Coconut Cake

I dare say this might be the best coconut cake recipe ever. Made with cake flour, butter and oil it is perfectly moist with a tender crumb. And it’s packed with triple the coconut flavor- coconut milk, coconut extract, and shredded coconut. So if you are a coconut fan like me, then you are going to adore this light and fluffy cake as much as I did. Once cooled, I frost this in coconut buttercream frosting for coconut in every bite.

Oh this cake. This beautiful big old cake. Let me tell you how much I love this cake. This coconut cake recipe I decided to share with you as Easter is upcoming, but when I made this cake to take gorgeous photos of it I had NO smell or taste. 

Thanks Covid. Yes I was struck down by the virus awhile back and sure enough about 7 days into it I woke up to zero taste and zero smell. It’s the most bizarre thing ever. I tried everything to see if I could smell something. I made monkey bread to see if cinnamon would trigger it. I put hot sauce and mustard on everything. I sniffed essential oils. Painted my nails. Nada.  Nothing. Zilch. And yes one of the things I tortured myself with during this time was to remake this coconut cake for you. 

Yes remake. I knew how delicious it was because I actually tested it a year ago for my cookbook and am just sharing it with you now. And yes my tastebuds remember the deliciousness well. 

So I made this cake for you. But I froze some of the cake so that when my taste and smell returned the first thing I could do is unwrap a slice of this cake and DIG IN. Raptor style. No forks needed. So yea this cake is that gooooooood. Ok, so assuming you have tastebuds that work let’s talk cake.

Why You Will Love This Coconut Cake

• Coconut 3 Ways! – I put all the coconut in this cake and then some. The cake is made with coconut extract, coconut milk, and shredded coconut. And there’s more coconut extract in the frosting. And after frosting, I decorated with more coconut!
• Great Make Ahead Dessert – The best part about cakes is that you can make them 1-2 days ahead of time and no one will be the wiser. 
• Moist And Fluffy – The texture of this cake is just perfect! I used butter for flavor and oil to keep it moist. 

What’s In This Coconut Cake?

For the cake: 

• Cake Flour – Cake flour has a lower protein content than regular AP flour, so you end up with a lighter, fluffier cake in the end. Lower protein = less gluten formed. And gluten is the protein that gives a cake structure. So less structure means a fluffy cake for you! If you don’t have cake flour on hand, you can make a DIY cake flour version. It won’t be exactly the same but will do in a pinch!
• Baking powder – This is what will leaven your cake, or help it to rise. It’s not the same as baking soda! It will not react the same, so don’t mix them up. You can read more here about Baking Powder vs. Baking Soda.  Be sure your baking powder is fresh, and hasn’t expired. To check it, put a teaspoon of it in a small bowl of warm water. If it bubbles, you’re all set! If not, throw it out and get a new container.
• Granulated sugar – This is key to not only sweeten your cake, but also to tenderize it as well. 
• Salt – You always need some salt to help balance the sweetness in your recipes. But that isn’t the only job! Read more here about The Role Of Salt In Baking. I use kosher salt in all of my baking, because it has no additives and a more pure salt taste. Table salt has smaller granule size than kosher salt so use less. 
• Eggs – You want room temperature large eggs. Room temperature eggs will bind and emulsify better than cold ones. And room temperature eggs will also create more volume as well. If you add cold eggs it will also seize up the butter in the bowl as well. I place my eggs into a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes before using. 
• Vanilla extract – Pure vanilla extract is best for the optimal flavor in this cake and the frosting. 
• Coconut Extract – This gives a really concentrated coconut flavor without adding extra liquid.
• Canned Coconut Milk – Why use milk when you can use coconut milk?! Make sure to use canned coconut milk not the beverage kind. 
• Unsalted butter – You will need to use melted butter in this cake. This gives a moist cake and lots of flavor. I also always recommend unsalted butter vs salted butter. Different brands will use varying amounts of salt in their salted butter, so it’s best to use unsalted butter so you can control the amount of salt. Butter will be needed for the cake and the frosting. 
• Vegetable Oil –  I add some oil to this cake to help keep it moist. You want to use a neutral-tasting oil such as vegetable or canola oil.
• Sweetened Shredded Coconut – I stirred in sweetened coconut to give it more coconut flavor and also great texture!

