Moist Coconut Cake

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This innocent-looking cake is one of the most unusual things I have ever baked. All the ingredients seem ordinary (actually I have almost all of them constantly in my kitchen) and yet the result is amazing. When I saw it on Ping’s blog (Ping’s Pickings) and read her description I knew I would love it. In fact, it was so good, I had to bake it two days in a row because the first one disappeared too quickly to take any photos. (I cannot say me or my husband suffered from this obligatory second batch…)

If just like me, you like coconut and rich, moist cakes, you might also find this one irresistible. It contains a very small amount of flour and the dessicated coconut together with eggs keep the shape together, creating something close to a pudding, but still firm and possible to cut into slices. It is also addictive because, even a child could prepare it. In fact, the pre-baking stage takes maybe five minutes and there is no need to use any kitchen appliance. In my opinion the recipe is foolproof and allows certain modifications. Actually, since I didn’t have coconut cream, but lots of coconut milk, I used cow cream and coconut milk instead. I doubled the dessicated coconut amount, skipped vanilla and changed the pie shape to a rectangular form. In spite of these changes and in spite of a slightly different final texture (see Ping’s result), the cake was extraordinary.  It tasted at least ten times better served very cold, after a night spent in the fridge, so I strongly advise you to make it late at night and wait until the following day.

Thank you so much, Ping, for this sensational recipe! (Click here to see Ping’s original pie, her variation with bananas and many other fantastic sweet and savoury recipes.)

TIPS: Ping and I are members of the moderately sweet desserts fan club, but if you have a very sweet tooth, add 50% more sugar.

Preparation: 1 hour (+ not obligatory, but strongly advised one night in the fridge)

Ingredients (10 x 20 cm baking tin):

3 heaped tablespoons (about 1/4 cup) flour

100 g (1/2 cup) sugar

70 g (1 cup) dessicated coconut 

2 eggs

60 g melted butter

pinch of salt

125 ml (1/2 cup) coconut milk

125 ml (1/2 cup) cow cream (liquid, not crème fraîche)

(vanilla extract)

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl.

Grease a baking tin or line it with baking paper.

Pour the batter into the tin and bake for about 40-50 minutes until golden.

It can be served as soon as it cools down, but is definitely best refrigerated overnight.

 

 

 

 

Published by Sissi

59 Replies to “Moist Coconut Cake”

  1. Hi Sissi, I loved the look of this on Ping’s site – it’s great to hear you opinion and see another “view” of it too.

    It sounds really rich and moist – I enjoy sweet desserts, but I very much appreciate less sweet ones sometimes… especially with coconut because it gives you a chance to appreciate the natural flavour better.

    I haven’t had a cake in the house for a long time… I might need to give this a try sometime – thanks for posting this, and thanks to Ping for the ideas 🙂

    1. Thank you so much, Charles. I hope my post will encourage you to make it too! It’s really so simple and rewarding.

  2. This looks familiar, I remember seeing this thing on pings blog and another blog, can’t remember which one. I like coconut so I am sure I will enjoy this one. Both of you have convinced me to make this. Maybe I will make it yesterday:)
    Amazing! What a coincidence. The exact recipe from the same source!
    The sugar amount is perfect.
    I now am in a chatty mood so I will share a story. Long time ago I bought a shirt (sort of light blue, a color that no one wears). I bought it and never wore it. Then one day I decided to wear it and my boss also wore the same colored shirt. And I have never seen anyone in that country wearing that colored shirt. And this happened many times. And how this cake. I will remember this for a very long time.

    1. Mr. Three-Cookies, I will never forget this day and this post either! I am wondering if it has ever happened to any bloggers… Ok posting a pizza recipe on the same day, or a chocolate cake (or in our case a herring salad 😉 ), but posting exactly the same recipe from the same source… There is something magical about it 🙂
      I also suppose that thanks to this incredible coincidence this delicious cake will be engraved in my memory forever.
      The shirt story is amazing! Thanks for sharing it. I’m also wondering what a special shade of blue it was…

  4. Oh, Sissi! You don’t know how much this cheered me up after getting back from a long, difficult day at work. I am so very honored you’ve made it (twice even!), enjoyed it and liked it enough to post about it (and thanks for the link back too) ! It’s always nice to know that one of your recipes worked out well for someone else … I always worry that they’ll get bad results and never look at my blog again! :D. I love the texture you’d achieved with the doubled amount of dessicated coconut. I’m thinking of trying it out with fresh grated coconut next just to see what kind of difference I’ll get … actually it’s just an excuse to make another one 🙂 And I love the “tip”!

