Cakes

Coconut cake

β€œLife’s no piece of cake, mind you, but the recipe’s my own to fool with.”- Haruki Murakami.


Just back from my ultra short vacation by the beach , I can still feel the sand in my feet and the wind in my hair. I love anything and everything “beach” and “tropical” , and that goes for coconuts as well!

Being a true blue south Indian , I doubt there’s ever a time when there s no coconut in my kitchen. Which obviously means that it finds a way into my oven time and again! Like in these cookies. This cake is a more versatile kinda recipe . Its sweet and moist and light. Super duper delicious.

I have made this umpteen times actually . Turns out great every time . Have gobbled up wedges of it plain while reading Perry Mason . Have served it with whipped cream and pineapple compote for a dinner party . Have torted and filled it away to make a glorious birthday cake for a fellow coconut-loving pal.

If you like coconut , there s no way , absolutely no way that you cannot try this one!!

Coconut cake

Light , fluffy and moist coconut cake!

Ingredients
  

  • 155 grams or 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 200 grams or 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 113 grams or 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 2 eggs at room temperature
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or essence
  • 120 ml or 1/2 cup milk at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions
 

  • Line a 8 or 9 inch round cake pan with parchment (bottom and sides) or grease with butter and flour well. Preheat oven to 180 C or 350 F.
  • Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. Keep aside.
  • Beat or cream the butter for 3-5 minutes in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add the sugar and beat for another 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy.
  • Add the eggs one by one and beat each time until well incorporated. Scrape bowl as needed.
  • Add the vanilla and beat well.
  • Add 1/3rd of the flour mixture and beat at slow speed until combined.
  • Add half of the milk and mix . Now repeat with the second 1/3rd of the flour - remaining half of milk - last 1/3rd of flour mixture , beating well after each addition. Scrape the bowl well.
  • Add the coconut and mix until well combined.
  • Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake at 180 c/ 350 F for 45-50 minutes if using an 8 inch pan and 35-40 minutes if using a 9 inch pan.
  • The cake is done when the top springs back when touched , the sides come away and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool in the pan for five mins and on a wire rack until completely cool.

Notes

This recipe can be doubled or halved .
This can be baked in an 8 or 9 by 4 inch loaf pan for 50-55 minutes.
Store in an airtight container for upto 5 days in the refrigerator.
I have used fresh coconut here, but you can use desiccated coconut . If using sweetened , adjust sugar in recipe accordingly.
You could sub coconut milk instead of regular milk, I just prefer the regular milk better!

And oh by the way , this is no coconut “flavoured” cake . This is the real deal . There are loads of coconut bits in each yummy bite .I did say it already… but sweet , moist and super delicious!

31 thoughts on “Coconut cake”

  1. Tried this simple recipe over the weekend…awesome as always! Your recipes never fail! It got over in a jiffy! Thank you for sharing such wonderful recipes !

  2. Many of my family members don’t take eggs.
    Kindly let me know the replacement for eggs in the receipe.
    I want to try out all your receipes, will this replacement work on all?

    Regards
    Swati

    1. Hi Swati…. I havent tried this cake without eggs.. in many cakes , you can replace eggs with curd (1/4 cup thick curd for each egg) with 1 /2 tsp baking soda . There will be some difference in texture though. You can check out some of the eggless cakes i have on the blog and see if you like anything – I have chocolate , vanilla , chocolate chip , mango , strawberry , coffee and red velvet eggless cakes.

  3. That looks soo moist and yummy…will be trying it soon. Can u plz tell whats the height of the pan u used, if have 9 X 2 and 9 X 3, which one wld be better? TIA

    1. Hi Sadia… i would double the recipe and use a 9 x 3 pan … do let me know if you try it !

      1. in the recipe you mentioned to use either 8 or 9 inch round cake pan…so not sure y i need to double the recipe, i don’t mean a 9 X 13 rectangle pan.. i meant a 9 inch round pan with 2 inch or 3 inch height..which one wld be better?

        1. In the picture is the cake I have baked in a 8 inch pan Sadia. Some readers wrote in saying that they didn’t get much height in a 9 inch pan.If you want a higher cake, you could double the recipe. For the same recipe, 9 x 2 inches round pan will be good. Hope you try and like the cake !

  4. Hi Akshatha,
    Tried this cake now and it’s come out very well. It’s light, moist and soft. Just that I had a cracked top:( How do I rectify that next time?

    Thanks for the lovely recipe !!

  5. the cake looks so inviting..one query..if i use desiccated coconut ,do i need to increase milk as it will be on the drier side..

    1. Thank you Usha ! You can use desiccated coconut and the cake will be slightly dry but flavour will still be good. Or you increase the milk by 2 tablespoons or so…

    1. Hi Sonal… you can use desiccated as well, i have used fresh shredded coconut as i like the taste better πŸ™‚

  6. Trying to make muffins out of this recipe. What’s the temperature and baking time for the muffins please? ☺

    1. Hey Sushila… At 180 c if you don’t mind domes, or at 160 c if you wanted flatter tops.. I d start checking them at 15 or 16 minutes… Let me know how they turn out please !

  7. Hi Akshatha, Thank you so much for this awesome recipe. I tried this today and it came out very fine. Soft and yummy!

  8. hi….had tried this cake last weekend. Came out super yumm n moist.
    Thanks for such simple and lovely recipe.

    1. Hi Sripriya ! Awesome – happy that you liked the cake and thanks a lot for the great feedback!

    1. Hi Shif. It would work but the texture would differ . You can substitute half the flour for whole wheat and give it a try !

    1. Hi Shobha… U can try it with half cup curd and add a quarter teaspoon baking soda to the flour mix….

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