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This Coconut Cream Cake Recipe is layer upon layer of coconut flavor in every bite! Coconut infused cake, coconut cream cheese frosting, sprinkled with toasted coconut. Truly a coconut lover’s dream!
Featured with this Recipe
This Coconut Cream Cake is probably one of the best layer cakes I have ever had. The coconut cream cake itself is so rich and moist and the frosting is just to die for. This is a coconut cake recipe you will want to keep on hand for special occasions. It is perfect for showers, birthdays, weddings, and having company over. We have even made it for Easter and dressed it up like a bunny. It’s a fun treat to serve at Hawaiian themed parties, too!
Ingredients in Coconut Cream Cake
- Unsalted Butter
- Sugar
- Cream of Coconut – this is not the same as coconut milk. You can find it by the drink mixers.
- Eggs
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Buttermilk
- Coconut Extract – coconut extract is best but vanilla extract will work in a pinch
Frosting and Decorating Ingredients
A lot of coconut cakes use a buttercream frosting but this coconut cream cheese frosting is to die for! It really levels this up to be the best coconut cake recipe I have ever had.
- Butter
- Cream Cheese
- Coconut Extract
- Powdered Sugar
- Milk
- Toasted Coconut Flakes
Cake Supplies Needed for Layer Cake
- 9 inch round cake pans – to split the cake batter
- stand mixer or electric mixer with paddle attachment
- large mixing bowl
- wire rack – for help cooling to room temperature
Tips for Making this Coconut Cream Cake Recipe
- This is one of our more advanced recipes, not necessarily an easy coconut cake recipe, but well worth the work! We have made this countless times and it will turn out great as long as you carefully follow the instructions and don’t skip steps.
- This Coconut Cream Cake requires freezing OVERNIGHT so be sure to make it a DAY AHEAD of when you plan to serve it! This is a very moist cake and the freezing of the cake makes it so it will not crumble when it is frosted then next day. This step is very important if you want to keep your cake looking pretty.
From Our Readers
- I have had a few comments with people saying they had issues with sticking, so make sure to grease and flour! I always grease my pan, then line the bottom and sides with parchment paper (so it doesn’t slip) cut a round piece of parchment paper for the bottom and a long strip for the side of the pan. Then grease again over the parchment paper and lightly flour.
- Some people have had issues with the cake overflowing in 2 cake pans, I’m not sure if this is an elevation issue or an over-beating issue with the batter, but if the batter seems to be filling your pans more than ¾ full, consider using a 3rd pan or reserving some of the batter for some coconut cupcakes.
- One reader mentioned that she just made it in a traditional 9×13 inch pan without doing the layers and it turned out great. Another reader just did cupcakes and said that they turned out really good too! With either of these options you will need to adjust your baking times accordingly and really watch it close by doing toothpick tests. The cupcakes should cook much faster so start checking those sooner.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does coconut cream do in baking?
Coconut cream adds richness and moisture to this delicious dessert.
Does coconut cake have to be refrigerated?
Yes. Store leftover cake in the fridge in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap.
Is it okay to use coconut milk instead of coconut cream?
In this recipe, no. It will not give the right texture to the batter.
Read Next: 33+ Easy Dessert Ideas (with Pictures + Simple Recipes)
More Recipes for Coconut Lovers
- Tasty Coconut Cupcakes – Light and fluffy cupcakes with the most amazing coconut frosting!
- Coconut Cream Pie from Scratch – No pudding mixes in this delicious coconut cream pie filling.
- Coconut Pecan Cookie Bars – A graham cracker crust topped with coconut, milk chocolate chips, pecans.
- Caribbean Coconut Fudge Bars – A soft oatmeal cookie crust topped with chocolate fudge and a gooey coconut topping.
- Coconut Almond Bread – This is a moist coconut bread with a hint of almond.
How to Make Coconut Cream Cake
Coconut Cream Cake Recipe
This Coconut Cake Recipe is layer upon layer of coconut flavor in every bite! Coconut cake, coconut cream cheese frosting, sprinkled with toasted coconut. A coconut lover's dream!
