When I think of Easter desserts, I think of two cakes first and foremost: carrot cake and coconut cake. You’ll find my mega-delicious carrot cake recipe with cream cheese frosting in my book, Anyone Can Cake, and if I wouldn’t have waited so long to develop this coconut cake recipe it would be in my book as well. Instead, it’s right here and let me tell you: when I tasted this cake my first thought was “now I know what’s been missing from my life.” I know that sounds dramatic but IT’S SO GOOD! I truly could not resist this one.
These coconut cake layers are perfectly soft and moist, packed with just the right amount of coconut flavor, and have an amazing texture from the shredded coconut baked right in. The cake flour and egg whites in the recipe keep it light and fluffy, while the sour cream and canned coconut milk balance it all with the ideal amount of moisture. I was originally going to top it with regular ol’ coconut buttercream, but then I heard about coconut cream cheese buttercream and I couldn’t stop myself from trying it. Spoiler: it turned out insanely good. It felt like a mic drop moment.
While the coconut cream cheese buttercream is supremely tasty, it will be a little on the softer side to work with. I do have a couple stabilizers I recommend to make it much easier for cake decorating: cornstarch and full-fat block-style cream cheese. Cornstarch will add stability to the frosting just like adding more powdered sugar would, only it won’t flavor the buttercream or add any extra sweetness. And full-fat block-style cream cheese is a must. It turns out that cream cheese spread has a lot of added liquid, which will make your frosting super runny.
TIP: If you live in the UK and don’t have access to block-style cream cheese, I hear that Longley Farm cream cheese is the best to use because it doesn’t have additional liquid in it. For other parts of the world without access to full-fat block-style cream cheese, you may need to search your area for cream cheese brands that don’t add extra liquid or for alternative recipes from people in your area.
After filling and frosting this coconut cake with coconut cream cheese buttercream, I added a coating of sweetened shredded coconut over the whole thing (as is pretty much tradition with a coconut cake). You can either roll the cake through the coconut after the frosting is firm to the touch like what I did with this Rafaello cake recipe or you can press the coconut onto the cake by hand while the frosting is still slightly tacky. I pressed it on by hand this time, but only because I wanted to try an alternative to rolling the cake. Either way works like a charm!
To finish the look, I added a swirl border to the top of the cake with Wilton Tip 4B and sprinkled it with a little more sweetened shredded coconut. I wanted a little pop of color and realized I had these cute pastel rainbow candles on hand, so on they went. They’re perfect for dressing this cake up for Spring or Easter festivities!
However you choose to decorate, I think this recipe is what coconut cake dreams are made of and I hope you love it as much as I do!
Coconut Cake with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Coconut Cake
- 3 Cups (315g) sifted cake flour* DIY recipe in notes
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 Cups (300g) granulated sugar
- 5 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1/3 Cup (76g) sour cream, room temperature
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp coconut extract
- 1 Cup (240ml) canned full-fat coconut milk, room temperature
- 1 Cup (78g) shredded sweetened coconut
Coconut Cream Cheese Buttercream
- 8 Cups (960g) powdered sugar
- 1/4 Cup (32g) cornstarch (optional)**
- 1 1/2 Cups (339g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 12 Oz (339g) full-fat cream cheese, block-style***, room temperature
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tsp coconut extract
- 2 tsp canned full-fat coconut milk, room temperature
- pinch of salt, or to taste
Garnish
- 1 1/2 Cups sweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
Make the Coconut Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/177ºC. Prepare three 6-inch (15cm) or two 8-inch (20cm) cake pans by spraying the sides with cooking spray and fitting a parchment paper circle to the bottom of the pan.
- Add the sifted cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on high for two minutes until it’s light and creamy. Add the sugar and continue to mix on medium-high for another two minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Turn the mixer to low speed and add the egg whites one at a time, mixing until well combined. Add the sour cream, vanilla extract, and coconut extract and mix for one minute on high. Scrape down the bowl and paddle once more. It will look curdled at this point but don’t worry – it will look like smooth cake batter by the end!
