My Coconut Pound Cake is rocking that classic dense classic pound cake feel with a crazy good cream cheese coconut glaze with toasted coconut flakes on top. And the real tea? It’s a breeze to make. Just one mixing bowl for the batter, and before you know it, it’s ready to serve. Trust me, if you liked my coconut cake recipe or even this fun pineapple coconut cake, you’ll absolutely LOVE this old-fashioned coconut bundt cake recipe!!
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Coconut Pound Cake Ingredient Notes
- Butter: Unsalted. If you use salted, decrease the salt in the recipe.
- Cake Flour: If you don’t have any around but have all-purpose flour and cornstarch, you can make homemade cake flour.
- Coconut Cream Instant Pudding Mix: For moisture and more coconut flavor. Don’t make the pudding. Just add the powder into the batter.
- Fine Sea Salt: Kosher is fine also.
- Baking Soda: Check your expiration date.
- Sour Cream: You can swap with plain Greek yogurt.
- Milk: For more coconut flavor, swap out regular milk for unsweetened coconut milk.
- Banana Extract: Optional
- Powdered Sugar: Feel free make homemade powdered sugar with just granulated sugar and your mixer if you ran out.
- Milk: Use what you have on hand.
- Coconut Extract: Adds more coconut flavor. Swap in vanilla if you want.
- Coconut Flakes: Toast these for a nice garnish on your cake.
How To Make Coconut Pound Cake
Make the Cake Batter
Step 1: Add butter and sugar to a measuring bowl. Mix on high until pale yellow and fluffy.
Step 2: Then, lower speed to medium and add eggs, one at a time, combining well after each egg, and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Step 3: Sift together cake flour, instant pudding mix, sea salt, and baking soda. Turn mixer to the lowest speed and slowly add sifted dry ingredients.
Step 4: Add sour cream, milk, and both extracts.
Step 5: Mix until the batter is just combined. Don’t overdo it!
Step 6: Pour cake batter into prepared Bundt pan and spread evenly. Bake at 325 until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.
Glaze it Up!
Step 7: Add cream cheese, powdered sugar, salt, milk, and extract to a small bowl.
Step 8: Whisk the glaze until smooth.
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Step 9: Pour the glaze over cooled cake. Sprinkle coconut flakes on top and serve.
Coconut Pound Cake Recipe
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Equipment
Ingredients
For the Coconut Pound Cake
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 6 large eggs room temperature
- 3 cups cake flour
- 1-3.4 ounce package coconut cream instant pudding mix
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup sour cream room temperature
- ¼ cup milk room temperature
- 1 tablespoon coconut extract
- 1 tablespoon banana extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Cream Cheese Coconut Glaze
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
- Pinch fine sea salt
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- ¼ cup coconut flakes toasted, for garnish
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 325F. Place rack to middle position. Liberally coat a 12-cup Bundt pan with nonstick baking spray.
- In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, mix butter and sugar on high until pale yellow and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
- Lower speed to medium and add eggs, one at a time, combining well after each egg, and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Sift together cake flour, instant pudding mix, sea salt, and baking soda.
- Turn mixer to the lowest speed and slowly add sifted dry ingredients in two additions. Do not overmix.
- Lastly, add sour cream, milk, and both extracts and mix until just combined. Turn off mixer.
- Pour cake batter into prepared Bundt pan and spread evenly.
- Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about an hour and 20 minutes. Rotate cake halfway through baking.
- Cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes, then invert cake onto serving platter to continue cooling, for at least an hour before glazing and serving.
For the Glaze
- Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, salt, milk, and extract until smooth.
- Pour over cooled cake. Sprinkle coconut flakes on top and serve.
Notes
How To Store
- Room Temp: Keep your coconut pound cake in an airtight container on the counter for 2 to 3 days. Make sure the glaze has fully set before you cover it so it doesn’t stick to the lid.
- Fridge: You can pop it in the fridge for up to a week.
- Freezer: Freeze the unglazed cake by wrapping it tightly in plastic wrap, then foil. It will keep for up to 3 months. Thaw it overnight in the fridge, bring it to room temp, and glaze it right before serving. You can freeze the glaze separately too and thaw it in the fridge when you’re ready to use it.
Nutrition
Recipe Tips
- Gentle on the Mixing: When you add the dry ingredients to the wet ones, mix them gently. Overmixing can lead to a tough cake.
- Adjust Extracts to Taste: Extract strengths can vary by brand, so if yours is on the lighter side, feel free to add a smidge more. Remember, you’re aiming for that perfect balance of coconut, vanilla and banana notes!
- Perfect Glaze Consistency: When making the glaze, aim for a pourable but thick consistency. If it’s too runny, add a bit more powdered sugar; if too thick, a little more milk.
- Don’t Rush the Cooling: Let the cake cool completely before you even think about glazing so it won’t melt off the cake.
- Tap that Pan: After filling the Bundt pan with batter, give it a few gentle taps on the counter. This simple trick releases any trapped air bubbles, leading to a more evenly baked pound cake.
Recipe Help
A few things could cause this. First, check if your baking soda is fresh; it’s crucial for the rise. Also, be gentle when mixing the batter. Overmixing can deflate the air bubbles necessary for a good rise. And this may sound like an obvious one, but make sure your oven is properly preheated before baking. It has happened to me that I forgot to preheat the oven and when I tried to bake in a hurry, my cake came out as flat as a pancake.
You can use all-purpose flour, but the texture might be slightly different. Cake flour has a lower protein content, which results in a softer crumb. If you use all-purpose flour, your coconut pound cake may be a bit denser.
Besides using coconut milk as suggested, you can also add more coconut extract or fold in some shredded coconut into the batter. Just be careful not to alter the wet to dry ingredient ratio too much!
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I made this cake for New Year’s Day,It was a hit. I’m going to make it again. It was delicious but this time I’m going to use unsweetened coconut milk. The banana was a little more powerful than I thought but it was still great delicious and beautiful.
So glad everyone love it!
This cake looks really tasty and I think the coconut chips on top add a nice crunch! Thank you for sharing.
One word. Spectacular. We loved this coconut cake so much. My family is visiting from Greece and that’s all they wanted to eat! I have to (want to) make it again this week. Thank you so much. Happy holidays!
This coconut pound cake is a slice of pure joy! The moist texture and rich coconut flavour make it an absolute delight. Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe.
I love coconut and I love pound cake! I made this for a hostess gift this weekend and we all loved it. The cake disappeared immediately, and I shared the recipe with many at the party.
Wow! What an incredible pound cake recipe! It is AMAZING! We loved every bite.
We made your cake to go to our family dinner this weekend. We added some fresh cut pineapple to go along side it, it was a tropical delight!
Oh save me a slice! I love coconut anything 😀 This cake looks so beautiful and delicious….a perfect pound cake ^_^
This cake is just as delicious as it is beautiful. Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe. I’ll be making it again for sure!
Could you use coconut extract instead of Bananna?
I’m with you about the banana extract. I’ve never seen it in a store, but I’ve used coconut extract in coconut cakes before.