Video
Equipment
- Electric Mixer
- Mixing Bowls
- 2 9 inch Round Pans
Ingredients
COCONUT CAKE
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 3/4 cups white sugar
- 1/2 cup cream of coconut Coco Lopez is the one I used, it can be found by the drink mixers at your grocery store- reserve another ½ cup to drizzle on the cake after baking
- 4 large eggs
Dry Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Additional ingredients
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
COCONUT CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- 2 pounds powdered sugar more if needed
- milk as needed
- toasted coconut for topping, see below for recipe
Instructions
For the Cake
- Separate eggs, set whites aside.
- Beat wet ingredients together including egg yolks until fluffy.
- Sift dry ingredients together and stir well. In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk and coconut extract. Set aside.
- Add dry ingredients to wet using mixer on low speed alternating with buttermilk/extract mixture.
- In a clean bowl, beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff. Fold egg whites into batter.
- Line two 9-inch pans with baking spray and flour (or what works BEST is lining the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper- cut a circle for the bottom of the pan and a strip for the sides and still spray above and below the paper)
- Bake at 275 degrees for about 90 minutes (this cake comes out much nicer when cooked at a lower temperature). After about 60 minutes, do the "toothpick test", repeating every 5-10 min or so until the toothpick comes out clean.
- After the cake is out of the oven and transferred to parchment paper or a cooling rack, poke each cake with a few holes (making sure not to poke all the way through) and drizzle another ½ cup of coconut cream over the top. This keeps the cake extra moist.
- After the cake completely cools, gently cover it with some plastic wrap and transfer to the freezer to freeze overnight.
- The next day, frost immediately after removing from the freezer (see frosting recipe below). This keeps the cake from crumbling while it is being frosted. Put a layer of frosting in-between the two cakes and then continue to frost the remainder of the cake.
- After frosting, sprinkle the cake with toasted coconut (instructions for toasting are below). Allow the cake to thaw for about an hour before serving.
For the Frosting
- Beat butter, cream cheese, and coconut extract together, adding powdered sugar little by little until reaching desired consistency.
- If it seems to get too stiff, add about 1 tsp of milk at a time until you get the consistency you want (add milk to thin it out, add powdered sugar to thicken it up).
Toasted Coconut
- Place contents of about ½ bag of sweetened, shredded coconut on a cookie sheet. Spread it out so it makes just a single layer. Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 8-10 minutes. Some pieces will still be white and soft, some browned slightly with a little crunch.
- Press toasted coconut into the frosting all over the top and sides of the cake.
Notes
- This is one of our more advanced recipes on our site but well worth the work! We have made this countless times and it will turn out great as long as you carefully follow the instructions and don’t skip steps.
- This cake requires freezing OVERNIGHT so be sure to make it a DAY AHEAD of when you plan to serve it! This is a very moist cake and the freezing of the cake makes it so it will not crumble when it is frosted then next day. This step is very important if you want to keep your cake looking pretty.
- I have had a few comments with people saying they had issues with sticking, so make sure to grease and flour! I always grease my pan, then line the bottom and sides with parchment paper (so it doesn’t slip) cut a round piece of parchment paper for the bottom and a long strip for the side of the pan. Then grease again over the parchment paper and lightly flour.
- Some people have had issues with the cake overflowing in 2 pans, I’m not sure if this is an elevation issue or an over-beating issue with the batter, but if the batter seems to be filling your pans more than ¾ full, consider using a 3rd pan or reserving some of the batter for some cupcakes.
- One reader mentioned that she just made it in a traditional 9×13 inch pan without doing the layers and it turned out great. Another reader just did cupcakes and said that they turned out really good too! With either of these options you will need to adjust your baking times accordingly and really watch it close by doing toothpick tests. The cupcakes should cook much faster so start checking those sooner.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 644kcalCarbohydrates: 101gProtein: 5gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 104mgSodium: 342mgPotassium: 105mgFiber: 1gSugar: 85gVitamin A: 805IUCalcium: 56mgIron: 1.2mg
If I use White Lilly flour do I omit the baking powder and salt from recipe?
I’m not exactly sure how Lily White flour works… I haven’t ever tried it that way so I don’t know what to suggest. Let me know if you try it and how it turns out!
i would like to know what do you mean by c. is that a cup? and how much is a cup?
also i would like to know if i can use any kind of flour because of gluten intolerance.
thank you very much
Yes, c. stands for cup, which is 8 oz. As far as the flour, I would use a gluten free flour that is recommended for baking. I can’t guarantee how it will turn out because I have never tried it this way.
