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.
I have tried this recipe and it actually turned out really nice. Most of the recipes I’ve found required coconut extract/essence which I don’t have access to so this recipe stood out. The canned coconut milk already made it coconut-y plus the addition of desiccated coconut (for the texture). I have made small changes with the recipe though. I did not use coconut oil coz I don’t have it and I don’t like the taste of coconut oil, and I reduced the amount of desiccated coconut to 1 cup coz after adding the first cup, it was already too thick. I guess 1/2 cup or 1/3 cup would suffice for this recipe. The cake was on the dense side but it’s totally fine with me. Thanks so much for the recipe! <3
Happy to hear you enjoyed the cake Kristine! Thanks so much for your lovely review!
Looking forward to making this. Is the desiccated coconut sweetened or unsweetened?
You should use unsweetened desiccated coconut. 🙂
The batter was very thick but i resisted the urge to add more milk, it was almost like cookie dough! Unfortunately the cake is very dense. I measured everything with a scale. I am thinking maybe the desiccated coconut absorbed alot of the moisture in the mixture. As brands may vary, how do I know, how thick the batter should be?
Hi Marina. Yes, this cake is not your normal soft and fluffy cake. But what you lose in light and fluffy you gain in delicious coconut texture and flavor. The amount of coconut does weight it down and make it more of a dense and fluffy cake. If you prefer soft and fluffy – check out our vegan vanilla cake and then maybe frost it with the coconut frosting. All the best!
Hi thank you for this recipe, I made this yesterday for my husband’s birthday and filled with chocolate ganache instead and it was loved by all.
So coconutty and fluffy!
Thanks again
Yummy! Thank you so much for your wonderful review Panika!
This is the best coconut cake I’ve ever tasted!! I followed the recipe exactly, and it turned out perfectly!
Yay! Thanks so much for your review Karen!
Hi, should I measure the coconut oil before or after melting?
Hi Sophie! Thanks for asking! You should measure the coconut oil after melting. 🙂
Has anyone tried using GF Flour (my fav is King Arthur 1:1)?
Can I use freshly grated coconut in place of the desiccated coconut in the batter? I assume it would thicken the batter the same and still provide moisture and texture?
Hi Tina! We’ve only tested this recipe using desiccated coconut.
Can I make without rum?
Yes, you can! You can substitute with coconut milk.
Looks like a great recipe. Can I use coconut sugar instead of cane? Thanks.
Can I use cake flour instead of regular flour?
Yes, you can!
Can I use coconut flour instead of all purpose flour?
Unfortunately no that won’t work, as coconut flour is VERY different to regular flour.
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.
Thanks so much for the amazing review Rachel!
Can this be made as a sheet-cake? What changes are needed to do so?
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.
Delicious!👌🏻👈🏻
Thanks Peter!
What would be a good replacement for the coconut oil?
Canola oil would also work just fine.