This moist and delicious coconut cake recipe is infused with natural flavor 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 flavored 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 flavors 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.
All Natural Ingredients
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 Foods 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!
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
Coconut Tip!
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.
How to Make this Coconut Cake Recipe
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 flavor 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 flavor 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 flavor 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 coconut milk powder in the frosting, not the cake, but I think it would be a great way to add more flavor to the cake if you wanted to. 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.
Toasting coconut gives it a delicious nutty flavor. It’s really a step that you don’t want to skip! It also gives it a crispier texture and smells just heavenly.
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 flavor throughout without being overpowering or tasting artificial. Any coconut fan in your life is sure to love it!
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I convert this recipe?
- The recipe as-is will also work in two 8″ pans. For three 8″ pans, 1.5x the recipe. Baking time may need to be adjusted.
- To make cupcakes, all you need to do is reduce the baking time — start checking at 15mins or so. The recipe will make 18-24 cupcakes depending on size.
- For other conversions go here.
Can I make it in advance?
- The cooled cake layers can be baked ahead of time, double wrapped in plastic wrap, and frozen for up to 3 months. Take out 2-3 hours before assembly.
- The frosting can be placed in an airtight container and refrigerated for 1 week for frozen for 3 months. Bring to room temperature and rewhip before using.
- The finished cake (whole or sliced, stored airtight) can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Can I get the measurements by weight/grams?
- There is a Metric option in the recipe card. If you click it it will convert everything to grams.
- This conversion is done automatically and I cannot guarantee the accuracy but many readers have had success using the metric option for this recipe.
Tips for 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 flavor 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 flavor 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.
- 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.
- I like to prepare my cake pans using Homemade Cake Release then line with parchment.
- Be sure to check my Swiss Meringue Buttercream post for tips and troubleshooting.
- See my post on Simple Syrup for tips on how to make sure your cakes stay moist.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, see my Flat Top Cakes post.
Coconut Cake
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 extract
- 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.
Mia says
Hi Olivia I was wondering how to make this cake a chocolate coconut cake . Do you know how much cocoa powder I should put in the sponge?
Olivia says
Hi Mia! I’d honestly have to experiment with it a bit to get the proper amounts, so I wouldn’t want to steer you wrong. You can try it out if you like though! I would try with 1/2 cup of cocoa powder. You may need to increase the liquid a bit though too.
Liz says
Hi,
I am gluten and dairy free (yikes) I’ve managed to substitute almond flour and coconut oil or milk in most recipes- I also tend to use maple syrup as a sweetener – I realize that all of that will make this a liquid heavy recipe – any suggestions?
Olivia says
Hi Liz! I would use a GF all purpose flour blend in place of the flour and for the butter you can sub in a vegan butter or try it with coconut oil instead. Either should work fine! I would not also replace the sugar though as that’s too many variables. Can you use maple sugar instead?
Nicole B. says
Hi!
Just made this and loved it!
I made a pineapple/banana butter filling and it was amazing.
One question…
My cake came out a little dense. Any tips on a fluffier cake?
Olivia says
Hi Nicole! Your filling sounds amazing!! My cakes are more on the dense side (rather than light and fluffy) but it sholdn’t be too dense. Sometimes that can happen with improperly measured flour and/or overmixing.
Lauri Palmer says
Liv – I made this for a friends birthday and it is delicious. I really liked the texture of the coconut in the cake batter. I used standard butter cream instead of Swiss meringue buttercream. Thanks!
Olivia says
So happy to hear you loved it!!
Angela says
Hey Liv, I’m planning on making this for a birthday and I’m super excited. I don’t have 6inch pans will this work in two 7inch pans?
Also I can’t seem to find coconut milk powder anywhere in Australia. What would you suggest substituting with or should I just leave out?
Olivia says
Hi Angela! Yes, it will work but the layers will be thinner so be sure to reduce the baking time. If your pans are 3″ tall though you can try baking in just two 7″ pans instead (increase the baking time in that case).
