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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!
    4.92 from 69 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Baking, Cakes, Dessert
    Cuisine: American, Vegan
    Diet: Vegan
    Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 45 minutes 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. Carla says

      April 07, 2021 at 3:33 am

      Can I use coconut sugar instead of white sugar? I want to make this for my baby’s 1st birthday, but I would prefer to substitute it.

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        April 07, 2021 at 9:50 am

        Hi Carla, you can, but the color will be darker. All the best! 🙂

        Reply
    2. diva says

      April 02, 2021 at 4:42 pm

      Hello!! I dont have 2 pans so was going to make it in one tin. How long do you recommend I bake it for? And do you think I could easily cut it in half to ice it and when is the best time to cut it? When its cooled completely?

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        April 05, 2021 at 12:15 pm

        It’s better to halve the recipe in that case. It won’t cook well if baked in a single pan.

        Reply
    3. Tara says

      March 28, 2021 at 12:01 pm

      Hi Alison,
      Can I use any oil in this recipe?
      Also can fresh coconut be used? Will I need to reduce the milk as the fresh coconut has liquid in it

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        March 29, 2021 at 10:29 am

        Hi Tara, yes you can use any oil. Fresh coconut will throw out the ingredient ratios so it would be good to reduce the milk and experiment with that. All the best!

        Reply
        • Tara says

          March 31, 2021 at 7:23 pm

          Hi
          Will try it.
          Many thanks

          Reply
      • Elias says

        April 02, 2021 at 11:02 am

        Hi Alison, I used 300 gr white sugar but I wonder if I could use just 100 gr?

        Reply
        • Alison Andrews says

          April 05, 2021 at 12:18 pm

          You can definitely experiment with reducing the sugar and see how you go. Just remember the sugar isn’t just for sweetness, it’s also for texture.

          Reply
    4. Amanda says

      March 08, 2021 at 5:11 pm

      Hi! I made this cake and the flavors were amazing! However, I think I did something wrong because the texture all the way through was hard like a shortbread cookie, instead of being soft on the inside. When I took it out of the oven at the 30 minute mark, it was still very moist but the toothpick came out clean. I left it in for 5 minutes longer, and it was still soft when it came out, so I let it cool and removed it from the pans. The next morning when I decorated it, the outside had hardened, but I saw you said that is normal to be “crispy”, so didn’t think much of it. Any idea where I went wrong? I used 9″ pans. I absolutely loved the flavors and the cake got great feedback, although it was more like a biscuit haha.

      Thank you!!4 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        March 10, 2021 at 10:00 am

        Hi Amanda, is there any chance you used baking powder instead of baking soda? I have had this happen when I mixed them up! 🙂

        Reply
    5. Dane says

      February 28, 2021 at 3:58 am

      Can I make this recipe into a loaf instead of a layered cake?

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        February 28, 2021 at 10:21 am

        I haven’t tried it but you probably can. Baking time would likely be in the region of 50-60 minutes.

        Reply
    6. Jennifer Kastelic says

      February 07, 2021 at 11:39 pm

      Great recipe!!!! I made it with GF flour and it worked beautifully. We only have one cake pan so I made 1 cake and 1 pan of cupcakes. I split the recipe in 2 and added some North African seasoning blend that had a sweet quality and it was amazing! Instead of frosting I used a vegan cream for whipped cream and blended fresh mango and some fresh orange juice and it was deeeeeeeelicious!! Thank you.5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        February 08, 2021 at 10:19 am

        That sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing and the great review!

        Reply
      • Sheila says

        July 16, 2021 at 2:41 am

        Hi Jennifer,
        Which GF flour did you use and did you make any adjutments to the oil? TIA

        Reply
    7. Michaela says

      January 21, 2021 at 6:05 pm

      hi alison big fan!!! i’m planning on make this cake as cupcakes for my boyfriend for vday. how long should i bake them for or can i do it for the same amount of time as if i were making the cake?

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        January 22, 2021 at 11:18 am

        It will make 18-24 cupcakes depending on how high you fill the liners. Bake for 20-25 minutes. 🙂

        Reply
    8. Tahira Akhtar says

      January 17, 2021 at 11:49 am

      I can’t find full fat coconut milk in my local store. Could I use any coconut milk instead5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        January 17, 2021 at 12:07 pm

        Yes it will be fine. 🙂

        Reply
    9. Niecey says

      January 16, 2021 at 10:22 pm

      Hi want to make this cake however would like to remove the dessicated coconut from the batter. Can you sub with coconut flour? Just curious.
      Thanks.

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        January 17, 2021 at 12:15 pm

        You can just leave out the coconut, it doesn’t need to be replaced with anything. It’s like if you added nuts to a recipe, you could remove them without having to replace them with something else.

        Reply
    10. Tracy says

      January 15, 2021 at 8:23 pm

      I came upon this recipe when searching for a cake that didn’t need eggs. Bizarrely I did have coconut oil! The recipe was really easy to put together and I agree that the batter was delicious. I didn’t have any Malibu so I used some of my other half’s spiced rum for the icing. Oh my goodness, the whole thing is divine. Very rich and completely delicious. I will be making it for my parents soon and taking it to them for afternoon tea.5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        January 16, 2021 at 4:33 pm

        Awesome Tracy! So happy you enjoyed it!

        Reply
    11. Dana says

      January 07, 2021 at 5:28 am

      Hi! Can I sub in honey as the sweetener? If so, how much should I use and do I need to make any other adjustments? Also, can I use sweetened coconut over the frosting or is unsweetened better? Thanks!

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        January 08, 2021 at 11:14 am

        I wouldn’t use honey as it will throw out the balance of ingredients. You can use sweetened coconut on top of the cake if you like, but it may make the cake extra sweet.

        Reply
    12. Leigh says

      December 31, 2020 at 3:52 am

      Made this cake tonight and it turned out delicious!
      If anyone is looking to used less sugar, I used only 1 cup of sugar as opposed to 1 1/12 cups. Also used 1 cup of shredded coconut instead of 2 cups, added tsp of baking powder.
      Thank you for the tasty recipe!!5 stars

      Reply
    13. Kim says

      November 30, 2020 at 1:27 am

      Hi! I would like to make this cake for Christmas! Can I add rum to the cake batter as well. If so, how much do you advise? Thank you!!!!

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        November 30, 2020 at 2:00 pm

        Hi Kim, I haven’t had success using alcohol in my cake batters, it tends to make them too crumbly, I’m not sure why!

        Reply
    14. Lainey says

      November 17, 2020 at 5:23 am

      I live in a tropical country, so I used freshly grated coconut for this. The cake turned out perfect without any other modification to the recipe!5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        November 17, 2020 at 12:23 pm

        Wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing Lainey!

        Reply
    15. Rina says

      November 15, 2020 at 8:39 pm

      Hi there, just put this cake in the oven. The batter tastes lovely. The white sugar grams measure is 100g too much.

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        November 16, 2020 at 11:19 am

        Hi Rina, hope it comes out great! The white sugar measure is correct, 1 cup is 200g and 1 and 1/2 cups is 300g. 🙂

        Reply
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