This is the easiest vegan coconut cake ever, made in 1 bowl with simple ingredients. Fluffy, light, oh-so-soft and topped with a creamy coconut frosting. If you are a coconut lover, this cake is for you!
I am beyond thrilled with how this cake turned out! It took a few attempts to get it just right, and I’m so excited to share it with you.
I worked hard to make the recipe as EASY as possible, with the end result still tasting like something you’d get from a bakery. I love 1 bowl recipes when it comes to baking, and I was able to achieve it here!
Vegan coconut cake is ultra fluffy and soft. It’s light and moist, instead of being heavy and dense. I used a simple vegan cream cheese coconut flavored frosting, with thin layers of frosting on the cake. This cake is truly delightful, and I can’t wait for you to try it!
How to make it
It really could not be easier!
- Whisk the dry ingredients in a bowl – flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt and sugar.
- Add wet ingredients and mix until just combined – oil, non-dairy milk, vinegar, vanilla and coconut extracts.
- Pour into greased pans and bake.
- Let cool, then frost.
Tips for the best cake
- Grease your pans well and line with a circle of parchment paper. This will prevent your cake from sticking and breaking.
- Do not over mix the cake batter! Your cake will lose it’s fluffiness if you do.
- Cool the cakes completely before frosting, or the cake will slip and break. Also, since this calls for vegan cream cheese frosting, you will need to keep the cake refrigerated so it doesn’t get melty.
- Don’t have access to vegan cream cheese? No problem! Follow the recipe for Vegan Vanilla Frosting instead, adding a teaspoon of coconut extract.
Want more vegan cakes?
- The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Vanilla Cake
- Vegan Chocolate Sheet Cake
- Vegan Carrot Cake
- Vegan Lemon Cake
- Vegan Red Velvet Cake
- Vegan Strawberry Cake
1 Bowl Vegan Coconut Cake
This is the easiest vegan coconut cake ever, made in 1 bowl with simple ingredients. Fluffy, light, oh-so-soft and topped with a creamy coconut frosting. If you are a coconut lover, this cake is for you!
Ingredients
Coconut Cake
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup neutral flavored oil or melted vegan butter
- 1 1/2 cups non-dairy milk (I used coconut milk, not from a can)
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces vegan cream cheese
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, slightly softened
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- 1 cup shredded fine coconut, optional for topping cake
Instructions
Make the cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease two 8 inch cake pans. I also like to place a circle of parchment paper on the bottom of each pan for easy removal.
- In a large bowl, add the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt and sugar. Whisk well to combine.
- To the bowl with the dry ingredients, pour in the oil, non-dairy milk, apple cider vinegar, vanilla and coconut extract. Mix with a large spoon until just combined, but be careful not to over mix the batter or your cake won't be soft and fluffy.
- Pour into prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then carefully remove them and place on a cooling rack. Allow the cakes to cool completely before frosting; you can move them to the refrigerator to speed this up.
Make the frosting
- To a large bowl (you can simply wipe out the bowl you used for the cake), add vegan cream cheese, slightly softened vegan butter (not too soft, or your frosting will be melty), 3 cups of powdered sugar, vanilla and coconut extract.
- With a hand mixer, or stand mixer, mix starting on low, then increase to high until all ingredients are combined and smooth. If the frosting seems too runny, add another cup of powdered sugar. If it still is a bit runny, you can stick it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so until it firms up a bit.
- Frost the cake as desired, then sprinkle with shredded coconut and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
- You could substitute cake flour for all purpose if desired, but if you do omit the cornstarch as well. Gluten free all purpose flour may work, but I haven't tested it.
- I used melted coconut oil, but you can use canola oil or melted vegan butter as well.
- I loved the cake with a cream cheese frosting, but you could also use my Vegan Vanilla Frosting and add 1 teaspoon of coconut extract to it.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 418kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 206mg | Potassium: 97mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 41g | Vitamin A: 270IU | Calcium: 73mg | Iron: 1mg
Did you make this recipe?Mention @nora_cooks_vegan_ or tag #noracooks!
For the granulated sugar, can you use coconut sugar or pure cane sugar can that work as well?
Pure cane sugar is the same as granulated sugar, and is what I use. Coconut sugar will make the cake brown, but it might work.
I made this into cupcakes – Amazingly delicious recipe. I can’t believe how soft and fluffy they came out. And what’s more – how EASY the recipe is.
Highly recommend; this is now a family favourite for us.
Thank you Nora!
You’re so welcome!! So glad it came out great!!
How many mins for cupcakes?
About 20 minutes, or until they are a little golden on top and done.
SO good! Even my non-vegan family members LOVED this cake.
I love to hear that!!
Hi! This sounds perfect. I am having trouble finding natural coconut extract in our local stores though. Any advice?
You can order it online if that is an option, I’m sure doing a lot of that these days to avoid going to multiple stores. 🙂
Oh my gosh this cake is the best!!! To die for!
Thanks so much!! So glad you liked it!
I made this for Mother’s Day and it turned out perfect! I’m going to make it again because everyone loved it so much – thank you for sharing!
You’re so welcome!!
I love this cake!! It is very moist and delicious! I did tweak a bit for my own dietary preferences ; I used whole wheat flour instead of all purpose, apple sauce instead of butter, and for the frosting I melted some vegan chocolate chips with a little coconut extract, vanilla, and coconut milk(from a carton). I also only baked for 20 minutes because my cake pans were a bit on the large side. Absolutely amazing how good it is 🙂
So glad it’s good!
Hi Nora- do you think you could use 3/4 cup of melted coconut oil? I’m going to make this for my moms bday on monday, I’m excited!
