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    Home » Desserts

    Vegan Coconut Cake

    Published: May 19, 2018 Updated: Sep 8, 2021 by Alison Andrews This post may contain affiliate links

    Jump to Recipe
    Vegan Coconut Cake

    Fabulous two layered vegan coconut cake topped with a coconut rum frosting. It’s moist, packed with coconut flavor and super easy to make!

    Vegan coconut cake on a white cake stand with one slice cut and ready to be served.

    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.

    Slice of vegan coconut cake on a cake lifter.

    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.
    Batter for coconut cake in a white mixing bowl.
    • 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.
    Coconut cake batter in 8-inch round baking pans, ready to go into the oven.
    • Bake for 30 minutes at 350°F or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
    Freshly baked coconut cake in 8-inch round cake pans.
    • Transfer the cakes to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.
    Vegan coconut cake layers cooling on a wire cooling rack.

    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?

    Frosted cake on a white cake stand with one slice cut and ready to be served.

    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!

    Coconut cake on a white cake stand with one slice cut and ready to be served.

    Recipe Q&A

    What size cake pans to use in this recipe?

    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.

    Can you make cupcakes from this recipe?

    Yes you can make cupcakes. This recipe will make around 18-24 cupcakes. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

    Can you make it gluten-free?

    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.

    Coconut cake on a white cake stand with one slice missing showing the inside of the cake.

    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.

    A slice of vegan coconut cake on a white plate with a cake fork.

    More Delicious Vegan Cakes

    1. Vegan Carrot Cake
    2. Vegan Orange Cake
    3. Vegan Oreo Cake
    4. The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
    5. Vegan Banana Cake
    6. Vegan Apple Cake
    A slice of vegan coconut cake on a white plate with a cake fork.

    Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!

    Vegan coconut cake on a white cake stand.

    Vegan Coconut Cake

    Fabulous two layered vegan coconut cake topped with a coconut rum frosting. It’s moist, packed with coconut flavor and super easy to make!
    4.91 from 64 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Baking, Cakes, Dessert
    Cuisine: American, Vegan
    Diet: Vegan
    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Cook Time: 30 minutes
    Total Time: 45 minutes
    Servings: 12
    Calories: 664kcal
    Author: Alison Andrews

    Ingredients

    For the Coconut Cake:

    • 2 ⅔ cups All Purpose Flour (330g)
    • 1 ½ cups White Granulated Sugar (300g)
    • 1 ½ tsp Baking Soda
    • ¾ tsp Salt
    • 2 cups Dessicated Coconut (160g) Finely Shredded Coconut
    • 1 ½ cups Coconut Milk (360ml)
    • ½ cup Coconut Oil (120ml) Melted
    • 1 Tbsp Distilled White Vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar
    • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

    For the Coconut Rum Frosting:

    • 4 ½ cups Powdered Sugar (540g)
    • ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
    • ¼ cup Malibu Coconut Rum (60ml)
    • 1 Tbsp Coconut Milk

    For Decorating:

    • Dessicated Coconut
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    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

    1. Dessicated coconut is also called finely shredded coconut or finely shredded coconut flakes. It’s dried coconut that is shredded very finely.
    2. We used full fat, canned, unsweetened coconut milk, but I think any unsweetened coconut milk will work fine in this recipe. 
    3. If you prefer not to use coconut rum, then you can sub the rum for coconut milk.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1Slice | Calories: 664kcal | Carbohydrates: 95.3g | Protein: 4.3g | Fat: 29.4g | Saturated Fat: 22.3g | Sodium: 432mg | Fiber: 3.2g | Sugar: 70.7g
    DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? Rate it & leave your feedback in the comments section below, or tag @lovingitvegan on Instagram and hashtag #lovingitvegan
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    About the Author

    Hi I'm Alison Andrews, I'm the voice and cook behind Loving It Vegan. I love making delicious vegan food and creating vegan versions of all your old favorites, so that you’ll never feel like you’re missing out. Find out more about me here.

    Loving It Vegan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This site may contain some of these links to Amazon.com. If you make a purchase through one of those links, Loving It Vegan will receive a small commission from the purchase at no additional cost to you.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. R says

      November 17, 2022 at 6:27 pm

      Can I use coconut flour instead of all purpose flour?5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        November 18, 2022 at 11:11 am

        Unfortunately no that won’t work, as coconut flour is VERY different to regular flour.

        Reply
    2. Rachel says

      November 04, 2022 at 4:55 pm

      This is by far my most favorite cake ever. I get to seriously craving this cake and have to make it. I find that I usually have to add some extra oat milk to the batter to make it less stiff. It always comes out to be the most moist and delicious cake ever. Be sure to add a little extra Malibu rum to the frosting too. It’s my husband’s birthday in a few days and this will be his birthday cake. Thank you for sharing such an amazing recipe.5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        November 07, 2022 at 8:59 am

        Thanks so much for the amazing review Rachel!

        Reply
    3. VegCook says

      October 24, 2022 at 11:36 pm

      Can this be made as a sheet-cake? What changes are needed to do so?

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        October 25, 2022 at 10:05 am

        I haven’t tested this as a sheet cake, but it should work in a 9×13 or a 10×15 sheet pan. The baking time should be around 30 minutes for 9×13 and 20 minutes for 10×15.

        Reply
    4. Peter says

      July 18, 2022 at 5:33 pm

      Delicious!👌🏻👈🏻5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        July 19, 2022 at 10:57 am

        Thanks Peter!

        Reply
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