Amy,
this recipe is very reliable and delicious. i can't find neither mascarpone nor fromage frais since i moved to malaysia but soft cream cheese and fresh cream were just fine, apart from a bit different in the finalt result. therefore, if you can't locate fresh coconut, try it out w/ the sweetened coconut that you can easily find in most supermarket. I think you may want to reduce the amount of sugar in this case. Have fun!

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Delia Smith’s Fresh Coconut Layer Cake
Extracted from Delia Smith’s “How to Cook - Book One”, p. 136
Serve 8

For the cake
3 oz finely grated fresh coconut
6 oz. self-rising flour
1 round tsp. baking powder
3 large eggs at room temperature
6 oz very soft butter
6 oz. golden caster sugar (regular caster/granulated sugar is fine)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

for the coconut frosting
1 1/2 oz finely grated fresh coconut
9 oz. Mascarpone (soft regular cream cheese is OK.)
7 fl. Oz. fromage frais (fresh cream, at least 35%fat is OK.)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. golden caster sugar

for the topping and sides:
2 oz. coarsely grated fresh coconut

you will need two 8 inch sandwich tins with a depth of 1-1/2 inches, lightly greased and the based lined with silicone paper.

Preheat the oven to 325F/170C/gas mark 3.

Sieve the flour and baking powder in a large bowl. Add all other ingredients, except the grated coconut to the same bowl. Beat the mixture until smooth, about 1 minute with a hand-hold electric mixer.

Stir in grated coconut and divide the mixture between the tins.

Bake the tins in the center of the oven for about 30-35 min or until done. Leave the cakes in tin for 5 minutes before turing them out on to a wire rack. Peel off the paper and cool the cake completely.

Cut each cake in half horizontally wiyh a sharp, surrated knife.

Make the frosting by whisking all the ingredients together in a bowl to combine.

Place the cake on the serving plate and frost it thinly with the cream in between layers and top and sides. Cover the whole cake wiyh the grated fresh coconut.