Fabulous two layered vegan coconut cake topped with a coconut rum frosting. It’s moist, packed with coconut flavor and super easy to make!
I’m over the moon about this vegan coconut cake! It came out like a dream.
It has heaps of coconut flavor as well as texture from two cups of dessicated coconut (finely shredded coconut) in the cake batter. And then the frosting has a bit of naughty coconut flavor via a quarter cup of coconut rum!
It’s gorgeous and it’s super easy to make too!
How To Make Vegan Coconut Cake
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Sift all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add sugar, baking soda, salt and dessicated coconut. Mix together.
- Add coconut milk, melted coconut oil, vinegar, and vanilla and stir into a thick batter. Make sure it’s well mixed but be careful not to overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly between two 8-inch cake pans and spread it out to the edges of the pans with a spatula or the back of a spoon, the batter will be too thick to spread out on its own.
- Bake for 30 minutes at 350°F or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Transfer the cakes to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.
The Frosting
The frosting is the most delicious velvety coconut frosting that gets its coconut flavor from coconut rum and just a dash of coconut milk. And we decorate it with loads more dessicated coconut sprinkled everywhere. Because why wouldn’t you?
Recipe Tips
The batter is thick and seems dry. As you can see in the batter photo above, the batter is quite dry, and this is because there are two cups of dessicated coconut that go into the batter, so it thickens the batter up a lot. But adding dessicated coconut to a batter is very similar to if you would add nuts or raisins or something to a recipe in the way that it thickens up the batter. But the end result isn’t dry at all. It’s just really coconutty and delicious.
Dessicated coconut is also called finely shredded coconut or finely shredded coconut flakes. It is dried coconut that is very finely shredded.
The cakes come out quite firm on the tops. I was even joking that they’re a little ‘crispy’ and comparing them to cookies. But don’t be put off, it works. Once it’s frosted it’s just a delicious cake. No hint of dryness or crispiness to be found.
It’s not a super light and fluffy cake. It’s not light and fluffy like you get with our vegan vanilla cake, or our vegan lemon cake because it’s weighed down a little by the added coconut. But what you lose in light and fluffy you gain in delicious coconut texture and flavor.
But while it may not be super light and fluffy it’s definitely not overly dense either, I think you can see that from the photos. But it has more density than the other cakes mentioned above because of all the added coconut. So it’s sort of dense and fluffy, if that can possibly make sense!
Recipe Q&A
This cake can be made in either two 8-inch cake pans or two 9-inch cake pans. If you make it in 9-inch cake pans the layers will just be a little thinner, but it still works perfectly well.
Yes you can make cupcakes. This recipe will make around 24 cupcakes.
You should be able to make this cake gluten-free by swapping the all purpose flour for a gluten free all purpose flour blend. It must be a blend though and not a single type flour like rice flour or coconut flour as that will NOT work. If you find the cake is a bit dry using a gluten-free blend (gluten-free flours can absorb more moisture) then increase the oil slightly.
Storing and Freezing
Keep it covered at room temperature where it will stay deliciously fresh for a few days or covered in the fridge where it will stay fresh for up to a week.
It is also freezer friendly either frosted or unfrosted for up to 3 months.
More Vegan Cakes
- Vegan Carrot Cake
- Vegan Orange Cake
- Vegan Oreo Cake
- The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Banana Cake
- Vegan Apple Cake
Vegan Coconut Cake
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 10-12
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Fabulous two layered vegan coconut cake topped with a coconut rum frosting. It’s moist, packed with coconut flavor and super easy to make!
Ingredients
For the Coconut Cake:
- 2 and 1/2 cups (312g) + 2 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
- 1 and 1/2 cups (300g) White Sugar
- 1 and 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 3/4 tsp Salt
- 2 cups (160g) Dessicated Coconut (Finely Shredded Coconut)*
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) Full Fat Coconut Milk*
- 1/2 cup (120ml) Coconut Oil (Melted)
- 1 Tbsp White Vinegar (or Apple Cider Vinegar)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
For the Coconut Rum Frosting:
- 4 and 1/2 cups (540g) Powdered (Confectioners) Sugar
- 1/2 cup (112g) Vegan Butter
- 1/4 cup (60ml) Malibu Coconut Rum*
- 1 Tbsp Coconut Milk
For Decorating:
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Spray two 8 inch cake pans with non stick spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and then add the sugar, baking soda, salt and dessicated coconut. Mix together.
- Then add in the coconut milk, melted coconut oil, vinegar, and vanilla and stir into a thick batter. Make sure it’s well mixed but be careful not to overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans and spread it out to the edges of the pans with a spatula or the back of a spoon, the batter will be too thick to spread out on its own.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Transfer the cakes to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.
- Prepare your frosting by adding the powdered sugar, vegan butter, coconut rum and coconut milk to a mixing bowl and mixing with an electric mixer starting off slow and then gradually increasing speed until thick and smooth. If your frosting is too thick, add a tiny bit more coconut milk, a drop at a time until you reach the right consistency, if it’s too thin add more powdered sugar.