Yes, melted coconut oil works well here. I hope your mom loves it! And you, too. 🙂
This was excellent. I didn’t have two cake pans so I made it into cupcakes and in a donut pan. Delish. Super easy. Thank you!
This cake is so moist and delicious! I made as directed but added a thin layer of pineapple and coconut with the frosting between the layers. I will definitely make this one again. Thank you for sharing this recipe!!!!
You’re so welcome! Sounds like some yummy additions!
Been following you for awhile and excited to try this this weekend. Question, how would you adjust baking time if I did (3) 6” cake pans?
I would check them at around 20-25 minutes, they will take a bit less baking time. Should be great, enjoy!
I’m experimenting with vegan & keto recipes. I miss my sweets, so I was SO HAPPY to have made this & discover to my delight taste nor texture was sacrificed. I didn’t use the frosting (kinda cheated with a substitute). The entire family devoured it. A definite keeper & will add this to my repetoire! Thanks Nora! Keep me inspired to go more vegan!!! We can heal the planet one meal at a time!!!
I’m so glad it went well, and you enjoyed it!
Do you think a lemon curd would be good between the layers with the cream cheese frosting? I’m making for mothers day and don’t want the flavors to clash! Thanks, cant wait to try!
Yes, I think that would taste really good! Lemon coconut cake. 🙂
Gluten free “cup for cup” flour works perfectly with this delicious cake! It can sometimes be hard to be both gluten free AND vegan, but this cake makes it so easy! You must try it!
I’m glad to hear it worked well gluten free!
I decided to give this cake a try tonight and I halved the recipe and made one layer since I only had one pan, and it worked out perfectly! I also subbed half coconut sugar and light olive oil as my oil of choice. This turned out to be the BEST cake we’ve ever had!!!! Will be making this again soon, thank you Nora!!
I’m so glad to hear that!
When you say you subbed half coconut sugar, do you mean half the amount, or half granulated and half coconut. Thanks in advance!
This is such a great recipe! I halved it and got 8 cupcakes. The cake is just perfect. I usually don’t have much luck with cakes that aren’t chocolate, so I was very happy that this turned out so well. I really enjoy your recipes, I use them all the time, thank you!
I’m so glad to hear that!
Dear Nora, I accidentally discovered your IG profile and I’m staying 🙂 this cake looks super soft and fluffy.
I’ve been using this quarantine to perfect my cooking and baking skills and this recipe is now on the top of my list. I will try it soon! 🙂
Congrats on your blog and keep up the good work.
Thanks so much!!
My layers are only as high as the width of my thumb. My 2 layers together are as wide as ONE of your layers. I tried not to over mix. What do I need to do?
What size are your pans? I need some more information to try to help here!
8” round pans
Hmm I’m really not sure what went wrong here. Did you use a full tablespoon of baking powder, and all the other ingredients exactly? People have this sort of problem when they try to sub almond flour for all purpose, but it doesn’t seem like you did that. The cakes are quite tall when baked in two 8 inch pans, so something went wrong here!
This cake is AMAZING! It was the lightest, fluffiest cake I’ve ever had and I love that I only needed one bowl. I used 9″ cake pans (since that’s all I had) and cooked them for 30 minutes. Next time, I’ll try a few minutes less since the edges got a little crispy. I can’t wait until I can make this cake for family and friends. Vegan or not – anyone would enjoy this delicious treat.
Huge shoutout to you, Nora! I’ve been vegan for 25+ years so I’ve tried a lot of vegan recipes. Every single thing I’ve made of yours is amazing. My non-vegan family loves your scones so I made those today as well. (The quarantine has given me lots of time to cook and bake!)
Thanks so much for the comment!
Would love to try this! Do you think it can be halved to just make one layer?
Yes, it probably could. Enjoy!
Hey Nora, I did try halving the recipe to make just one layer. I gotta say this was delicious! My daughter who is a coconut lover (and not vegan) loved it. Thanks for sharing it!
You’re so welcome!
Looks lovely! When you say that you used coconut milk, not from a can, what do you mean? Did you make it from fresh coconut meat?
Thank you! I am talking about the kind of coconut milk that comes in a carton, and is usually refrigerated, like soy milk. Just not the full fat canned coconut milk, that is too heavy for this cake.
I’m eating this as I type and honestly, this is one of the moistest, softest, and fluffiest cakes ever. My mom didn’t think that vegan food could satisfy, but she has eaten all of it. 10/10!!!
I’m so glad to hear that!
Hi,
I bought potato starch because the corn starch was sold out. Does it work just the same in your recipes?
Thanks!
Gale
It should work the same in most recipes. I think it will work here.
I love coconut cake! I will give a gluten free version a go and report back! I’m excited to make your cream cheese for the frosting!!!
Yay! Thanks, I hope you love it!
I cooked my cake at 350 for 35 mins in a glass pan, and my cake never truly set. Not sure what happened? I can definitely get the yummy taste of it coming through… so I would like to know how to make this work!
Did you cook it all in one pan? What size? Glass pans usually take longer to bake cakes and other baked goods in. You likely needed to bake it for longer, since it was glass and maybe you were trying to bake it in one pan instead of two.
I am going to try this new recipe. Can I make them into cupcakes instead?
What would be the baking time for the cupcakes?
I want to THANK-YOU so very much for all your wonderful recipes. Been a vegetarian for 9 years, then went to Vegan a year ago, could not have done it without you❣️
Aw thank you so much! That is great to hear. Yes, you could make them into cupcakes. I’d say 20-25 minutes.