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sliced cake on a piece of parchment paper on top of a wire rack

Vegan Coconut Cake

This vegan coconut cake uses pantry staples to create a deliciously soft and moist dessert. You'll never miss the eggs and butter!

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 9
Author Kelsie

Ingredients

Coconut cake

  • 1 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup lukewarm water
  • 5 tablespoons melted coconut oil
  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar*
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract**
  • 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Coconut glaze

  • 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 to 6 tablespoons full fat coconut milk
  • 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Instructions

Coconut cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 350. Spray an 8-inch (or 9-inch) square baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
  2. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Make a well (a deep indentation) in the middle of the dry mixture and pour the water, oil, vinegar, and extracts into the well.
  3. Stir with a rubber spatula until batter until just combined; you don’t want to over-mix your batter so stop stirring when you no longer see big streaks or lumps of flour. Fold in the coconut.
  4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
  5. Bake 30 to 35 minutes (24 to 30 minutes for a 9-inch pan), until the cake is golden around the edges and a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
  6. Cool completely on a wire rack before adding the glaze.

Coconut glaze

  1. Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl.
  2. Add the vanilla and coconut extracts, salt, and 3 tablespoons of coconut milk; stir to combine.
  3. Stir in more milk 1 teaspoon at a time, until the glaze is the consistency of thick maple syrup. (Depending on the type of milk you use, you may need to use more or less than the recipe calls for. If you add too much liquid just mix in a little more powdered sugar.)
  4. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake and sprinkle with coconut. Slice and serve.
  5. Uneaten cake can be stored at room temperature, covered, for 3 days. You can also freeze slices, tightly wrapped, for about a month.

Recipe Notes

  • *Or fresh lemon juice.
  • **You can substitute more vanilla extract if you don’t have coconut extract, your cake just won’t have as much coconut flavor.
  • I used unrefined coconut oil but you can use refined if that’s what you have. I like the additional coconut flavor unrefined adds. You can substitute vegetable oil if you prefer; you’ll still use 5 tablespoons.
  • You can substitute other non-dairy milks in the glaze (or even use regular milk if you don’t care whether the cake is vegan).
  • If you don’t have flaked coconut you can leave it out. You can also substitute unsweetened flaked coconut.
  • I toasted the coconut I sprinkled on top of my cake. See the body of this post for instructions on toasting.