Actually, the proper question is guess who baked herself coconut flour cakes, because this recipe took a few tries to get right. It was worth it! I’m 33 today, and I suppose at some point it will become too embarrassing for me to continue to post my own birthday cake creations in such a public manner. I’m not there yet! This year, I’m not feeling quite so philosophical as I was on my 30th, when I posted this Lemon Layer Cake (which is still the very best lemon cake in the entire world, not to oversell it or anything) or quite as silly as I was the year of the Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake (which will ruin you from store-bought cookie cake forever, sorry not sorry). Coconut flour cake falls somewhere in between. Coconut flour cake is surprisingly moist and its flavor is unique, but it stays true to a certain nostalgia factor that I crave in any good birthday cake. It’s more about the cake than it is the frosting (a reflection of my personal priorities), BUT the frosting certainly isn’t an afterthought. It’s thick and creamy, sweet but not too sweet. It’s easy enough to make it without a specific special occasion in mind—you don’t even need a mixer for the batter, just a whisk and some energy from your upper arm. Yet, in the unique way that a good homemade cake is certain to do, it makes any night on which you choose to serve it feel special by its very presence at the table. Pull out the rainbow sprinkles and get ready to swirl on some extra frosting. It’s time to make the best-ever coconut cake!
How to Make Moist Coconut Flour Cake
Baking with coconut flour is always a bit tricky. Because coconut flour is naturally dry, it takes a certain amount of experimentation to make sure that recipes that use it, like this tender coconut cake, come out moist. I needed a few tries with this recipe to make sure the coconut flour cake stayed melt-in-your-mouth moist but was still sturdy enough to hold up to layering and frosting. It was absolutely worth the effort. Not only do I love this cake, but coconut flour itself is a fantastic ingredient to have in your pantry. Coconut flour is naturally high in fiber and protein, so it’s perfect for healthy baked desserts like this cake (and others on this list of 50 Healthy Desserts). It is also grain free and gluten free, making it an excellent resource for those with dietary restrictions, and it is Paleo diet approved too. (Looking for more gluten free cake ideas? Try this Gluten Free Carrot Cake.) Here are my tips for baking this coconut flour cake with success.
Start with Good-Quality Coconut Flour. Different brands of coconut flour can react differently in baked recipes. I use and recommend Bob’s Red Mill.Don’t Skip the Eggs. Yes, you REALLY do need all 4 large eggs and 2 egg whites to make this cake. Remember when I mentioned that coconut flour is dry? The eggs are what makes it moist.
Why Both Egg Yolks and Egg Whites? The whites have protein which provides structure to the cake. The yolks add richness. If you use all yolks, the coconut flour cake will be too heavy, all whites and it won’t be moist enough. The balance between the two I have here is just right. Wait, What If I Want the Coconut Flour Cake Vegan? You can experiment with flax eggs, but I honestly can’t recommend it, because it would be swapping out such a large quantity. Instead, check out a recipe that’s already written to be vegan, like this Instant Pot Cake!
Even Out Your Layers. I actually like to use a digital scale like this one (less than $10 and so worth it!) to make sure I have the same amount of batter in my pans. If you are eyeballing it, be sure to lean down to counter level and look at the pans at eye level to make sure you have the same amount of batter in each.
Why Even Amounts of Batter Matter. Having the same amount of batter in both pans will ensure the layers bake in the same amount of time. It will also make them the same thickness, leading to a more professional-looking cake.
Use Full-Fat Coconut Milk. Believe it or not, this coconut flour cake contains ZERO butter. Instead, I swapped full-fat coconut milk. It makes the cake incredibly moist, and the flavor is lovely.Honey. While baking with liquid sweetener can be tricky (it can make standard wheat-flour-based cakes too moist), when you are baking with coconut flour, that is much less of an issue. This coconut flour cake is entirely sweetened with honey.
Paleo Bonus: For those following a Paleo diet, since this coconut cake is sugar free and dairy free, the recipe is Paleo too (swap your favorite Paleo frosting in place of what I have listed here, or leave the cake unfrosted).
How to Flavor Coconut Flour Cake
In addition to the flavor notes from the honey, coconut milk, and a hefty pour of vanilla extract, this coconut flour cake has two other bonus ingredients that make every forkful its own mini escape.
Lemon Zest and Almond Extract. These work together in the background to elevate the cake’s flavor.
As the recipe is written, this is a rich, moist, and complexly flavored coconut flour vanilla cake. If you’d like to make a true almond and coconut flour cake, you can double the almond extract and sprinkle toasted almonds over the top of the frosted cake. For a coconut flour lemon cake, add additional lemon zest and swap the almond extract for 1/4 teaspoon pure lemon extract. You can also top the cake with lemon cream cheese frosting.
More Coconut Flour Recipes
Because now that you have that bag of coconut flour, it’s time to use it!
Coconut Flour PancakesCoconut Flour CookiesChocolate Chip Paleo Zucchini BreadPlus all of these coconut flour recipes!
Recommended Tools to Make Coconut Flour Cake
Two 6-inch round cake pans (for a two-layer cake) or one 9-inch round pan (for a single layer cake).You can also double this recipe and bake it in two 9-inch round cake pans.Small whisk (perfect for stirring up the batter; I almost never use a full-size whisk, as this one is much handier)
