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.
Bianca says
What if I use coconut cream instead of full fat coconut milk? Would that significantly change anything? I’m hoping it would add to the flavor and moisture of the cake.
Alison Andrews says
That would be fine! 🙂
ruby says
Hi, I was wondering if I could just use 7 inch baking pan and bake half of the batter and then the other half after so the middle will be cook properly and join them together? I only have 7 inch pan and I need it for tomorrowwwww
Alison Andrews says
Hi Ruby, that might work! You may still need a longer baking time since this was designed for larger cake pans.
Mary Spierl says
Made this with 6-muffin tin & regular pie plate as I don’t do layer cakes since only for 1 person. I substituted canola oil for coconut oil (due to expense) & slightly reduced amount of white sugar. Turned out great. I used a confectioner sugar glaze for icing.
ruby y says
Hi, I will be trying this recipe next week! I was wondering if its okay to sub white sugar with brown sugar instead?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Ruby, it would work, but it would change the color of the cake, if you’re okay with that then it will work fine. 🙂
Hans Desnoyers says
I made this delicious cake on Thanksgiving day and it was quite popular. In fact it tastes even better after two days. I am just wondering about the caloric intake for this cake….Is it really 664 calories per slice? Please let me know ….a sincere fan!!!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Hans, so happy you enjoyed the cake! Yes, coconut is very calorie dense, you can always cut the slices a little smaller if you want to reduce it a bit. 🙂
Teresa says
okay cakes in the oven and the batter flavor is awesome…. going to kick it up a knotch by making a simple rum syrup to soak the cake … poke few holes and pour…. lets see! will let you know ..
Alison Andrews says
That sounds divine! 🙂
Lexine says
I am wanting to make this for my son’s birthday cake, but as well as being vegan, he doesn’t like to eat a lot of sugar. I always try to substitute the sugar where I can, but sometimes it doesn’t turn out. Would using Nativa or Stevia instead of the white sugar work? Has anyone tried this please?
Katherine Tejeda says
I’m intolerant to vinegar, is there anything that can substitute it or can it be left out? Thanks in advance for your response!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Katherine, the recipe needs something acidic to react with the baking soda, so lemon juice should work as a substitute. 🙂
Roxanne Spangenberg says
The cake flavour is really nice and delicate. I do think that baking soda gives it a very distinct chemical flavour. I would use baking powder the next time. Icing is yummy! I made some changes and instead of white sugar used unrefined coconut sugar.
Maya says
Shall I use shredded Coconut instead of dessicated Coconut??
Alison Andrews says
Hi Maya, you may be able to! It’s a little more wet than dessicated coconut, but might still work out fine. I can’t say for sure as I haven’t tried shredded coconut, let us know how it works out if you do try it. 🙂
Empress says
Oh my goodnessgrest coconut flavor. I made this recipe into cupcakes for my birthday on Saturday. It was amazing! I made two versions gluten and gluten free with Bob’s Red Mill 1to1. Everyone loved them! Thank you for an amazing recipe.
Alison Andrews says
So glad they worked out great! Thanks for the awesome review! xo
Miranda says
Hi there! I baked the cake last night and ended up with an incredibly dense cake. When I took it out of the oven, it was still raw in the middle and had sunk. It also wasn’t as sweet as I thought it’d be?
I didn’t make any substations or chances. Any idea where I went wrong? Thanks!
Miranda says
*Meant substitutions or changes ????
Alison Andrews says
Hi Miranda, argh sorry to hear that! What comes to mind is perhaps accidentally using too much flour, it is the best thing to weigh it for perfect accuracy, and then as far as not being properly cooked, I recommend an oven thermometer! Mine has done wonders for me!
Suzie says
Your vanilla cake is the standard birthday cake in our family, Alison – it never fails! I tried this coconut one today and it is gorgeous. I had to make a few changes as we’d run out of some things but I thought you’d be interested in knowing how they worked. I subbed half the amount of plain flour for wholemeal flour, used shredded coconut instead of desiccated, used mild olive oil instead of coconut oil, and also added the zest of one orange. I baked it for about 25-30 mins on 180C in a 22×32 cm slab tin. It has come out fluffy and delicious! Thanks so much for your delicious cake recipes 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful to hear that Suzie! Thanks for the amazing review! xo
Lauretta says
This turned out AMAZING!!! Thank you so much. It was my best vegan cake ever and no one could believe it was vegan!!
Alison Andrews says
Sooo happy to hear Lauretta! Thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂
BEEH says
Hi Alison.
I wish I was able to give a 5 star but I can’t. I’m not sure what can be done to make this cake more moist and fluffy. I followed the instructions to the tee. It was too dense/dry for our taste. The flavor was very good and the frosting was fantastic but I’m not sure if I’m comparing it with your carrot cake, which was a complete success. Maybe less dissicated coconut? or add baking powder?… The flavor was good and everyone ate it, but they didn’t wow them like your carrot cake.. Sorry.. Any suggestions?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Beeh, thanks for your feedback. I didn’t find it dry, but I wonder if the dessicated coconut creates the feeling that it’s dry. Did you weigh the flour? Just wondering in case using too much accidentally could have caused the issue.