- Turn the mixer to low, add in the dry ingredients all at once. When they’re just beginning to combine, add the canned coconut milk in a slow, steady stream. Continue to mix on low until incorporated. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs by hand to make sure there are no large lumps, then gently fold in the shredded coconut.
- Pour the batter evenly into the prepared cake pans and bake for 35-40 minutes. They’re done when they spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pan for five minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack for an additional few hours of cooling.
Make the Coconut Cream Cheese Buttercream
- Sift together the powdered sugar and cornstarch (if using) and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and cream cheese on medium-high until light, fluffy, and uniform (no lumps), about 5 minutes.
- Turn the mixer to low speed and add the powdered sugar and cornstarch mixture a few cups at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition and scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Add the vanilla extract, coconut extract, coconut milk, and salt and mix on low for another minute, until fully combined and smooth.
Assembly
- Once the coconut cakes are completely cooled, level them to your desired height. Add a swipe of coconut cream cheese buttercream onto a cardboard cake circle and place the first cake layer on top. Fill and stack the cake layers with coconut cream cheese buttercream, then crumb coat the cake with a thin layer of coconut cream cheese buttercream. Place the crumb coated cake in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to let the frosting firm up.
- To create the look pictured, frost a smooth buttercream finish with coconut cream cheese buttercream. Place the cake back into the refrigerator for about 15 minutes, until the frosting is slightly set but still tacky, then gently press the shredded coconut onto the sides and top of the cake.
- Once the sides and top of the cake are covered in coconut, place the remaining coconut cream cheese buttercream into a piping bag fitted with Wilton Tip 4B. Pipe a swirl border on top of the cake and finish with pastel rainbow candles if desired.
Notes
- The coconut cake layers can be baked, cooled, wrapped in plastic wrap, and left out at room temperature up to two days ahead of decorating. Unfrosted cake layers can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored in the freezer for up to two months before thawing and frosting.
- The coconut cream cheese buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for one day. Alternatively, you can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and re-whip with your stand mixer to bring it back to piping/frosting consistency.
I made this for Easter. The cake and frosting separately were delicious, but together it was too sweet for me and my family. The cake recipe is such a winner though. I think I’m going to try a different filling and maybe a different buttercream to bring out the freshness. I only had on 9” pan and a 5” pan so I filled those out and baked ~12 mins longer and cut them in half to fill them.
Kudos for writing such easy to follow directions with times for everything. I’ll definitely check out all your other recipes.
I would like to try this recipe with duck eggs that a friend gave me. Do you think that would work and would you use one less egg white? Thank you.
Hi Brigette! I’ve never baked with duck eggs before, how fun! After a little research I think one less egg white will be perfect. Enjoy!
I ended up making it with regular eggs. It don’t like coconut but a friend asked for a coconut cake, so I needed to make one. The batter and frosting are absolutely delicious! (I tasted it before adding the shredded coconut, which is what I don’t like.) I will make both again (without coconut) and also check out other recipes on your site. I made it in the 6″ pans and needed to cook longer than the 40 minutes, but they came out perfectly and my friend loved the cake. The 3 layers with the 6″ pans makes a really elegant cake.
HelloI made it ,and it was delicious but a little too sweet for me , I was wondering is there any way to lower the sweetness on the buttercream by putting less powdered sugar and still have it be manageable for piping?
Do you think that if I would of added maybe 3 cups of cornstarch and just 5 sugar ,it would of tasted a lot like cornstarch?
Thank you
Hi Yoselyn! I’m so happy you liked this recipe! To decrease the sweetness of the buttercream you can try either reducing the powdered sugar by 1/2 Cup and adding a little more salt to balance the sweetness, or try making a swiss meringue buttercream instead and use coconut extract to sweeten it. Swiss meringue tends to be less sweet than American buttercream, and I have a recipe for it here (sub half of the vanilla for coconut extract to make it coconut flavored): https://sugarandsparrow.com/swiss-meringue-buttercream/
Hi! I was wondering how I would have to alter the recipe to make it fit three 4″ layers? Thank you!