Hi , this cake looks fab and look forward to making it for my birthday tomorrow, just a quick question, i do not have space in my freezer and found when i do freeze cakes i can always taste a frost from the ice no matter how long i have defrosted it for, (i have raised taste buds i am told haha) . Do you think if i kept it in the fridge at a very cold temperature over night that it would be as good? I live in london so no probs with altitude etc
also the weights of store bought ingredients in the uk are different from the u.s and just wondered what size your bag of poswered sugar is, perhaps 1 lbs i am guessing?
Many thanks and sorry for the bother.
Yypically the bags of powdered sugar are 1 or 2 Lbs here in the U.S.
First of all, happy birthday!!!! You could probably get away with refrigerating it but it is the best frozen. When you freeze it, just be sure to wrap it up really well so it doesn’t get too much frost on it. 🙂 Hope your birthday is a great one! Let me know how it turns out!
If you make this cake in a 9 x 13 pan, do you still remove the cooked cake from the pan and freeze ? Also, if you do not freeze cake, do you remove the cake from the pan or can you leave cooked cake in pan and follow next step? Thanks!!!
The cake always turns out better when I freeze it. If not freezing, I would still remove.
If you make this cake in a 9 x 13 pan, do you still remove the cake from pan after cooking and freeze or can you go ahead with the next step in the instructions. Love all your recipes and ideas!
You might want to try a lower temperature.. what elevation are you at?
Sea level – I think I may have overbeaten the batter? WONDERFUL recipe! The cupcakes were a huge hit!
Hi! I am making this cake today for Christmas dinner! I am so excited 🙂 The cakes are in the oven now. I actually did 3-9″ cake pans after reading some comments. After frosting the cake tomorrow should I keep it in the fridge? I need to frost it several hours before we eat it. Thank and Merry Christmas!!
I am assuming you already made this cake but you don’t need to keep it in the fridge if it is just for a few hours before serving. It is great at room-temp!
Hello…sounds yummy! Is this recipe for sea level or a high altitude recipe I live in Colorado my altitude is around 5,800
thanks
We baked this cake at around 2,500 feet… you might want to adjust your cooking a little for the elevation difference…
Hi I made the cake and froze it after I frosted it 2 weeks before the party. It was wonderful and everybody raved!!
BIG hit Thanks for the recipe.
Recipe sounds great! have you ever frozen the cake after it is frosted
I haven’t. The frosting tastes best when it is fresh. If I am taking it somewhere I usually freeze the cake and refrigerate the frosting… then before serving I frost it.
This cake was delicious! I made it in a 9×13 glass pan with no overflow problems. Don’t wait for Easter or a special occasion to make this. My family thanks you!
I’m putting this recipe on the top of my “Must Try” list! I love anything coconut so this should be a winner……can’t wait to try it!
what is coco loco? Can I substitute with something else, maybe coconut and cream? I don’t think we have it here in Canada
It is cream of coconut.. you can usually find it near the mixers in the alcoholic beverage section of your store. It is non-alcoholic but that is where you will find it. I have never substituted it for anything else.
Have you ever made this with gluten free flour?
No, I’m sorry, I have no idea how that would turn out.
I made this into 12 jumbo cupcakes tonight. The cupcakes were moist and delicious, can’t wait to make it again. Thank you!
When you say a bag of powdered sugar do you mean one or two pounds?
I’m back and getting ready to make this cake for a second time because people have requested it from me. I’m excited! I’m going to do the parchment this time to help with the cake coming out cleaner. I had thought about making them into cupcakes, not sure how that would work though. I’m going to an adult/couples Valentine’s party tomorrow night and bringing it. So excited!
Had to update…served this to a crowd today and everyone was raving!!! It is an amazing recipe that Ill definitely be making again. Thank you!
Would you mind telling me how you wrap cake in freezer overnight? Should I put in a freezer bag? Thanks, can’t wait to attempt this!
You let it cool and wrap it in plastic wrap. I like to go even further and put it in a plastic bag as well!
Great, thanks so much! Making it right now. 🙂
Also… I sprayed my cake pans with Pam, then used parchment paper on the bottoms only, and sprayed the parchment paper and sides with Baker’s Secret and had no sticking issues at all, even with the overflow.