You could just leave the coconut powder out, or use coconut extract (though I don’t like that personally). Alternative is that you can try to puree some shredded coconut in a food processor and then sift it to see if you can get it finer. This won’t make for a super smooth buttercream, but if you’re covering it with coconut anyhow it shouldn’t matter as much.
Marilyn Ann Pratt says
Hi…..just found your receipt….looks great. Please please , can i just substitute the coconut milk with something else …like heavy cream….i am in need of a good frosting…white….that is not sweet….can you help me…..i want it for a nut torte…..PLEASE say you can help me.
Olivia says
Hi Marliyn! There is no coconut milk in the frosting here — for the cake you can use regular milk. For the frosting you can leave the coconut milk powder out. I hope that helps!
Rachel says
Hi Liv! I made this cake last year and it was a hit! I added a bit extra coconut milk powder in the batter.
Making it again this year for my partners birthday. Only concern is that his birthday is friday but we are travelling so will have to make it a day in advance (on thursday). My thursday is very busy so I am wondering what your thoughts would be on making any steps in advance on the wednesday? would it still keep until the weekend?
Any suggestions for time management would be appreciated! 🙂
Thanks,
Rachel
Olivia says
Hi Rachel! So glad to hear it was a hit — good call on the coconut milk powder! I think the cake would still be fine on the weekend, thougb maybe a bit drier. You can counteract that by using simple syrup on it when assembling. Otherwise you can make all of the components in advance and freeze them, then thaw and assemble.
Carrie says
Do you still have the original recipe? I made it for my husband before and he loved it so I’d like to keep it the same!
Olivia says
Hi Carrie! I’m sorry, I don’t, but I assure you this one is a million times better!!
Kate says
I’d like to modify this to be a lemon coconut cake. Was thinking I’d add some lemon zest to the frosting with the coconut milk powder, and 1-2 tsp of lemon extract with the vanilla in the cake batter. Any words of warning or advice?
Olivia says
Hi Kate! I think that will work fine. I prefer to not use extracts so I would recommend lemon zest in the cake as well (creamed with the butter and sugar) and some lemon juice in place of the milk (maybe 1/4 cup). The extract will work fine though!
Christine says
Coconut Cake – What is the depth of your six inch cake pan?
Olivia says
Hi Christine! Mine are 2″ tall, but 3″ will work too.
Elizabeth says
Hi.
Instead of using three 6″ pans, can I use two 9″ pans? The 9″ pans would be 2 inches deep as well.
Thanks,
Elizabeth
PS LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your recipes!!
Olivia says
Hi Elizabeth! The recipe works for two 8″ pans, two 9″ would have very thin layers. I would 1.5x the recipe if using two 9″.
Lois says
Hello, I love all of your cake recipes! You always gave the perfect cake slices too. I have a question about the coconut milk powder, do you think/know how it will work when incorporated in a American Buttercream recipe? If so, can you please help by telling me how much or at what stage to add it?
Thanks so much!
Olivia says
Hi Lois! Thanks so much! I think it would work perfectly fine with an ABC. I would add it at the end, after the sugar, but you might need to add more liquid (cream, milk) to get to the consistency you want. As for how much, it’s really just to taste. I would start with 1/4 cup and add more as needed.
Leslie Gallardo says
I just made this cake…oh my its a keeper!
It is delicious!I love that the cake itself its not over sweet,just right,if a cake its not overly sweet its a good cake..i did not had round pans at hand and did not have all ingredients forthe meringue;but i have a bundt pan,it came out perfect!i just cooked about 10+min.
I will definitely had everything at hand next cake!😂
Olivia says
Hi Leslie! So glad it worked out despite missing a few tools and ingredients!
Victoria says
Hi Liv – This is the second recipe I’ve tried from your site and it is incredible! I used this recipe, but replaced the toasted coconut with shredded coconut for a winter “snow” look, and added shredded coconut between the layers. Everyone raved about it and devoured the cake in 10 minutes. Thank you!