Hi Neha! For three 4″ layers, you’ll want to scale the recipe to 1/3. In other words, divide every ingredient by 3 to have the perfect amount of batter. I’ll add this flavor to my list of small batch recipe ideas! Hope that helps in the meantime 🙂
I’m so excited to try this cake! I’m new at baking and was wondering if I need this cake for an early event on Saturday when is the soonest I can frost the cake?
Thank you so much!
Hi Meg! I’m excited for you to make this cake too. Frosting the cake the day before would be ideal. Here’s a blog post I wrote about making cakes ahead that might be helpful for planning your cake out: https://sugarandsparrow.com/making-cakes-ahead/
Im assuming since there is cream cheese in the recipe, it is not stable to sit out and needs to be stored in the fridge after assembled and decorated?
Thanks!
Hi Ashley! Yes, this one needs to be stored in the refrigerator but I like to take mine out of the fridge 1.5 to 2 hours before serving so it can come to room temperature again.
Hi there I was wondering if I make pineapple filling between the layer, do you think the cake will hold up without sinking?
Yes, this cake will be sturdy enough for a pineapple filling. That sounds delicious! I would definitely use a buttercream dam to keep the pineapple filling from spreading too much in between the layers. You can find instructions for that in the “soft fillings” portion of this tutorial: https://sugarandsparrow.com/fill-and-stack-cake-layers/
Will this cake be good in a 10 by 14 sheet pan
Hi Fannie! How tall are the sides of the cake pan? It bakes great in a 9×13 dish (with 3 inch sides).
The cake and frosting wasn’t as white as in the pictures, more yellow. Any suggestions ? Use clear vanilla flavor instead of extract?
Hi there! If you want a whiter frosting, you can either use clear vanilla extract or add a little icing whitener like this: https://amzn.to/4edv2gT
The cake came out dry even though I baked it at exactly 35 mins and used each ingredient to a T. Any recommendations? The frosting was delicious.
Hi Daniella! I’m sorry this cake turned out dry! I’ve never had that issue with this recipe, but it sounds like the cakes ended up overbaked. I wonder if your oven runs hotter than expected. Is it a conventional oven or convection (fan assisted) oven? The reason I ask is because fan-assisted ovens run hotter and cook cakes quicker than conventional ovens and there are troubleshooting steps you’d need to do for a better bake. Also what kind of pans are you using? Dark colored or light colored?
Hi! I just did the DIY cake flour and I ended up with slightly more than three cups (About 3 1/2) is this normal or did I do something wrong?! Please respond!!
Hi! If you end up with more than enough DIY cake flour, just re-measure the correct amount to use in the recipe.
Hello, if I wanted to make 3-9 in layers would I just double the recipe? Thank you
Hi Nilsa! You can make 1.5x the recipe to have just the right amount of batter for three 9-inch pans. Enjoy!
Hello! I plan to make this recipe for my mom’s birthday. I want to do a three layer 7” round cake. Will I have to alter the recipe measurements in any way?!!
Hi Faith! This recipe should make enough for three 7-inch pans as-is. Enjoy!
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One of the best deserts of all time. Why didn’t I come up with this?! Girl my hat off to you. This is magnificent
Hi!! I am obsessed with this recipe. It’s my absolute favorite! Am I able to make this as a sheet cake. If so, how can I go about it? Would I need to double or triple the recipe? Thank you so much!
Hi Marv! I’m so happy you love this recipe! You could absolutely make this as a sheet cake. It’ll bake in a 9×13 pan as-is, no need to double or triple as it makes quite a lot of batter. Bake at 350F and check for doneness at 35-40 minutes. Enjoy!
Wondering if I can use a bundt pan for this recipe? Besides a longer bake time, do you foresee any issues?
Hi Saveria! This should work great as a bundt cake! The recipe should fit in a 10-cup (9.5 inch) bundt pan. I would check for doneness around the 35 minute mark. Last time I made a bundt cake with one of my recipes it didn’t take much longer to bake than the layer cake version. Hope that helps!
