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Murielle Banackissa
Coconut Cake on a sand surrounded by fresh coconuts and dried toasted coconut

Coconut Lovers’ Cake

Print recipe
Spring, Summer
NF
1 hour 45 mins Prep: 1 hour 15 mins Cook: 30 mins
Serves 10

A light and moist sponge topped with a rich and creamy coconut whipped cream make this delightfully coconutty cake a wonderful dessert to enjoy in the warm summer months or any time of the year if you are a coconut lover.

Ingredients Prepare the cake: Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Prepare the Topping: Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Common Questions & Swaps

Ingredients

Coconut Cake

  • Cooking spray, melted butter, or melted coconut oil , for greasing the pan
  • 1 ½ cups cake flour
  • ½ cup organic cane sugar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ¾ tsp baking soda
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
  • ½ cup + 1 tbsp light coconut milk from a well-shaken can or a carton), divided
  • ½ cup filtered water
  • 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
  • 1 ½ tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp coconut extract , optional
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup

Topping

  • 2 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1 14oz can full fat coconut milk , refrigerated overnight
  • 3 tbsp powdered sugar , or more to taste

Prepare the cake:

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350ºF and grease an 8-inch cake or springform pan with cooking spray. Line the bottom with a round of parchment paper (no need to grease the paper).

  2. Step 2

    Sift cake flour into a large bowl. Mix in sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

  3. Step 3

    Add 1/2 cup of the light coconut milk, water, coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract, and coconut extract, if using, to the dry ingredients. Whisk to incorporate, but be careful not to overmix.

  4. Step 4

    Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted.

  5. Step 5

    While the cake is baking, in a small bowl, mix together the remaining 1 tablespoon of coconut milk along with 1 tablespoon of maple syrup.

  6. Step 6

    Remove cake from the oven and poke the surface of the cake with a toothpick. Brush the coconut milk-maple syrup mixture onto the cake.

  7. Step 7

    Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove from the pan and let cool completely on a rack. If using a standard cake pan, once you take it out of its pan, flip it over so that the poked side is facing up, and let cool on a rack.

Prepare the Topping:

  1. Step 1

    Toast the unsweetened shredded coconut in a dry skillet over medium heat until light brown in color, keeping a very close eye on it and stirring regularly so it doesn’t burn.

  2. Step 2

    Remove from the pan and transfer the coconut to a bowl to cool completely.

  3. Step 3

    Make the coconut whipped cream: Scoop out the solidified coconut cream from the top of the can into a medium bowl. Save the liquid coconut water to use in other recipes like smoothies.

  4. Step 4

    Whip the coconut cream using an electric hand mixer until fluffy. Stir in powdered sugar, adding more to taste.

  5. Step 5

    Spread the coconut whipped cream onto the cooled cake and sprinkle with toasted coconut.

Common Questions & Swaps

  • Can I use another flour? I have made this cake with all-purpose flour and the results were good, but not optimal. If that is all you have on hand, you can definitely use it, but know that the cake flour cake really make a big difference in the texture of the cake. If you are gluten free, an alternative would be Bob’s Red Mills 1-to-1 Baking Flour.

  • I do not have light coconut milk on hand; can I use something else? You can replace it with 1/4 cup of water + 1/4 cup of full fat coconut milk and use 1 tablespoon of full fat coconut milk in the soaking mixture. You can replace it with coconut beverage (from a carton). You can also replace it with your favorite plant based milk and add another 1/2 teaspoon of coconut extract to the batter

  • Can I use another oil? Yes, definitely, I wanted coconut to be everywhere in this recipe so I used melted coconut oil, but feel free to use melted butter, canola oil or avocado oil.

  • Can I swap the apple cider vinegar with another vinegar? Probably. I have not tried it personally, but I feel like white vinegar should be ok.

Coconut Cake on a sand surrounded by fresh coconuts and dried toasted coconut
Coconut Cake on a sand surrounded by fresh coconuts and dried toasted coconut
Coconut whipped cream being spread onto the coconut cake.
Toasted shredded coconut being sprinkled onto the coconut whipped cream on the cake.
Close up of a slice of coconut cake on a spatula.