Super soft, incredibly delicious coconut cake has just the right amount of coconut flavour. Start by Preheat your oven to 320F/160C then grease and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper then set that aside. In a mixing bowl, sift in two and a quarter cups of all-purpose flour with a quarter cup of cornstarch, one tablespoon of baking powder and half a teaspoon of salt.

Whisk that all together until well combined then set that aside. Into another mixing bowl, add a cup or 133 grams of unsalted butter together with three tablespoons of vegetable oil and two-thirds of a cup of white granulated sugar. Using a hand mixer, cream that together for about two minutes until it’s lighter in colour then you want to add in three eggs one by one mixing it well after each addition.

Once that’s done add one and a half teaspoon of vanilla, one teaspoon of coconut extract and half a cup of coconut milk then mix that until well combined. Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and gently fold that through with a spatula until it’s just combined then add a further three-quarters of a cup of coconut milk and gently fold that through until just combined then add the remaining dry ingredients and fold it in.

Be careful not to overmix the batter. To finish off, add one cup of shredded coconut and then just gently fold that through until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Once the cake is out of the oven, you can let it cool down and serve it straight away or you can let it cool down completely and cover it with coconut creme cheese frosting. Whichever way you serve this cake, you are going to enjoy it.

Ingredients;

Coconut Cake;

  • 2¼ cups (280 g) flour – regular, all-purpose
  • ¼ cup (30 g) cornstarch – also known as cornflour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt – omit if using salted butter
  • ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter – room temp
  • 3 tbsp unflavoured vegetable oil
  • 1⅔ cups (332 g) white granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs – room temperature
  • 1½ tsp vanilla essence/extract
  • 1 tsp coconut essence/extract – can substitute with 1/2 tsp almond essence/extract
  • 1¼ cups (275 g) canned coconut milk
  • 1 cup (80 g) shredded coconut – dried, also called threaded coconut

Bake at 160 °C (320°F) with the fan on for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. If your oven doesn’t have a fan option, then you will need to increase the baking temperature to 175°C (347°F)

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting;

  • 1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter – room temperature
  • 4½ cups (570 g) icing sugar – also called powdered/confectioner sugar
  • 1½ cups (335 g) cream cheese – cold, firm type
  • 1½ tsp vanilla essence/extract
  • 1 tsp coconut essence/extract – can substitute with 1/2 tsp almond essence/extract
  • 1½ cups (120 g) shredded coconut – dried, for decorating. It is also called threaded coconut