Hyyy! Please what’s substitute for sour cream?
Hi Ray! The best sub for sour cream is plain yogurt. Hope that helps!
Hello! I love this cake recipe so much and I am wondering how many batches I’d need to make a half sheet cake 12”x 18”? Thank you in advance!
Yay, Danielle! I’m so glad you love this recipe! It makes about 7 Cups of batter and a half sheet pan needs 14 Cups, so you’ll just need to double the recipe. I’m not sure about the baking time though, I would check it at 40 minutes and go from there. Hope that helps!
I love your recipes and your book “Anyone can cake”. My question is can you use egg whites from a carton? If so how many grams would it be? Thanks for another great recipe!!!
Hi Andrea! I’m so happy you’ve been loving my book. I’ve never tried using egg whites from a carton but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work! Bakeries do it all the time with their cake recipes. Since I’ve never tried it I’m not sure how many grams you’d need, but I did find an article that explains how to sub egg whites from the carton for shelled egg whites: https://www.getcracking.ca/recipes/article/liquid-egg-white-conversion-and-substitutions
Do you drain the coconut milk and use only the solid, or mix it all together?
Hi Deanne! I mixed it all together by shaking the can vigorously first.
Hi
Can I make the cake without the sweetened shredded coconut? I dont want bits of coconut in the cake! Just wondering if it would alter the texture of the cake.
Hi Tina! It would definitely affect the texture of the cake since the shredded coconut helps bind this recipe together and offers structure. If you want a coconut flavored cake without the shredded coconut in it, I recommend making my vanilla cake recipe and using 2 tsp vanilla extract + 1 tsp coconut extract for the flavor (instead of 1 Tbsp vanilla extract): https://sugarandsparrow.com/vanilla-cake-recipe/
To me this is what a coconut cake should be! For 3, 8 inch pans should I make 1.5 times the recipe? I’m planning to make this tomorrow.
Thanks
Yay, Bridget! I’m so happy you love this recipe as much as I do! And yes, for three 8-inch layers you’ll need 1.5x the recipe.
I made this recipe as cupcakes for my baby’s first birthday (The Big One surf themed!), and they were an absolute hit. I love that you get so much coconut flavor without it being overwhelming or too sticky sweet. I’ll be making this one again!
That’s amazing, Sheila! And what a cute birthday theme!
Hello! I tried the cream cheese buttercream and from the beginning the butter and cream cheese mixture started getting slippery and I could see liquid against the sides of the bowl. I did use the block cream cheese. Only thing I can think is that the cream cheese went in straight from fridge and the butter I softened up a tad bit in the microwave and then mixed it in the mixer to soften it up a little more. I guess at that point (when I added the cream cheese in) the butter had become room temp and that messed it up? After that the frosting wasn’t very stable, more slippery and when I tried to frost the cake it was FULL of holes I’ve had this issue before too with cream cheese so please help me out! Was it bc the difference in temp? Or any other tips? Thank you! It tastes great tho btw! lol
Hi Sadia! So, the butter and the cream cheese need to be the same temperature (room temp) for them to mix properly. Since the cream cheese went in cold and you softened the butter in the microwave, they couldn’t mix properly. Next time I recommend setting the butter and cream cheese out on the counter for about an hour to bring them to room temp at the exact same rate. This should make a world of difference!
I see, I will do that next time. Thank you for replying!
HI. IT LOOKS DELICIOUS! IS THERE A WAY TO MAKE SWEETNED COCONUT? WE JUST HAVE DESSICATED COCONUT AND COCONUT FLAKES.
Hi Karishma! Here’s how to make sweetened coconut from desicated coconut/coconut flakes: https://www.80cakes.com/2015/12/natural-sweetened-coconut-recipe/
Awesome recipe! Thanks so much for this beautiful and out of this world treat
Yay, Olumide! So happy this recipe was such a hit!