Coconut Milk Snack Cake is a quick and easy treat that's ideal for after-school snack, coffee breaks, and late night study sessions. This lightly sweet cake has a soft, tender texture that's delicious any time of day.
Why you'll love this recipe
- This easy coconut cake recipe is quick to make with just a few basic ingredients.
- The flavor of coconut milk cake is mild and the fluffy texture of the moist crumb is amazingly silky.
- Packed in the foil baking pan, this cake can be shipped in care packages.
Coconut milk baking recipes have been very popular on The Monday Box. Baking with coconut milk gives a lovely tropical flavor and a soft, tender texture.
I'm always looking for ways to use this delicious ingredient. The Coconut Milk Cookies recipe was followed by Coconut Milk Chocolate Chip Pound Cake and Coconut Milk Toffee Blondies. Now, Coconut Milk Snack Cake!
The cake is beautifully golden with a heavenly smell. It's simultaneously sturdy enough for shipping yet soft and tender, with such a lovely vanilla-coconut flavor, that adding frosting would be a crime.
Coconut Milk Snack Cake is delicious and easy to make (no mixer needed) snack cake that compliments a glass of milk or a mug of coffee or tea.
With a shelf-life of about 7 days, this perfect coconut cake can be enjoyed all week as an after-school snack, or shipped to your favorite college student for a sweet start to the semester!
Ingredients
Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. The full recipe is in the recipe card below.
- Combine the contents of the canned coconut milk THOROUGHLY. The thick, heavy fat separates from the thin milk and MUST be recombined before using.
- Stir together the dry ingredients with the coconut milk mixture to form the batter.
- Pour batter into a gresed pan and bake for 30-40 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let the cake cool completely in the pan before cutting or storing.
Storage
Wrapped well or stored in an airtight container at room temperature, Coconut Milk Cake remains fresh for up to 1 week.
If shipping, leave the cooled cake in the disposable pan and ship uncut. Wrap the entire pan first in foil, then in plastic wrap.
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Tips
- Taking the time to thoroughly homogenize the can of coconut milk is essential for best results.
- Coconut Milk Cake has a very mild coconut flavor, almost neutral. For more pronounced coconut flavor add ½ - 1 teaspoon coconut extract.
- Powdered sugar can be added on top right before serving. For shipping include a small ziplock bag of powdered sugar.
- To mail Coconut Milk Snack Cake in a care package, I recommend baking in a disposable foil pan and wrapping the cake in the pan, uncut. The foil pan provides protection. Leaving the cake uncut, keeps the cake from drying out while shipping.
Related recipes
Made with cocoa nibs for crunch and chocolate flavor, Coconut Milk Cookies are fluffy, cake-like cookies made from a Thai recipe.
Soft, chewy Coconut Milk Toffee Blondies have the tropical taste of coconut.
Coconut Milk Chocolate Chip Pound Cake is a soft, fluffy treat that you'll want to enjoy for breakfast, snacks, and dessert.
Gluten Free Chocolate Cookies are flourless treats with chewy coconut deliciousness.
Coconut Macaroons are chewy coconut cookie balls with no flour and no condensed milk.
Toasted coconut gives Coconut Crunch Cookies lots of great flavor.
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Coconut Milk Snack Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk, canned full fat, not low fat
- ¼ cup coconut oil melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened coconut shredded
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease an 8×8 inch pan with cooking spray (If shipping, use a disposable foil pan.)
- Open the can of coconut milk and combine the contents THOROUGHLY. The thick, heavy fat separates from the thin milk and MUST be recombined before using. This is most easily done in a blender, food processor, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, but can also be done with vigorous whisking. When the fat is completely blended with the liquid the consistency should be similar to dairy cream or milk.
- In a large bowl, stir together the homogenized coconut milk, melted coconut oil, eggs, granulated sugar, and vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, shredded coconut, and baking powder, then add to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-40 minutes until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the pan comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before cutting or storing. If shipping, leave the cooled cake in the disposable pan and ship uncut.
- When cooled, the top of the cake can be sprinkled with powdered sugar (optional).
- Wrapped well or stored in an airtight container at room temperature, Coconut Milk Snack Cake remains fresh for up to 1 week.
Notes
Nutrition
First Published: August 27, 2017. Last Updated: December 12, 2023. Updated for additional information and better reader experience.
Ruth
Making sure, the 1/4 c coconut oil, melted - is that 1/4 cup before or after melting? If it’s 1/4 c melted, be helpful to have how much solid coconut oil to melt to get 1/4 c amt. Ty.
Wendy Sondov
Measure 1/4 cup of coconut oil (solid), then melt.