For the frosting:

• Confectioners sugar – You need confectioners sugar (or powdered sugar) for the buttercream frosting. 
• Heavy cream (or milk) – This is needed to achieve the creamy smooth consistency of the buttercream frosting. 
• Unsalted butter – You will need to cream softened butter for the frosting as well. 
• Vanilla – Pure vanilla is best since this isn’t baked. 
• Coconut extract – I used coconut extract but I have given substitutions in the recipe to use either coconut milk or coconut cream.

How To Make This Coconut Cake

1. Preheat and prepare pan. Preheat the oven to 325° F.  Grease and flour two 8” or 9” cake pans. Set aside. 
2. Combine wet ingredients. In a small mixing bowl, mix together coconut milk, vegetable oil and butter. Set aside. 
3. Sift dry ingredients. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder,  and salt. Set aside.  
4. Mix eggs and sugar. In a large mixing bowl, with an electric hand mixer with whisk attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and coconut extract, until thickened and light gold in color, about 2 minutes at medium-high speed. If your stand mixer doesn’t have a whisk attachment, beat for 5 minutes using the paddle attachment. The batter should fall in thick ribbons from the beaters.
5. Alternate dry ingredients with coconut milk mixture. Add dry ingredients alternately with coconut milk mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Do not overmix once the last of the dry ingredients mixture has been added. Stir in shredded coconut.
6. Bake. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top feels set, 26 to 30 minutes for two 9” pans, Remove the cakes from the oven, carefully loosen the edges, and allow them to cool for 10 minutes in the pans. Then turn them out of the pan and transfer them to a rack, right-side up, to cool to room temperature.

Tips For Making This Coconut Cake Recipe

• Prep Your Pans The Right Way. I recommend greasing your cake pans and lining the bottoms with parchment paper. I love using Baker’s Joy spray that has flour in it for the best release. I like to spray the pans, then line the bottom with parchment paper, then give it another spray. Here is a tutorial on How To Prepare Cake Pans (in 4 easy steps!)
• Measure Your Flour Accurately. I do recommend using a digital kitchen scale for best accuracy. But if you don’t own one yet, then fluff up your flour first. Spoon it into your cup and the level it off. Don’t pack it down! Here is a tutorial onw How To Measure Flour.
• Bring your eggs to room temperature.  You don’t want cold eggs being added to your creamed butter mixture. It will seize up the butter. So place your eggs in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes before using them. 
• Do not overmix your batter. Once the dry ingredients are added to the wet, stir just until the flour is mixed in. Overmixed batter will result in a tough-textured cake.
• Test The Cake To See If It’s Done. You can test with a toothpick, or touch the top of the cake. It should bounce back and not stay sunken in.

Tips For Making Coconut Buttercream Frosting

• Use Room Temperature Ingredients. Cold butter and cream cheese won’t mix together well and you will end up with a lumpy frosting.
• Chill The Frosting. If your frosting is too soft, try chilling it before frosting your cake so it firms up a bit and it’s easier to frost the cake.

Storing This Cake

When it comes to cakes I highly recommend making them ahead of time. There’s a lot of work that goes into them so it’s great to make them ahead! You can store the cake layers, unfrosted and then frost them later.  You can also store the cake layers, or the whole cake at room temperature. 

You can also freeze the cake layers too if you need to!

Cake Layers only: 

• At room temperature: You can make the cake layers 2-3 days ahead of time. Leave them unfrosted, and wrap in plastic wrap or tin-foil. Just make sure they are completely cool before doing so. 
• Freezing: You can also wrap the cooled cake layers and freeze for up to 3 months if you don’t plan to use the layers in a few days. I let them thaw at room temperature before icing them.