- Frost your cake and decorate it with plenty of dessicated coconut.
Notes
*Dessicated coconut is also called finely shredded coconut or finely shredded coconut flakes. It’s dried coconut that is shredded very finely.
*Use full fat canned coconut milk.
*If you prefer not to use coconut rum, then you can sub the rum for coconut milk.
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice (of 12)
- Calories: 664
- Sugar: 70.7g
- Sodium: 432mg
- Fat: 29.4g
- Saturated Fat: 22.3g
- Carbohydrates: 95.3g
- Fiber: 3.2g
- Protein: 4.3g
Keywords: vegan coconut cake
Hi Alison, absolutely love your recipes!! I’m planning to make this cake in two 6” circular tins, how do you think that will affect the baking time and will they be too thick? Looking forward!
Hi Tutu! So glad you like the recipes, thank you! I think that might be too thick and in that case it might take ages to bake. It might be better to halve the recipe.
Can I use jam instead of icing?
Sure!
Thank you
I only have square 8 in pans – will I need to tweak the recipe at all? Also, was going to use a lot less sugar, maybe only 1/2 cup just to cut it down, do you think this will be ok or should I sub in something else in its place?
Hi Angie, a square pan has more surface area than a round one, so it’s likely your layers will be a bit thinner, but it should still work out fine. I have not tested this recipe with less sugar so I can’t advise on that.
Hello – I made a test batch and I found it to be a little dense/dry. Can I add more coconut oil and some baking powder? Will that help? What if I use vegetable oil instead? Will that make it more moist? Thank you!!!
Hi Al, if it was a bit dense or dry then the most common reasons would actually be using a bit too much flour or overmixing it. Make sure you measure the flour correctly either using the spoon and level method – spoon the flour into a measuring cup and then level off the top. Don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup – or weigh it on a food scale. Mix the batter until just mixed and don’t overmix it. Also don’t let the batter sit before baking. Bake it immediately. Using a different oil won’t make a difference though you you can use a different oil if you prefer.
Hi,
Can I use regular milk instead of coconut milk? I am aware the coconut flavor would be reduced, but will the cake be affected in any other way?
Yes you definitely can!
Can I substitute white sugar for a sugar substitute such as monk fruit or swerve?
Hi Nicole, you can give it a try if you want to experiment but it’s not something that we’ve tested.
Hi, just wanted to say, I think
You have the best vegan account on the internet. I have so many of your recipes bookmarked. Every one I have made has been easy to follow and a great Success. Thanks
Thank you so much Julia! That’s so lovely of you to say! xo
Hi Alison,
I am thirteen and therefore cannot have rum. What is the substitute?
Also, can I make these into cupcakes?
Hi Aditi, you can just use coconut milk or another non-dairy milk instead of the rum. And yes you could make this into cupcakes, it would make 18-24 cupcakes and would need a shorter baking time, probably 22-25 minutes.
Thank you so much Alison!
Hi this cake looks great!
I just wanted to ask if this cake could be made in 6 inch tins instead of 8?
Thank you 😊
Not unless you were using 3-4 6-inch cake pans. Otherwise it will be best to halve the recipe.
Hi Alison
Can I reduce the dessicated coconut by 1 1/2 cups instead of 2 cups? Will I have reduce any liquids?
Hi Tara, you can reduce it without making other changes. 🙂
Can I use homemade coconut milk instead of canned one?
I would think so!
Hi,
I really want to make this recipe for my dads birthday but I don’t have any coconut oil. So is it okay if i replace that with any other type of oil?
★★★★★
Hi Kaveesha, yes you can use a different oil. Canola or vegetable oil should work well.
Hi, this cake recipe turn out excellent. I did put in about 100 grams of halved Glacé cherries. I use the natural colour ones. And the were very successful. As it was for my Grandson I omitted the rum in icing, but was still lovely. Thank you for your input.
★★★★★
Awesome! So happy it was a success!
Hi,
I was just wondering whether I could make this recipe without the desiccated coconut as that’s the only ingredient I don’t have.
Hi Anisha, yes you can! 🙂
I love all your recipes, and I was wondering if you could add glacé cherries to this recipe.
Hi Norma, do you mean for decoration? In that case, yes sure! But I don’t know about adding them to the cake itself, it might be fine, I’m not entirely sure.
I had considered putting them in the mix. Used to when I made Vegetarian cakes. But was not sure if this mix would support them. Maybe will just put them as decoration. Thank you for your reply.
Hi Norma, if you have used them before in other recipes and they have worked out then go ahead, it will more than likely work great here too. I have just never used them so I wasn’t sure. 🙂
I will give it a go & let you know how it works out.
Thank you for your always prompt reply & of course brilliant recipes.
You’re so welcome! All the best! 🙂
Hi,
Recipe looks great (and photos are mouthwatering)!
Can I just use regular butter instead of vegan butter? Would the quantity be the same for the icing?
Thanks 🙂
Hi Puja, yes you can use regular butter in the same quantity. 🙂