This Coconut Pound Cake is rich, buttery, dense, perfectly moist, and topped with homemade coconut glaze. It’s a simple, classic pound cake recipe made with butter, cream cheese, and real shredded coconut.
Coconut Pound Cake is the perfect dessert to serve for potlucks, holidays, showers, and afternoon snacks during any time of the year. If you love pound cake, be sure to try our chocolate pound cake, lime pound cake or classic pound cake recipe.
Coconut Pound Cake Recipe
Coconut-lovers will not be able to resist this Coconut Cream Cheese Pound Cake. It’s rich and dense like a good pound cake should be, plus super moist and flavorful thanks to the cream cheese and real shredded coconut in the batter.
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Our easy-to-follow instructions include a recipe for a simple coconut glaze that gets poured over the top of the cake once cooled. For a seriously dazzling presentation, sprinkle with a little extra toasted coconut and serve with whipped cream and fresh berries.
Coconut Pound Cake Ingredients
- Butter – your butter should be soft so it’s best to pull it out to room temperature in advance. If you forget, you can microwave it for about 10 seconds at a time until softened but not melted.
- Cream Cheese – this adds moisture, flavor and great texture to the pound cake. Make sure it is softened at room temperature, just like the butter.
- Sugar – this recipe calls for granulated sugar.
- Eggs – any kind of large eggs will work. It’s best if they are room temperature so that they don’t cause the butter mixture to seize up. You can run them under warm water, too.
- Flour – either all-purpose flour or cake flour work best for pound cake.
- Milk – whole milk is best, although 2% makes a good substitute.
- Salt – sea salt works great.
- Shredded Coconut – I like to use sweetened coconut for this recipe because the extra sugar adds even more moisture to the cake.
- Vanilla Extract – pure vanilla extract tastes best.
- Coconut Extract – this adds a ton of coconut flavor to the batter so if you can find it, make sure and use it.
Coconut Glaze
- Powdered Sugar – powdered confectioners sugar adds sweetness without any grittiness.
- Milk – whole milk is best, but 2% will work in a pinch.
- Coconut Extract – definitely use coconut extract if you can find it. Otherwise, you can substitute vanilla extract.
How to Make this Recipe for Coconut Pound Cake
- Cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, or a stand mixer, whip together the butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy, or about 3-5 minutes.
- Mix the batter. Slowly add eggs, mixing after each addition and scraping down the sides as necessary to make the mixture smooth. Add the flour and mix on low speed until almost completely combined. Finally, add the milk, salt, shredded coconut, vanilla extract, and coconut extract and mix.
- Bake. Grease and flour a 9-10 cup bundt pan then add your cake batter. Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool. Once finished, remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 10-15 minutes. Put a plate or serving dish on the top of the bundt cake pan and flip the cake onto the serving plate to cool completely.
- Make the glaze. In the meantime, make the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar, milk and coconut extract in a medium bowl. Add more milk if necessary to reach your desired consistency.
- Glaze and serve. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled pound cake and sprinkle with toasted coconut if desired. Let the glaze set up before slicing and serve with a dollop of whipped cream, fresh raspberries or a scoop of ice cream. Enjoy!
Recipe Variations for Coconut Pound Cake
If you’re a fan of coconut and pound cake, then you’re in for a treat. There are so many ways to switch up this classic recipe to make it even more delicious and unique. Here are some variations to try:
- Pina Colada Pound Cake: Add 1/2 cup of crushed pineapple and 1/4 cup of rum to the batter. Bake as usual and serve with whipped cream and extra pineapple on top.
- Coconut Pineapple Pound Cake: Skip the rum and make a delicious Pineapple Cream Cheese Pound Cake.
- Chocolate and Coconut Pound Cake: Stir in 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to the batter.
- Almond Joy Pound Cake: Mix in 1/2 cup of chopped almonds and 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to the batter. Bake and enjoy the classic Almond Joy flavor in cake form.
- Coconut and Blueberry Pound Cake: Fold in 1 cup of fresh blueberries and enjoy the burst of juicy blueberries and crunchy coconut.
- Caramel Coconut Pound Cake: Pour caramel sauce over the cooled cake and top with toasted coconut flakes. This will add a rich and decadent flavor to the cake.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Pound cakes freeze wonderfully. It’s best if you freeze your pound cake before adding the glaze. Just be sure and wrap the cake well in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. If it will fit, place in a freezer bag and store for up to 2 months.
Once you are ready to eat, pull from the freezer and store at room temperature, or in the fridge, overnight. Glaze at least an hour before eating so it has a chance to set.
Pound cakes are often baked in a bundt pan or a round tube cake pan. In this case, you could call this either a Coconut Bundt Cake or a Coconut Pound Cake! Not only do bundt cake pans make an excellent presentation, but they also give more surface area which spreads the heat more evenly around the extremely dense cake batter.
But, if you have neither you can also bake in loaf pans, filling them up about 2/3 full. Just keep in mind that the bake time will need to be adjusted.
I like to toast coconut in a hot skillet over medium heat. Add enough coconut to just cover the bottom in a thin layer and stir frequently because it burns easily. You can also toast by placing in a thin layer on a sheet tray and baking in a 300 degree oven for about 10 minutes, stirring at least twice. Transfer toasted coconut from the hot skillet or sheet tray to another bowl to cool.
Bundt cake vs Pound cake—what exactly is the difference? This pound cake recipe is actually both. A bundt cake refers mostly to the type of pan it is baked in. A bundt pan is a fluted ring shaped pan that typically is used to bake denser cakes that take longer to bake, such as pound cakes. A pound cake refers to the ingredients and style of cake, which is dense and buttery.
Storing and Freezing
- Room Temperature: wrap any unfinished cake in aluminum foil, or any airtight container, and store for up to 2 days at room temperature.
- Refrigerator: pound cake can also be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freezing: wrap your unglazed pound cake well with plastic wrap and aluminum foil then place in a larger freezer bag. Store in the freezer for up to 2 months. Once you are ready to eat, pull from the freezer and store at room temperature, or in the fridge, overnight. Glaze at least an hour before eating so it has a chance to set.
Coconut Pound Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups butter, room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 cups sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 ½ cups shredded coconut
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease and flour a 9-10 cup bundt cake pan and set aside.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer, whip together the butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy, or about 3-5 minutes.
- Slowly add the eggs, mixing after each addition and scraping down the sides as necessary to make the mixture smooth. Add the flour and mix on low speed until almost completely combined. Finally, add the milk, salt, shredded coconut, vanilla extract, and coconut extract. Mix and transfer to the prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Once finished, remove the cake from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Put a plate or serving dish on the top of the bundt cake pan and flip the cake onto the serving plate to cool completely.
- In the meantime, make the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar, milk and coconut extract in a large bowl. Add more milk if necessary to reach your desired consistency.
- Drizzle the glaze over the cooled pound cake and sprinkle with toasted coconut if desired. Let the glaze set up before slicing to serve with a dollop of whipped cream, fresh raspberries or a scoop of ice cream. Enjoy!
Nutrition
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This Coconut Bundt Cake recipe is moist, dense and full of coconut flavor. Topped with coconut glaze and served with whipped cream and berries, this makes the perfect simple dessert for any occasion.