Frosted Cake: 

• Fridge: If you have frosted the cake, I like to store the cake in a plastic cake container, and keep in the fridge. I keep it 1-2 days ahead of time.
• Freezing: I would freeze the cake unfrosted. Once the layers are cooled then wrap carefully in plastic wrap (a few layers) and a final layer of aluminum foil. When ready to enjoy, just thaw at room temperature and frost.

Frosting:

• Fridge: You can make the frosting ahead of time as well. Store the frosting in a container for up to 7 days. I like to throw it my mixer again and re-whip so it’s smooth and fluffy again before I frost the cake. 
• Freeze: You can freeze the frosting too 2 months ahead of time. I thaw it overnight in the fridge and then rewhip again before I use it. 

Coconut Cake Recipe FAQ’s

Why is my cake not done in the middle? 

This can happen if it cooks too fast, creating a crust on the outside leaving the middle uncooked. This could mean your oven temperature is too high. Do yourself a favor and get an oven thermometer to double check the accuracy of your oven. 

Related post: Baking 101: Getting To Know Your Oven

Why does my cake sink in the middle? 

This usually means the cake is not done. Again, do yourself a favor and check that oven temperature. And be sure to not peek during the baking process! Keep that oven door closed.

How can I tell when my cake is finished baking? 

To test when my cake is done, I like to use a long wooden skewer to insert into the cake and see if there are moist crumbs that cling to it. Or  I do the bounce test, and touch the top of the cake it should spring back not stay sunken in.

My biggest worry is overbaking it. So making sure my oven temperature is running correctly, I can then set my timer and check it with the skewer to ensure it’s done properly and not overbaked.

Can I bake this cake in a different pan?

I haven’t tested in all these formats but here is what I think they should take. Always be sure to set a timer and use an oven thermometer and err on the side of less time and check from there. 

• two 9-inch pans: divide batter between two9-inch pans and bake for 26-30 minutes.
• Cupcakes: About 18-22  minutes at 350F for cupcakes filled 3/4 full.
• Bundt Pan: About 60-65 minutes at 350F. You won’t need all the frosting.
• 9×13 pan: Pour the batter into a greased 9×13 pan and bake 40 minutes at 350F. 

Can I use a different frosting?

Frankly I would say no, but that being said you could stick with a vanilla buttercream frosting, or try making a coconut version of my cream cheese frosting.

Can I use AP flour instead?

AP flour won’t give you quite the same fluffy and light texture. You could make a DIY cake flour version where you use AP flour and cornstarch. Again, you won’t get quite the same results but it will do in a pinch.

Can I use unsweetened coconut?

I highly recommend sweetened coconut for the best texture and the added sweetness.

More Cake Recipes

• Chocolate Coconut Cake
• Fresh Strawberry Pound Cake (with strawberry glaze!)
• The BEST carrot layer cake
• Vanilla Sponge Cake
• Momofuku Milk Bar Cake
• Chocolate Guinness Cake
• Peanut Butter Cake
• Orange Creamsicle Cake

Tools Needed To Make This Cake

• 8-Inch Cake Pans
• Baker’s Joy
• Stand Mixer

If you want to become a better baker then be sure to check out my now Ultimate Baking Bootcamp online class!

Coconut Cake

Coconut layer cake made with three kinds of coconut.

5 from 4 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 23 minutes

Total Time: 53 minutes

Servings: 12 slices

Calories: 385kcal

Author: Heather Perine

Ingredients

For the cake

• ▢ 2 cups (240 g) cake flour
• ▢ 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ 1 ¼ teaspoons table salt
• ▢ 4 large eggs room temperature
• ▢ 2 cups (396 g) granulated white sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 2 teaspoons coconut extract
• ▢ 1 cup (240 mL) canned coconut milk
• ▢ ¼ cup (½ stick, 57 g unsalted butter) melted
• ▢ ⅓ cup (80 mL) vegetable oil
• ▢ 1 cup (85 g) shredded sweetened coconut

