A hat trick of coconut—milk, extract, and flakes—gives this easy Old-Fashioned Coconut Sheet Cake an incredible depth of flavor. One bite and the coconut lover in your life will follow you anywhere.
Old-Fashioned Coconut Sheet Cake
Makes 1 (13x9-inch) cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1½ cups (300 grams) sugar
- 4 large eggs, separated
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- 3 cups (300 grams) cake flour
- 1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking soda
- 1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (1.5 grams) kosher salt
- 1¼ cups unsweetened coconut milk
- Coconut Cream Frosting (recipe follows)
- 1 cup (50 grams) large flake coconut, toasted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 13x9-inch baking dish with baking spray with flour.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add extracts, beating to combine.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with coconut milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition. Transfer to a large bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites at high speed just until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into batter. Pour batter into prepared pan (smoothing top if necessary).
- Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Spread Coconut Cream Frosting over cake; sprinkle with coconut.
Coconut Cream Frosting
Makes about 5 cups
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 to 5 tablespoons coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- 7 cups (840 grams) confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat butter, 4 tablespoons coconut milk, and coconut extract with a mixer at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, beating until smooth. Add remaining 1 tablespoon coconut milk if needed to achieve a spreadable consistency.
I like the coconut cake recipe. Does it need to be refrigerated?
Hi Lori,
We are so glad you like this recipe! Find our cake storage guide here: https://www.bakefromscratch.com/top-tips-cake-storage/
Can I use salted butter if I don’t have unsalted?
Hi Lori,
You can use salted butter if that is all you have, but you will want to reduce the salt in the cake. Also, your buttercream may taste salty, but depending on personal preference, some people even like this option. Because different brands of butter will vary in salt content, we can’t definitively recommend how much to reduce the salt in the recipe, but you can at least reduce it by half to leaving it out entirely. I hope this helps and happy baking!
Hi Lori,
May I use half coconut and half whipping cream if I don’t want as intense coconut flavour?
Hi Ingrid,
Thank you for your question! Although we haven’t tested this recipe using that combination, the whipping cream should behave the same way in the batter as the coconut milk, so this should work. If you do end up trying this, please let us know how it goes.
Happy baking!