut milk for the milk, but would vegan butter work in this recipe? It sounds delicious, so if you don’t think it will work, I might just have to eat it all myself. 🙂
Hi Brooke, we haven’t tested this one with vegan butter or margarine, so we can’t really answer. Butter is important in this recipe because the cake relies on creaming the butter and sugar together which plays an important role for its structure and texture. If you do try it, I’d definitely recommend something that is designed for baking rather than a soft spread. I’d love to hear how you go!
I used Nuttelex with no issues 🙂
Gets better o nite and stays fresh for one week.
Sugoi Nagi 😊
Lemon and coconut..the best.
Domo
I’m going to make this soon. Need to figure out how to adjust for high altitude (7700 ft)
I’ll be watching to see if there is reply. I live at 7200 and have a hard time adjusting recipes reliably.
I receive recipes from multiple “chef’s” and yours are the best! I ordered the desiccated coconut and will make this cake when it arrives.
Thank you for such a nice compliment Anderson!