    1. Ping, thank you for this kind comment and compliments. You have made me and my husband happy by sharing such an amazing recipe, so if my happiness cheers you up, then I am even happier 😉 I am glad you approve of my modifications (strangely I cannot find coconut cream in “normal” shops, only coconut milk, but this way I make a Thai curry, your coconut cake for dessert and there are no leftovers 😉 ).
      I wish I had freshly grated coconut too. The aroma and taste must be extraordinary! Thank you again for this discovery! I already know the recipe by heart (twice baked in two days), so it will be one of the most frequently baked cakes in my house.

  5. Sissi, I opened up my email and saw your post notification, upon clicking I knew I had to make this cake right away! The only problem is I do not have cream, do you think evaporated milk can be used as a substitute? I went to Ping’s site to look over the banana pie, since there’s a overrippen banana sitting on my counter just begging to be baked into something. Oh I am so excited!

    1. Thank you so much, Jeno. I am sure you can use evaporated milk! You see, Ping used cow milk and coconut cream in her recipe. I used coconut milk and liquid cow cream and still the cake was great, so as long as you don’t change the liquid amounts, it will be ok. Evaporated milk has a consistency very similar to liquid cream. Good luck! I’m looking forward to hear about your results.

      1. Yay, I am going to make this today, hopefully I won’t mess it up, so little girl and I will have a wonderful afternoon snack! Thank you again for sharing, have a good weekend Sissi!

            1. Jeno, I’m so happy you enjoy it! And your daughter too! Thank you so much for coming to let me know.

  7. OK, I’m sold!! I saw this beautiful cake on Ping’s site too and it’s funny because I mentioned to Ping that for some reason, the onset of Spring reminds me of all things coconut… so when I saw the title of your post, I thought, clearly I’m not alone :). I enjoy a touch of sweetness too so this sounds perfect to me (not sure I could hold-off on eating it though ;-)…). We are heading out this weekend for a one week ski holiday (Eastern Townships of Quebec and Vermont) but this is going to the top of my list upon our return! 🙂 Thanks Sissi (and Ping!).

    1. Thank you so much, Kelly. I hope you will like it as much as we did. Have a great skiing weekend!

    1. Thank you so much, Helene. I don’t think you would have problems with ingredients for this cake 😉 Maybe you could even have fresh coconut!

  10. Hi Sissi! I’m sold just like everyone else here. I only have shredded coconut which is not sweeten. Did you use sweeten? If so, maybe I should add sugar, right? For a non baker would you guess how much extra sugar is necessary (sorry to be troublesome)? I have everything and in fact I needed some new coconut recipe so I can get rid of unsweetened coconut… hope that will work. Love coconut flavor. 🙂

    1. Thank you so much, Nami. I am happy I “sell” well Ping’s recipe 😉 I have never even seen sweetened shredded coconut, so I used the non-sweetened (I even didn’t know sweetened one existed 😉 ). If you love coconut flavour, you should absolutely try this cake! It’s so simple and quick! And of course you are not troublesome! Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions.

  13. You’ve convinced me!! I love recipes with simple, few ingredients that come out tasting amazing!! The overnight sounds good to me because I like being able to make it ahead of time. My coworkers will be very happy with that!!

    1. Thank you so much, Linda. I’m happy you share my enthusiasm. I hope your coworkers like it!

    1. Thank you so much, Gourmantine. I thought it looked very ordinary on the photo… Good luck!

  19. Oh, yeah…I’ve been eying Ping’s beautiful cakes, too. Yours looks magnificent! Have a wonderful weekend, Sissi~

  20. I got excited with the variation of Jeno’s coconut bars, and linked to your recipe and going to Ping’s later. I’m totally sold with this cake/pie especially it uses very little flour and super easy! Oh I have to make this soon! I’m wondering if I can replace butter with coconut oil since the butter is melted..

    1. Thank you so much, Shannon. It is very easy indeed. I have no idea if you can replace butter here. It gives a pleasant buttery taste and it’s solid when cold (this is probably why this cake is so good refrigerated). I am very curious what it would be like with coconut oil…

    1. Thank you so much, Charlie. They didn’t fall, but it was difficult to stop myself from eating one of them 🙂

  22. ok i am like you, I love coconut (you mus tknow this by now), and I like moist cakes too (I hate sponge cake), so this is awesome. also very curious that 3 tablespoons of flour is all this cake needs!

    1. Thank you, Shuhan. I think the two eggs and shredded coconut keep the cake more or less solid. (Also the butter when it is refrigerated).

  26. Sissi! This looks so delicious! I’m eager to make it, but wanted to ask what’s cow cream? Is it the same as heavy whipping cream?

    1. Thank you so much, Azusa! I have precised “cow” to say it wasn’t coconut cream. You can use any liquid cream. Mine had 25% fat. Whipping cream is I think at least 36%, so you don’t have to use anything as fat, but as long as it’s not thickened or sour, any cream will be ok here. Good luck and please let me know if you have any other questions (I have made this cake 4 times already so I hope I can help!)

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