This moist and delicious coconut cake recipe is infused with natural coconut flavour throughout and decorated with giant toasted coconut flakes.
Today’s post is a revamp of one of my oldest recipes. All the way back to 2015! It was one of those recipes that was good, but could have been better.
My main issue with the original coconut cake recipe was that it used coconut extract. I don’t often like to use flavoured extracts in my baking, as I find them to taste artificial and generally unpleasant. Some are better than others, mind you, but I mostly stick to vanilla or try to infuse the flavours in some other way. Coconut extract, not unlike almond extract, is very easy to overdo. It’s strong, often overpowering, and can make your baked goods taste like you’re eating suntan lotion if you’re not careful.
As such, I was on a mission to redo this Coconut Cake recipe using coconut in its pure form. There is a slew of coconut products out there, so the possibilities are endless. I’m not kidding when I say I bought every single coconut product I could find to test and experiment with. This included the following:
- Canned coconut milk
- Coconut milk powder
- Pure creamed coconut
- Coconut sugar
- Fine shredded coconut
- Medium shredded coconut
- Coconut flakes
- And some whole coconuts for good measure
All of these ingredients (except for the coconut flakes) were super easy to find in the grocery store. For me, the first three were found in the Ethnic section, the rest in the baking section. The only thing that was harder to find was the large coconut flakes, which I picked up at Whole Foods.
I didn’t end up using elements of the whole coconuts other than for the pics, but I was surprised at how easy they were to crack!
How do you crack a coconut?
There are a bunch of videos on how to do this, and I recommend watching one to see how it’s done, but basically all you need to do is:
- Poke out one or more of the “eyes” with a screwdriver (I was able to poke through without using a hammer)
- Drain the coconut water into a bowl
- Hammer around the axis of the coconut while turning it, and eventually a crack will start to form (this didn’t take long)
- Keep hammering until the crack is big enough that you can pry the coconut open
One thing I should note is that if you’re cracking more than one coconut and want to keep the water, drain them into separate bowls. I didn’t know at the time, but the second coconut I cracked was a bit rotten on the inside, and I didn’t want to use the water after I saw that.
For the actual cake recipe, I ended up using the canned coconut milk in place of regular milk, and I added medium shredded coconut to the batter. I would have preferred to use fine shredded coconut, because I don’t love the texture of coconut, but the stuff I had was unsweetened and I wanted to add a bit more sweetness to the cake. Either combination will work though — sweetened/unsweetened, fine/medium/coarse. It’s just a matter of preference!
I didn’t end up using the coconut sugar in the final version of the recipe, because it colored the cake batter too much and I wanted a nice, white/yellow cake. So you can use coconut sugar and it will work totally fine, the cake will just have a slightly different flavour and color. But it’s important to note that coconut sugar doesn’t actually taste like coconut at all. It’s made from the sap of the flower buds of the coconut palms, not the coconut itself. It tastes and looks similar to brown sugar.
The coconut milk powder worked extremely well in the frosting. It added an amazing flavour without affecting the texture. If you were to use canned coconut milk instead, you’d have to use a lot more of it for the flavour to come through, and it could make the frosting too soft. I highly recommend using the milk powder if you can find it!
I only used the the coconut milk powder in the frosting, not the cake, but I think it would be a great way to add more flavour! I’d probably add a couple of Tbsp to the dry ingredients.
This pretty Coconut Cake is finished off with a simple decoration of some giant toasted coconut flakes, and I just love the look of them. I was able to buy mine already toasted, but I popped them into the oven for a bit more to enhance the color.
How do you toast coconut?
Toasting coconut is super easy and can be done in no time. Preheat your oven to 350F and spread the coconut in a thin, even layer on a large baking sheet. Pop it in the oven for 5mins, stir it around, and keep toasting until the desired color is reached.
It’s important to note that it can go from beautiful golden brown to burnt very quickly, so watch it like a hawk and stir it around often. Make sure the coconut is cooled completely before using it on the cake.
This Coconut Cake recipe has the perfect hit of coconut flavour throughout without being overpowering or tasting artificial. Any coconut fan in your life is sure to love it!
Looking for more Tropical Desserts?
Tips for making this Coconut Cake recipe:
- Be sure to use canned coconut milk, not the stuff in the carton, and shake it well before use. Mine was quite smooth, but it can separate a bit, so be sure to shake it!
- I would have used very fine shredded coconut in the cake batter if I had it available, but you can use any kind you like. I used sweetened, but unsweetened will work too.
- The coconut milk powder worked extremely well in the frosting, adding great flavour without affecting the texture.
- If you like, you can add a couple of Tbsps of coconut milk powder into the dry ingredients in the cake batter to enhance the flavour even more.
- I love the large coconut flakes on the outside of this cake, but if you can’t find them you can use any kind of shredded coconut.