Olivia says
Hi Victoria! Love that winter snow look — great idea!! So happy that everyone liked it 🙂
Leslie Chavis says
I had made a coconut cake for a friend of mine that I found online. It was my first coconut cake and I made it because it looked so beautiful. I wanted to taste that cake so bad but she wanted it for a party that she was having. I was trying to find that recipe to make that cake for Christmas when I came across your cake. It looks and sounds so delicious that I have decided to try yours instead. Thank you for sharing.
Olivia says
Hi Leslie! I hope it lives up to your expectations. I love this recipe and the fact that the flavour comes through without the use of any extracts. Please let me know how you like it!
Shelby says
I don’t know if the issue was that the Swiss meringue buttercream might have still been a little warm, but as soon as I started incorporating the coconut powder, the oil in it made the buttercream break 🙁 it still tastes fine, but it lost its smooth texture.
Olivia says
Hi Shelby! That’s strange.. what do you mean by oil in the powder? It should not be oily. It sounds like it maybe just needed a bit more whipping though to come together again.
Bruce says
Do you think I could use this exact recipe and make 2, 8 inch cake layers? I don’t have 6 inch pans.
Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Bruce! Yes, it should work fine in two 8″ cake pans.
garima poddar says
hey olivia..not sure if you got my comment I posted yesterday… was wondering if i could replace shredded coconut with either fresh or dessicated coconut?
also im planning to make a pirate ship for my sons birthday.. would it be easy to carve thi cake and would it hold well under a chocolate ganache?
thank you so much for your amazing recipes!
Olivia says
Hi Garima! I just replied to your other comment. Dessicated coconut and ganache will work just fine!
garima poddar says
hello Olivia,
i just made the chocolate cake and its absolutely delicious. also made the SMB first time ever and it was just so good ! thank you so much.
I really want to make the coconut cake but the shredded coconut isnt available here. I can either use dessicated or fresh grated coconut. do you think it would be the same. Also would it work in a layer cake.. Im planning to make a pirate ship for my boys birthday and he wants this coconut cake.. the ship would have to be brown , so I could either cover it with chocolate ganche or chocolate buttercream. what do you think?
do let me know your thoughts on this..
Olivia says
Hi Garima! So happy to hear you liked the chocolate cake and SMBC! You should be able to use dessicated coconut just fine 🙂 And I think chocolate and coconut is a very popular combo so that should work well too!
Garima Poddar says
Thank you so much for taking time out to respond 🤗so excited to try this.. will keep you posted how it goes.. thanks again!
Max says
Howdy. I really want to try this cake, but would like to make a single layer. Can I just divide the ingredients in 3?
Thank you so much!
Olivia says
Hi Max! For sure, you can adjust the Servings slider down to 4 get the ratio for a one layer 6″ cake.
Samantha Singer says
Hi Liv , firstly want to say how much I love livforcake.com! I have made a few of your recipes and have loved them all and found them such a pleasure to follow. I made this cake today and made my very first Swiss meringue butter cream. It was so easy and is soooooooo delicious. Can’t imagine making buttercream any other way now.
I have a question in regards to the cake as I have made it twice now and it has sunk in the middle both times while it was still cooking in the oven. Could you assist with what I may be doing wrong ?
Thank you for such beautiful recipes!
Olivia says
Hi Samantha! Thank you so much, you are so sweet! YAY for your first SMBC! I’m so glad you found it easy — it’s my favourite kind of buttercream. The sinking in the middle while cooking should not happen! The only things I know to cause sinking while baking are:
– too much raising agent (did you use more baking powder (not baking soda) than the recipe calls for?)
– oven door opened while baking before the cake was set
– or are you at high elevation by chance?
Those are the only things I’m aware of that might cause that issue 🙁
Samantha Singer says
Hmmm , I’m thinking it may have been the oven door opening 🤦🏻♀️,
I also am on a high elevation.
Thank you so much for replying. I will be more patient next time I make the cake and not have a cheeky 👀.
Thanks again, any hints and tips are so welcome.
So much to learn.
So many yummy recipes to try 🤗