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 18-24 cupcakes. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
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 Delicious Vegan Cakes
- Vegan Carrot Cake
- Vegan Orange Cake
- Vegan Oreo Cake
- The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Banana Cake
- Vegan Apple Cake
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Coconut Cake
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:
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.
- We used full fat, canned, unsweetened coconut milk, but I think any unsweetened coconut milk will work fine in this recipe.
- If you prefer not to use coconut rum, then you can sub the rum for coconut milk.
Lana says
Looks fantastic!
Can I use maple syrup as a sweetener? Like, would 1/2 cup ruin the texture? I’m also using GF flour for baking.
Alison Andrews says
It might be okay since you’re using gf flour which is drier. I am not sure though, but it’s worth a try and I think it might work. 🙂
Lana says
Thank you! Going to bake this today?
joe says
Hi, can I use baking powder instead of baking soda? It gives a sort of metallic taste!
Alison Andrews says
You could try it with baking powder, but I have not tested it that way. If you did, I would use at least 3 and maybe even up to 4 tsp baking powder and you could omit the vinegar. Not sure how it will come out exactly but that should work in theory.
Bubba says
Hello
I’ve yet to test out your recipe, but it looks great! I have to make a vegan wedding cake. I’d like to use this recipe. Any idea on how long in advance I can make the cake? I’ll let you know how it goes.
Alison Andrews says
While it stays edible up to a week (covered in the fridge) it’s always going to taste best either the day of baking or the next day.
marwa says
super duper delicious! at first to be honest i was quite tempted to try it. but seriously the taste is over this world, like really, had a piece and still thinking of having another one(lol). and it really has that cookie texture you mentioned.
Alice says
Hi 🙂 I was just wondering would it be possible to either use less sugar or sub for coconut sugar? I want to make this cake for my daughter’s 1st birthday and don’t want to use much refined sugar? Thank you in advance!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Alice! Coconut sugar will darken the color quite a lot, but I don’t think it would be an issue. I haven’t tested it that way, but since it’s also a granulated sugar I don’t see an issue. 🙂
Alexa says
Hey! This recipe looks delicious, but I only have 9inch cake pans… would this recipe still work?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Alexa, I think it would be fine, the layers are really quite fat for the 8 inch pans so it would just result in thinner layers but I reckon they will still be great! Let us know how it goes if you try it! 🙂
kasturi says
Hi Allison,
Thank you for the recipe. They turned out well; moist and soft.
However, I find the soda flavour overpowering .
Could you advise
Could I substitute with baking powder instead?
Alison Andrews says
Hmm, I don’t know why you are tasting it at all it’s only a small amount for a whole cake, but if you prefer baking powder, you could probably try it but in terms of amounts and other adjustments needed (like you wouldn’t need the vinegar for example) that would be an experiment to get it right, one that I haven’t done myself. 🙂
KimSyd says
Hello!!! I am so happy to find your recipes! Not only are they low fuss and easy, THEY TASTE AMAZING!!! Can you do another fruit recipe?? I wanted to do something seasonal but I’m in Australia so won’t be the same produce. Keep baking lots of luv Kim
Alison Andrews says
Thank you! So glad you like the recipes! We have done a few fruit recipes, like a fruit salad and a bunch of smoothies, if you just use the search bar you’ll find what we’ve done so far. 🙂
Joan says
Hello.please send me a red velvet cake recipe
Alison Andrews says
Hi Joan, if you use the search button on the site – if you’re on mobile it’s in the drop down menu and if you’re on desktop it’s in the top right hand corner – you can search for whatever recipe you need. You can find our red velvet cake recipe here.
Christine says
This looks awesome! Can I replace the all purpose flour with all purpose GF flour?
Thanks!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Christine, others have done a straight swap in my recipes and been pleased with the results, but I have usually found that in a straight swap with gluten-free flours the result is a bit too dry, so it can be a good idea to increase the oil as well. If you take a look at my gluten-free vegan chocolate cake recipe I talk a bit about this there. I have not tested this cake as gluten-free, but as a general rule of thumb if you use a bit more oil in gluten-free baking you’ll have a better result. All the best!
Erica says
Hello! Can I use shredded coconut flakes instead of desiccated coconut? Can’t wait to try the recipe!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Erica, that should be fine, so long as it’s the dry flakes and not wet coconut, then I think it would work, but I haven’t tried it myself. Since the flakes are much bigger than the dessicated coconut, it would likely not mix in as well and might have more texture, but that isn’t necessarily an issue.
Elli says
Hi. Can I replace vegan butter with something else? Can’t find it here in Holland.
Thank you
Elli
Alison Andrews says
Hi Elli, some people have replaced the vegan butter in my frostings with coconut oil, I also have a homemade vegan butter recipe, but in my view, a storebought vegan butter works best. Usually most countries will have a margarine that doesn’t contain animal products, if you look around. I found this guide to being vegan in Holland and it sounds like there are a couple of brands that are vegan. All the best!
Welmoed says
Hello, I love your vegan recipes and I wanted to try making this coconut cake next! Though, I own a 7 inch round cake pan. Do you think this would work as well or is it better to buy and use an 8 inch cake pan for this recipe?
Alison Andrews says
Hi! Yes it would definitely be better if you used 8 inch cake pans for this one. If you used 7 inch cake pans you would need to scale the recipe down by about a third, which can be quite complicated to do and usually requires getting out your calculator! ? If you made the recipe as is, with 7 inch cake pans it would result in very tall layers and as the cake pans would be very full it would likely affect how well it bakes in the middle.
Linda says
Delicious. I didn’t find the texture as ‘cookie-like” as the description made it sound, but it was less moist than some cakes. Not in a bad way, though; if that makes sense. Only reason it got 4 stars is because Loving It Vegans other coconut cake is my 5 star cake. Yum!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Linda, yes I totally agree with you it’s a bit less moist, from all the coconut in there, so it’s different but not worse for it. Hahaha, I just thought the tops of the cakes looked a little cookie-like, but it’s not that way in texture. I’m not sure what other cake you mean, do you mean our coconut cream pie? Thanks so much for posting and your review! 🙂
Priti says
May i use fresh grated coconut as we live in the tropics?
Alison Andrews says
If it’s more ‘wet’ than the dried dessicated coconut then no, because it would make the cake too wet, if you experiment with the proportions you may be able to make it work but a straight swap wouldn’t work.
Anna Andrews says
Decidedly coconutty and flavourful!
Alison Andrews says
Absolutely! 🙂