Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Spray three 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick 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, beat 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 beat 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 emulsion 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.

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.

After they are done baking, let the cakes cool for 10-15 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack and let them cool until room temperature.

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

Preheat your oven to 350, line a sheetpan with parchment paper. Pour the shredded coconut on top and bake for 4 minutes, pull the coconut out of the oven stir with a spatula, and then bake for 3-4 more minutes. The coconut should be light brown and toasted. Set aside to cool when done.

In a medium-sized saucepan, with a rubber spatula, stir together the water, sugar, and corn syrup.

On medium heat, bring the sugar mixture to a boil. Do not stir. The bubbles will start off fast and small, but once it starts caramelizing, the bubbles will slow down and become a little bigger. Do not touch or stir the mixture. That will cause crystallization.

Put the cream in the microwave for 1 minute.

Let the mixture boil until it becomes caramelized and looks golden brown. This does take a few minutes, but once it starts turning brown, it’s easy to burn it, so keep an eye on it.

Once the caramel is an amber, brown, turn off the heat, add the warm cream, and let the mixture steam, and then stir. Be careful not to burn yourself

Pour the mixture into a bowl. Add the vanilla extract and salt. Mix until combined. Let the caramel come to room temperature.

Once the caramel has come to room temperature, add the toasted coconut, and the chopped candied pecans.

Store in an airtight container for up 4 days.

Over medium heat, sauté all the pecans in a frying pan with the tablespoon of butter, stirring frequently. Once coated and toasted, take one cup of the sautéed pecans, and let them cool on parchment paper or a sheet pan.

Add the sugar to the remaining pecans on the stove, and with a rubber spatula, stir until the sugar is coating the pecans and it sticks. Once coated and cooked, transfer the candied pecans to parchment paper to come down to room temperature.

In a food processor, blend the one cup of sautéed pecans with 1 tablespoon oil, and salt. Pulse until you've created a smooth nut butter.

With the other candied pecans, chop them into small bite size pieces. Set aside while you make the caramel.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for about 2 minutes on medium-high speed.

Add pecan butter. Beat on medium-high speed until well combined, with a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl.

With the mixer on low speed, add all the powdered sugar, followed by the cream. Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat the buttercream for about 3 to 5 minutes.

With a wooden spoon, spend about 5 minutes beating all the air pockets to create a nice and smooth buttercream.

Place the first cake layer topside up, in the center of the cake board. Gently spread ½ of the buttercream over the cake layer.

Spread about ¾ cup pecan coconut caramel filling on top the buttercream and pat into place.

Repeat with second cake layer.

Place the final cake layer, topside down, on the second layer of filling.

Apply a thin layer of buttercream around the cake. Freeze the cake for 10 minutes to set the crumb coat.

Once the crumb coat is set, continue frosting the cake with the remaining buttercream. Decorate with extra coconut flakes.