Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Spray three 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray and line with parchment. Spray again. Set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk or sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, oil, and sugar on medium high speed until light/fluffy and smooth, about 3 minutes. With a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides and cream again for 1-2 more minutes.

Add the eggs and the egg whites, one at a time, beat on medium-speed until, after each addition, until well incorporated (around 30 seconds after each egg) Once all the eggs have been added, beat on medium speed high for 1 minute. Add the coconut emulsion, sour cream, and mix on low, just until incorporated.

With the mixer on the lowest speed, add ⅓ of the flour mixture to the liquid mixture followed by ½ of the coconut milk. Add another ⅓ of the flour mixture, and then the rest of the coconut milk, and finally add the remaining flour mixture. Don’t over mix. Only mix until just incorporated. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to ensure the batter is evenly mixed.

With a kitchen scale, evenly distribute the batter to the prepped pans. Bake for 28-32 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick has little to no crumbs sticking to it. Mine took the full 32 minutes, but it can go faster depending on your oven.

Wrap in plastic wrap and store in fridge or freezer until ready to use.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.

With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar until it’s all incorporated.

With the mixer on low, add the cream, vanilla, coconut flavoring, and salt.

Turn the mixer to medium and beat the frosting for 3 minutes, or until it is light in color.

Use a wooden spoon to give it one last stir and push out the air bubbles.

Spread 1 cup of the coconut buttercream over the cake layer, and with an offset spatula, evenly spread the buttercream ensuring that the top is flat and not slanted.

Repeat this step until you get to the final cake layer, which you will lay top side down.

Apply a thin coat of buttercream around the entire cake to lock in the crumbs. Freeze for about 10 minutes.

After the crumb coat is set, apply the rest of the frosting. To get my look, I toasted some coconut and applied it around the cake, and used leftover frosting and pipe a rim around the top. I used a wilton 8B to obtain the pipped shells and then garnished with a few extra coconut pieces.