Ruth
Great, ty Wendy! It turned out perfect. Having a serving of it now!
Margaret
Super easy and tasty. I accidentally used a 400ml can of coconut milk instead of measuring out 1 cup but the cake still worked with a modified baking time and temperature. The second time I followed the recipe exactly and came out just right. Will be making again.
Laura
This cake is delicious! I tried whisking the coconut milk in a kitchen aid and I don’t think it worked very well because the cake is sort of grainy and is very oily. Also I used 1/2 teaspoon instead of a tablespoon of vanilla extract and it tastes great.
Wendy Sondov
I'm not sure what would make your cake either grainy or oily, but I do know that blending the contents of the coconut milk can is essential to this cake. The milk can be whisked in the kitchen aid but it may take longer than you tried. Blend/whisk until the liquid has a fairly uniform consistency with the texture of dairy cream.
Adele Govender
We have made this cake numerous times and it is delicious.
Such a unique texture from usual cakes. Thank you!
Pat Leathers
Very tasty, easy to make. I added the coconut extract and it was delicious.
Beth
The flavor is good and the level of sweetness is just right. However, the cake was more dense than I expected. Mine was about half the height of the picture. I know my baking powder is still good because I have used it in other recipes. I used King Arthur All Purpose Flour. Thoughts?
Wendy Sondov
When another reader had a similar problem, I thought it might be due to different coconut milk brands. So, I bought a variety of coconut milk brands to try to recreate the density problem and was unable to do it. I'm aware that it can occasionally happen, but don't know why for sure. My thoughts are first that the flour be carefully measured (spooning it into the measuring cup not scooping which can compact the flour) and second that the coconut milk is well blended (often the fat separates from the milk and must be shaken very well before using).
kerry
Has anyone tried this cake recipe without egg? Using maybe flax, chia, banana, or egg-replacer?
Looks yummy!
Donna
Do you think chopped walnuts added would work?
Wendy Sondov
I think you could mix chopped walnuts into the batter, but I haven't tried.
Karen Williams
I had some coconut milk left over and was looking for a quick dessert recipe when I came across your snack cake. Oh my goodness, it is perfect for what I wanted. I was 1/4 cup shy of the amount of coconut milk called for, so I substituted regular milk. I also had to use butter instead of coconut oil. Even with these changes the cake is delicious! Thank you for sharing!
APWC
Delicious, tasty, hits the sweet spot without being excessively sugary.
I changed a couple things and it came out wonderful still. Rich in flavor. My little ones loved it!
Super easy to make and fairly fail proof, although I wish I knew what the color and texture of the egg, sugar batter was supposed to be and how long to whip it up for. Thanks for the recipe!
Wendy Sondov
I'm glad you are enjoying the recipe! Nothing gets whipped in this recipe. The egg-sugar batter is just stirred by hand until combined. The color will depend on how yellow your egg yolk is. You aren't whipping to change color or texture.
Maude
I have several co workers who are gluten free. Can I use almond flour instead?
Wendy Sondov
I have never tried this cake with almond flour and don't know if it would work. My guess would be that you would have more luck with a gluten free flour blend (like the ones made by King Arthur Flour or Bob's Red Mill), but the texture would be different.
Cheryl
I didn’t see any comments from people who made it into a layer cake. Is the texture of a “snack cake” similar to that of a layer cake?
Wendy Sondov
Cheryl, this snack cake is light and fluffy and I think most layer cakes have a denser crumb. I'm not sure if this cake would hold up to layering.
Wandolyn
I made it without the shredded coconut cuz I didn’t have any but I was craving sweets so bad and I had everything else. It’s came out dense and milky almost like flan. It was delicious. I gotta try with the shredded coconut next time.
Marisa Silva
Didn’t have shredded coconut. Added cinnamon. Yum consistency. With the cinnamon tasted like the inside of a snickerdoodle
Jen
Very light and fluffy, great treat! Only a hint of coconut, I was hoping for more coconut flavour. I'll add some coconut extract next time!
Wendy Sondov
Hi, Jen. This cake has a very mild flavor. The very first note on the recipe card explains that the flavor is almost neutral, and that for more pronounced coconut flavor, extract should be used.
Stephanie
So nice! I only had half a cup of coconut milk left so did half cows milk and baked it in a loaf tin at 180 for 40 mins. Perfection, thanks so much!
Min Lee
I made this cake today and it was absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Shelita
Hi
Can you eliminate shredded coconut. I don’t like the texture of coconut but I love the flavor.
Wendy Sondov
Yes. You can bake this snack cake without the shredded coconut.