This moist and sweet One Bowl Coconut Bundt Cake is an easy-to-make, one-bowl dessert that is packed with fun tropical flavor. Every bite of this light and delicious from-scratch cake is bursting with rich flavors of shredded coconut and coconut sugar!
Originally posted January 2022, updated June 2024
Looking for a simple, yet elegant tropical cake to serve at your next dinner party or family get-together? You’ve come to the right place!
This light, moist, and sweet coconut bundt cake is a simple one-bowl recipe that makes enough to feed a crowd. Serve this tropical cake all on its own or top it with your favorite frosting for some extra pizzaz!
One of the best parts about this coconut bundt cake is how simple the ingredients are. A bit of shredded coconut and coconut sugar are all you need to really pack in that coconut flavor!
One of the best parts about this coconut bundt cake is how simple the ingredients are. A bit of shredded coconut and coconut sugar are all you need to really pack in that coconut flavor!
This is not a doctored cake mix - it's from scratch, but there are no fancy extracts or hard-to-find ingredients—just toss together a few pantry staples and you’re good to go!
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Ingredients And Possible Substitutions
- All-Purpose Flour—Gives a light crumb and slight chew to this tropical cake. A gluten-free flour blend or whole wheat flour may also be used.
- Shredded Coconut—Used to pack every bite with sweet coconut flavor!
- Coconut Sugar—Adds deeper, richer notes of coconut. It can be found on the baking aisle of most grocery stores or on Amazon, of course. If you don’t have coconut sugar, you can use light brown sugar or additional white sugar instead.
- Sour Cream— Nothing is more moist than a sour cream bundt cake. Sour cream helps to lock in moisture without adding unnecessary liquid. You can substitute plain, vanilla, or coconut greek yogurt if you like.
- Salted Butter—Adds a hint of salt and just the right amount of richness.
- Eggs—The main binding agent, helping to hold all your other coconut cake ingredients together.
- Whole Milk—Gives your coconut bundt cake a silky-smooth texture. For even more coconut flavor, try using coconut milk instead!
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Equipment Needed
There are no fancy tools needed to make this delicious and moist coconut bundt cake!
- Electric hand mixer
- Large mixing bowl
- Measuring cups and spoons
- 10-inch bundt cake pan
- And a baking sheet or frying pan to toast the shredded coconut.
How do you make coconut cake?
You won't believe how easy it is to make this coconut bundt cake recipe!
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and coat a 10-inch Bundt pan in butter and flour. You could also spray your pan with nonstick baking spray. This will help prevent the cake from sticking to the pan.
2. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer on medium speed to combine the white sugar, coconut sugar, and butter. The resulting mixture should be similar in texture to wet sand.
3. Next, add your eggs, vanilla extract, sour cream, and whole milk. Mix until everything is smooth and well incorporated.
4. Then slowly stir in your baking soda, baking powder, flour, and shredded coconut.
5. Mix until there are no more clumps of flour left and the coconut is evenly distributed throughout the mixture.
6. Pour your coconut cake batter into a prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
7. Allow it to cool.
While your cake is cooling, toast some shredded coconut until golden brown and prepare your glaze or frosting. I've included a very simple coconut glaze below, but also some suggestions for other ways to top your cake!
Remove your cooled cake from the pan after 10 minutes and invert it onto a cooling rack. Finish off this simple coconut bundt cake recipe with the frosting or glaze of your choice and sprinkle it with toasted coconut, serve, and enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
The primary difference between a bundt cake and other cakes is the shape. Bundt cakes are baked in a donut-shaped pan with a hole in the center. There are hundreds of different bundt pans with patterns on the outside, but all of them have the signature hole. The recipe varieties are endless and unlimited.
Since shredded coconut is a very dry ingredient, you’ll need to take a few extra steps to ensure that your finished coconut bundt cake is moist. Adding sour cream and making this a 'sour cream coconut cake' always helps, but you can also soak your shredded coconut in water or coconut milk before adding it to your batter.
This is completely up to you! I find the flavor of sweetened coconut to be stronger than unsweetened, but either variety will work in this recipe.
Coconut sugar is a golden-hued granulated sugar made completely from coconut palm sap. This natural sweetener is less refined than white sugar, making it easier for your body to process. Plus, it has a pleasant coconut flavor!