- This recipe, originally posted on March 1st, 2015, has been revised and updated. If you prefer to use an American buttercream, like my original coconut cake recipe used, you can use my Simple Vanilla Buttercream recipe and add coconut milk powder to it.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, see my Flat Top Cakes post.
Coconut Cake
This moist and delicious coconut cake recipe is infused with natural coconut flavour throughout.
INGREDIENTS
Coconut Cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup canned coconut milk room temperature
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut sweetened, any size (I used medium)
Coconut Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- 6 large egg whites
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter cubed, room temperature
- 1/4 cup coconut milk powder
Assembly:
INSTRUCTIONS
Coconut Cake:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour three 6" cake rounds and line with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on med-high until pale and fluffy (approx 3mins). Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time fully incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla.
Alternate adding flour mixture and coconut milk, beginning and ending with flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of milk). Fully incorporating after each addition.
Gently fold in shredded coconut.
Bake for 35-40mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
- Place cakes on wire rack to cool for 10mins then turn out onto wire rack.
Coconut Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.*
- Place bowl over a double boiler on the stove and whisk constantly until the mixture is hot and no longer grainy to the touch (approx. 3mins). Or registers 160F on a candy thermometer.
- Place bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (approx. 5-10mins)).
- Switch to paddle attachment. Slowly add cubed butter and mix until smooth.**
Add coconut milk powder and whip until smooth.
Assembly:
Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or serving plate. Top with approximately 2/3 cup of buttercream. Repeat with remaining layer and crumb coat the cake. Chill for 20mins.
Frost the top and sides of the cake and smooth with a bench scraper. Do a swirl on the top.
Gently press toasted coconut flakes into the sides of the cake.
NOTES
* Ensure there is NO trace of egg yolks in your whites and that your mixer bowl and whisk is completely grease free or your meringue won't stiffen.
** The buttercream may look like it's curdled at some point. Keep mixing until it is completely smooth.
The nutritional information and metric conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this important to you, please verify with your favourite nutrition calculator and/or metric conversion tool.
I have to thank you! I made a GF version of this Coconut Cake and your Carrot Cake for my nieces birthdays today. They were AMAZING! Our entire family said that they were the best cakes ever and I would have to agree. I am so thankful to have found your website and I will be back for more of your wonderful recipes! 5 million stars!
Hi Lily! I’m so happy to hear that the GF versions turned out well! You are so sweet, your comment totally made my day. Can’t wait to hear what you bake up next!
Hi Liv, can this be made into cupcakes? i need to make 12 cupcakes for a friend. Thanks so much <3
Hi Tessa! Yes, it will work fine! Just reduce the baking time — start checking around 15mins or so.
This recipe was fabulous! Great coconut flavor and incredible crumb! Love that it uses naturally sourced coconut for the flavoring. My husband’s words = “it melts in your mouth!”
I doubled the recipe to make it into an 8″, three-layer cake. I used finely shredded coconut. Came out perfect!
Hi Jennifer! Thanks for the great feedback, I’m so happy that you two liked it!! 🙂
how to turn this to chocolate coconut cake? how much cocoa powder i must add? please help me thanks
Hi Aya! I’m not totally sure… you could try replacing 1/2 cup of the flour with cocoa powder.
does this cake freeze well once baked?
Hi Alison! Yes, it freezes fine as long as it’s properly wrapped and stored.
Hi Olivia, I would like to try this recipe. But I can’t find the coconut milk powder here. And I prefer to make the SMBC. So what should I do?
Thank you very much for your advice.
Mai cake corner
Hi Mai! If you like, you can incorporate fine shredded coconut into the frosting instead. It won’t be completely smooth, but will give good flavour. You could also try to grind up some shredded coconut in a coffee grinder or food processor. I hope that helps!
Olivia! This cake is beautiful! I am making my daughter’s wedding cake and decorating it with large (untoasted) coconut flakes. I am wondering if I decorate the cake a day in advance if the coconut would dry out?? I won’t have time to do it the day of the wedding. Thanks for all your helpful tips on cake baking too! The cake will be 3 layers, 8,6, and 4 inch. There will be raspberry filling and almond frosting…and the coconut!
Hi Donna! Thank you! I think it would be fine to do the day before — coconut is generally on the dry side anyhow. The raspberry and almond additions sound like heaven!! Email me a pic once it’s done, I’d love to see it!
Great post, do you think you could use “coconut cream” instead of “coconut milk”? I understand this is different than “cream of coconut”. https://www.amazon.com/Native-Forest-Organic-Premium-Unsweetened/dp/B00AF7XMYY/
Hi Jim! As long as it’s liquid in consistency I think it should work fine 🙂
Hi Liv. Dee Rhodes (Feb., 2017) mentioned a cake with a translucent coconut frosting. I’ll bet she’s talking about an old fashioned recipe that my grandmother used to make. I am 65, so you can imagine how long ago that was! The cake is called a Japanese Fruit Cake, though it is neither a fruit cake nor Japanese. If you Google this name, you’ll find a million renditions.