For the frosting (this is a 1.5 batches of my coconut buttercream)

• ▢ 3 3/4 sticks (423 g, 30 Tbs.) unsalted butter softened
• ▢ 3 3/4 cups (423 g) confectioners sugar
• ▢ 3 Tablespoons heavy cream (or canned coconut milk)
• ▢ 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 3 teaspoons coconut extract or 5-6 Tbs. coconut milk, or 2-3 Tbs. coconut cream
• ▢ 1/8 teaspoon salt

Instructions

For the cake

• Preheat and prepare pan. Preheat the oven to 325° F. Grease and flour three 8” cake pans. Set aside.
• Combine wet ingredients. In a small mixing bowl, mix together coconut milk, vegetable oil and butter. Set aside.
• Sift dry ingredients. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• Mix eggs and sugar. In a large mixing bowl, with an electric hand mixer with whisk attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and coconut extract, until thickened and light gold in color, about 2 minutes at medium-high speed. If your stand mixer doesn’t have a whisk attachment, beat for 5 minutes using the paddle attachment. The batter should fall in thick ribbons from the beaters.
• Alternate dry ingredients with coconut milk mixture. Add dry ingredients alternately with coconut milk mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Do not overmix once the last of the dry ingredients mixture has been added. Stir in shredded coconut.
• Bake. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top feels set, about 23-25 minutes. Remove the cakes from the oven, carefully loosen the edges, and allow them to cool for 10 minutes in the pans. Then turn them out of the pan and transfer them to a rack, right-side up, to cool to room temperature.

For the frosting

• Combine the butter and  (powdered) confectioners sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix on low speed at first, then increase the speed until combined.
• Add in your heavy cream and vanilla extract, and mix on medium to high speed for 8 minutes until light and creamy. Add in your coconut extract (coconut cream or coconut milk) and salt If not using immediately, store in a container in the refrigerator until ready to use, mix again until light and fluffy.

Notes

• Tools: 8-Inch Cake Pans | Baker's Joy |Stand Mixer
• Make ahead/storage:
  • • Fridge: If you have frosted the cake, I like to store the cake in a plastic cake container, and keep in the fridge. I keep it 1-2 days ahead of time.
    • Freezing: I would freeze the cake unfrosted. Once the layers are cooled then wrap carefully in plastic wrap (a few layers) and a final layer of aluminum foil. When ready to enjoy, just thaw at room temperature and frost.
    • At room temperature: You can make the cake layers 2-3 days ahead of time. Leave them unfrosted, and wrap in plastic wrap or tin-foil. Just make sure they are completely cool before doing so.  You can also wrap the cooled cake layers and freeze for up to 3 months if you don't plan to use the layers in a few days. I let them thaw at room temperature before icing them.
    • Frosting: You can also make this ahead of time and leave in the fridge for up to 7 days and re-whip again before using. Or freeze for up to 2 months, thaw overnight in the fridge and re-whip again before using.
• Different pans:  
  • two 9-inch pans: divide batter between two9-inch pans and bake for 26-30 minutes.
  • Cupcakes: About 18-22  minutes at 350F for cupcakes filled 3/4 full.
  • Bundt Pan: About 60-65 minutes at 350F. You won't need all the frosting.
  • 9x13 pan: Pour the batter into a greased 9x13 pan and bake 40 minutes at 350F.

• Different buttercream: This would be good with just a vanilla buttercream frosting, or try making a coconut version of my cream cheese frosting.
• Can I use AP flour instead? AP flour won't give you quite the same fluffy and light texture. You could make a DIY cake flour version where you use AP flour and cornstarch. Again, you won't get quite the same results but it will do in a pinch.
• Can I use unsweetened coconut? I highly recommend sweetened coconut for the best texture and the added sweetness
• Can I use regular milk instead? Yes you can use regular milk instead of coconut milk.

Nutrition

Calories: 385kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 65mg | Sodium: 288mg | Potassium: 179mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 36g | Vitamin A: 198IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 46mg | Iron: 1mg

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