Easy Coconut Cake Recipe
Easy Coconut Cake – a moist and flavorful coconut cake topped with a sweet and creamy coconut buttercream frosting. This easy to make cake is perfect for spring and summer, or any time you need a coconut fix!
Coconut cake is an easy favorite at my house. I recently made this for Easter, but it’s amazing for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, birthdays, graduations, or any spring or summer get together.
It’s SUPER easy to make, which is a huge plus. It’s one of my favorite kinds of simple desserts because it takes a boxed cake mix and dresses it up a bit! When you need a delicious dessert that everyone will love, and you don’t want it to be too complicated, this is the one!
Ingredients For Easy Coconut Cake
- white cake mix
- eggs
- water
- vegetable oil
- coconut extract
- milk
- cream of coconut
- sweetened flaked coconut
- butter
- powdered sugar
How to Make Easy Coconut Cake – Step by Step
Step 1: Mix
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13×9 inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, stir together the cake mix, eggs, water, coconut extract, and vegetable oil until moistened, then beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for two minutes. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish.
Step 2: Bake
Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until top of cake is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Step 3: Add the Cream of Coconut
Remove cake from the oven and place on a wire rack. While cake is still warm, poke holes over the entire surface of the cake with a toothpick or fork. Whisk 1 cup cream of coconut and 1/2 cup milk together in a small bowl and pour evenly over the warm cake. Allow cake to cool completely.
Step 4: Make the Frosting
Beat the softened butter over medium speed with an electric mixer until soft and creamy. Continue to beat over medium speed as you gradually add the powdered sugar. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed to fully incorporate all of the sugar. Once butter and sugar have come together, gradually beat in the remaining cream of coconut (about 1/3 cup). Add the coconut extract 1 teaspoon at a time and taste in between for desired flavor. 1 teaspoon is plenty for me.
Step 5: Frost and Serve
After cake is completely cool, top with coconut buttercream frosting and sprinkle with coconut. You can also toast the coconut before sprinkling on top; directions for that are below. Store any leftover cake in the refrigerator. Enjoy!
Tips and Notes
Where to find the Cream of Coconut
Cream of Coconut can usually be found with the mixers for alcoholic beverages.
How to Store
Store the frosted cake, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Can this Coconut Cake be made ahead of time?
Yes! This can be made 1-2 days ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. I do recommend removing it from the refrigerator and allowing it to come closer to room temperature about 1-2 hours before serving, but that’s just personal preference. It tastes delicious cold as well!
More Delicious Easy Cake Recipes
- Pina Colada Poke Cake
- Banana Cake with Vanilla Frosting
- Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake
- Easy Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Easy Coconut Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 (15.9 oz) box of white cake mix
- 3 eggs
- 1 cups water
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
- 1 cup cream of coconut
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
Coconut Buttercream Frosting:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons coconut extract
- 1/3 cup cream of coconut
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13x9 inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together the cake mix, eggs, water, coconut extract, and vegetable oil until moistened, then beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for two minutes. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until top of cake is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove cake from the oven and place on a wire rack. While cake is still warm, poke holes over the entire surface of the cake with a toothpick or fork. Whisk 1 cup cream of coconut and 1/2 cup milk together in a small bowl and pour evenly over the warm cake. Allow cake to cool completely.
- After cake is completely cool, top with coconut buttercream frosting and sprinkle with coconut (toasted or not). Store any leftover cake in the refrigerator. Enjoy!
To make the frosting:
- Beat the softened butter over medium speed with an electric mixer until soft and creamy. Continue to beat over medium speed as you gradually add the powdered sugar. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed to fully incorporate all of the sugar.
- Once butter and sugar have come together, gradually beat in the remaining cream of coconut (about 1/3 cup). Add the coconut extract 1 teaspoon at a time and taste in between for desired flavor. 1 teaspoon is plenty for me.
To make the toasted coconut:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spread coconut flakes in a single layer on a cookie sheet and toast in the oven for 5-10 minutes, stirring once or twice while cooking. Toast until lightly browned all over, then remove from the oven.
Notes
- Where to find the Cream of Coconut: Cream of Coconut can usually be found with the mixers for alcoholic beverages.
- How to Store: store the frosted cake, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Making ahead of time: This can be made 1-2 days ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. I do recommend removing it from the refrigerator and allowing it to come closer to room temperature about 1-2 hours before serving, but that's just personal preference. It tastes delicious cold as well!
Hi! Question would I be able to make this in round pans and then stack? I’m not sure with moisture in the cake if it will hold up? I have made this before in a the size specified and it was delicious!
Hi CJ, I have never tried that before and your concern with the moisture in the cake would be the only thing I could seeing causing any issue. I’d say it would be worth a shot, though! I’d make sure to spray the cake pans very well with cooking spray and also line the bottoms with a piece of parchment paper that’s been cut to fit the bottoms of the pans. That should help!
So…I made this for my husband for his birthday. He has stomach problems therefore I have to bake with gluten free flour. That was the only change I made and I have to say, it was without a doubt the best gluten free cake I’ve ever eaten. I can’t imagine how good it would’ve been if I had been able to use cake flour. I will be baking this cake for many years to come! I did have to bake it for a significant amount of time longer than the recipe called for, but that may be due to the gluten free flour. Either way, no complaints.
Doesn’t the liquid over the cake make it saturated and wet?
No, it just adds a delicious moistness to the cake.
I’ve used a different coconut recipe for years but wanted to try something different. I was looking more along the simple route vs having to buy cake flour to make from scratch. The cake was SO MOIST and tasted INCREDIBLE! I followed the recipe exactly as written and toasted the coconut which added a wonderful crunch! Two guests who typically don’t like coconut anything were asking for seconds! This will be my new go to. Thank you so much for creating this and sharing it!
This is a great recipe! Both kids and adults liked this cake. The only thing I would mention is that in order to get the perfect buttercream texture, it’s best to use room temperature butter and to sift the powdered sugar. I added both the toasted coconut flakes and strawberries and they really elevated the cake.
Hi. Can this be made ahead of time in miniature pans, frozen and iced the day of?
Yes!
I am trying this for my brother
Coconut cake was absolutely fabulous! I was afraid it was not going to be solid in the center but after it cooled it was moist. I made this for my sons birthday last year and he … and others have requested I make it again this year.
Looks and tastes good but to not clear on what pan to use
Hopefully the cake will be tasty without coconut in the cake itself. Although it’s listed in the cake ingredients, I added everything listed in the step by step instructions – and coconut was not listed in those ingredients, so I didn’t add it to the batter. I will put an ample amount on top of the frosting and hope that suffices.
The flaked coconut listed is only for the topping. It doesn’t go into the actual cake. The cream of coconut and coconut extract provide plenty of coconut flavor, though! Hope you enjoyed it.
This was very frustrating…it doesn’t tell you how much of certain ingredients are needed
Hi Robin, all measurements and directions are in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
I’ve never been a huge fan if coconut cake, but this has got me wanting more…more and similar recipes. Please! So delicious. And really cut the work a lot, compared to the other recipes I looked at.