My grandmother used to grate fresh coconut for this cake, so it was “special occasional only.” My whole family doted on this yummy creation. If you ever decide to make this your own, I’m sure you will improve and modernize it into a masterpiece!
Your coconut cake looks so beautiful. I am planning to bake it for my nieces’s baby shower. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Janet! Thank you so much for this info, I am super intrigued by that cake! I will google it to see what it’s all about. Your grandmother’s version sounds delicious.
In the beginning of your post you have a list of ingredients. It shows pure creamed coconut and coconut sugar. These ingredients are listed in the recipe. Can you please explain where they are to be used. Thank you
Hi Mary! Those are just the ingredients I experimented with. I didn’t end up using all of them in the final cake recipe.
can you make and Frost this cake the day before or should you assemble the day of? I wasn’t sure if the toasted coconut on the outside would get soft.
Hi Anna! That will be totally fine. It shouldn’t get soft!
Hi olivia, i really love your recipes.
I made this today, I’ve tripled the recipes (made 2 6”+ 2 8”+ 6 cupcakes)
The cake baked perfectly, but after cooling it and when I started leveling the cakes i found that it was still raw in the middle! This is the first time I experience this, especially that the cakes got a perfect golden brown color and no crumbs were seen on the wooden skewer.. any ideas about the reason??
Hi Nadine! Weird that there were no crumbs but the cake was raw! Hmm, did you bake them all at the same time?
This is the second coconut cake recipe I have made, I liked the first one I made but I felt like there might be something better out there. This was soooooo yummy!!! Very light and buttery and super super moist which I am very picky about. This is a fantastic recipe and it is going into my recipe book as my new coconut cake. I paired it with vanilla buttercream. Thank you Liv!
Hi Lillian! So happy to hear that you liked this one. I love how it turned out!
Planning to make this tomorrow for a friend’s birthday. The directions say use. 3 six inch pans. Then later it says use 2/3 frosting and add second layer. Then in comments you respond that you kept it as a two layer cake. Please clarify. My friend loves coconut cake, so I want to get it right.
Hi Christine! The frosting per layer is 2/3 cup, not 2/3 of the frosting. I recently updated this recipe from a really old one, which is why some of the comments didn’t make sense. I’ve deleted the old comments that no longer apply. Sorry for the confusion! The recipe will work for a three layer 6″ cake (as shown) or a two layer 8″ cake.
What a gorgeous cake! I love all the research you did to get that pure coconut flavor. It looks incredibly delicious!
Thank you Cindy! The research was worth it 🙂
This looks like the ULTIMATE coconut cake, I have a family of coconut lovers so I’m going to make this for my daughter’s birthday!
Yay! I hope you love it as much as I do 🙂
I love coconut cake. I might try this for my next assignment this week. However I want to avoid fresh coconut for a while after the last assignment which included a bottom tier dressed with a coconut “skirt”
Hi Stefania! I hope you like this one 🙂
Hello Olivia,
Your cakes are gorgeous..and I can only begin to imagine how wonderful they taste…gets my mouth watering:). When I was a little girl a neighbor used to make me a 6 layered pineapple cake….it was soooo moist, but she was still able to get the layers to stay in place and she layered it with some type of pineapple and sugar concoction. It looked like the icing was thin…you could see through it, but still had the crushed pineapple all over it too. When it was cut you’d have to use a large spatula or it would fall over due to the moisture level in the cake. This lovely lady that made me these cakes has passed away and I was hoping you might have heard of it and could share it with us! You have so many wonderful cake recipes. I’m purchasing all the things needed to display them and decorate them. Of course, they will look like…(crap..), but they’ll taste yummy delicious. I look forward to your posts every time I open my computer and love looking at your yummy tasty and beautiful cakes! Keep up this post, I feel like I know you but now:) Dee
Hi Dee! Thanks so much for your sweet comments! You totally made my day :). That cake you describe sounds incredibly delicious!! I’ve never heard of anything quite like it… I wonder if the crushed pineapple was simply thickened with a bit of cornstarch? Kind of like in my Pina Colada Cake:
http://livforcake.com/2016/06/pina-colada-cake.html
I will keep my eye out for you though! And you’ve given me an idea of something delicious to attempt :). And I am certain your cakes do not look like crap!! Cakes are not the easiest thing to attempt, so the fact that you’re doing them is amazing. You should send me some pics!
Cake is gorgeous! Pinned to our Coconut Obsession board.
Have a great week!
Thanks Melanie! Glad you like it! 😀
This cake is beautiful… and your icing skills are incredible! Wish I had a slice now!