How to Store Leftover Coconut Bundt Cake
Any leftover coconut bundt cake will stay good in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Alternatively, you can slice any remaining cake, wrap each slice in plastic wrap, and freeze it for up to 2 months! When you’re ready to enjoy your leftover coconut cake, simply pop a slice in the microwave or allow it to thaw in the fridge or on the counter.
Expert Tips & Tricks
- Be sure to generously coat your bundt pan in a mixture of softened butter and flour. This will ensure that your cake pops out easily!
- Do not toast your coconut before adding it to your cake batter! Doing so will result in an unpleasant, dry texture.
- If you’re out of sour cream, try using plain, vanilla, or coconut Greek yogurt instead.
- It's best to cool your cake on a cooling rack.
Frosting and Decoration Ideas
I have included a very basic coconut glaze in the recipe below but the light tropical flavor of this sweet coconut bundt cake pairs super well with a wide variety of fun frostings and toppings. Below are a few of my favorites!
Frosting Ideas:
- Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting
- Easy Cream Cheese Glaze
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- Caramel Frosting
- Simple Vanilla Glaze
- Chocolate Ganache
- Pineapple Glaze
- Dust it with Confectioners' Sugar
And if you want to fancy it up, here are some topping/decoration Ideas:
- Candied pineapple or mango
- Fresh lime zest
- Chocolate chips or shavings
- Maraschino cherries
- Slivered or toasted almonds
More Coconut and Bundt Cake Recipes:
- Bundt Cake Banana Bread
- Pumpkin Spice Mini Bundt Cakes with Cream Cheese Glaze {Recipe}
- Golden Rum Cake with Pecans & Buttery Rum Glaze
- Homemade Butter Pound Cake Recipe
- Delicious Gluten-Free Honey Coconut Cake Recipe
- Easy Coconut Cake
- Coconut Macaroon Cookies
- The Best Toasted Coconut Cake
- Easy Coconut Poke Cake with Sour Cream
- Cinnamon Bundt Cake (aka King Cake Bundt Cake)
- Butterscotch Bundt Cake
Recipe
One Bowl Coconut Bundt Cake
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 14 1x
Description
This moist and sweet coconut bundt cake is an easy-to-make, one-bowl dessert that is packed with fun tropical flavor. Every bite of this light and delicious cake is bursting with rich flavors of shredded coconut and coconut sugar!
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients:
- ½ cup salted butter, softened
- ¾ cup white granulated sugar
- ¾ cup coconut sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 cups white flour
- 1 cup shredded coconut + a little extra for garnishing
Simple Glaze Ingredients:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk
- ½ teaspoon coconut extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and coat a 10-inch Bundt pan in butter and flour. This will help prevent the cake from sticking to the pan.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer or stand mixer to cream the butter and sugars until a wet, crumbly mixture forms. This mixture should resemble wet sand.
- Add the eggs, vanilla, sour cream, and milk and mix again until homogenous and smooth.
- Add the baking soda, baking powder, flour, and shredded coconut and slowly use your electric mixer or stand mixer to incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Continue mixing the batter until no dry clumps of flour remain and the shredded coconut is evenly distributed throughout the mixture.
- Pour the cake batter into the Bundt pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick can be cleanly removed.
- Allow the cake to cool for about 10 minutes before removing. While the cake is cooling, make the glaze and toast some shredded coconut in a pan on the stovetop until golden brown.
- For the glaze, whisk together the coconut milk, coconut extract, and confectioner’s sugar until smooth. To get the desired consistency, add more sugar as needed to thicken the glaze or more milk if you want a thinner glaze.
- Remove the cake from the pan, top with the and toasted coconut, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
If If you do not have coconut sugar, you can just use 1 ½ cups of granulated sugar instead. The coconut sugar serves to make the recipe slightly healthier and aid an extra blast of coconut flavor.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 45
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ann
Great cake! But, I was wondering if this could be baked in layers with a coconut pastry cream in between? If so, how long in the oven? Same temperature? I frosted mine with a French buttercream instead. I had extra egg yolks to use up. Worked wonderfully!
Tommie
This cake is incredible!! I've always loved bundt cakes and coconut so this is the perfect marriage.
Rose Atwater
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!!