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The BEST Coconut Pound Cake

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I don’t use the word “best” very often, but this cake? It is truly the BEST Coconut Pound Cake I have ever tasted! Oh my heavens. This cake. It is EVERYTHING I want in a coconut cake.

The BEST Coconut Pound Cake - get the recipe at barefeetinthekitchen.com

Dense enough to not fall apart when you slice it, tender and fluffy enough for the perfect crumb, sweet but not overly sweet, with just the right amount of coconut flavor in every bite.

I could quite possibly talk your ears off about how much I LOVE this Coconut Pound Cake. The crumb is spectacular, the crust has the perfect crunch, this beauty of a cake is drizzled with a sweet coconut icing, and topped with an extra sprinkling of coconut.

The BEST Coconut Pound Cake (traditional and gluten free recipes included) get the recipe at barefeetinthekitchen.com

This cake has pretty much destroyed my self-control. I sliced it after dinner a few nights ago and then I could not stop slicing slivers to taste for the rest of the night.

This is going to be in my dessert line-up for both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. I am beside myself thrilled with this cake.

The BEST Coconut Pound Cake (traditional and gluten free recipes included) get the recipe at barefeetinthekitchen.com
Kitchen Tip: I use this (perfect every time!) bundt pan and this mixer to make this recipe.
Oh! And if you do have coconut lover’s in your life, you’re going to want to save this recipe for my Grandma’s Coconut Chews as well.

The BEST Coconut Pound Cake

5 from 17 votes
Print Pin Rate

Ingredients

  • Cake Ingredients:
  • 1 cup butter room temperature
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons coconut extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
  • Glaze Ingredients:
  • 2 tablespoons butter melted
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 teaspoon coconut extract
  • Topping:
  • 2/3 cup shredded coconut toasted

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 325°F. Arrange an oven rack in the center of the oven. Thoroughly grease and lightly flour an 8 or 10-cup bundt pan. Beat the butter and sugars together, on medium speed, until fluffy crumbs form. Add the eggs, vanilla, and coconut extract, beat again until smooth. Add the milk, beat on low speed to combine. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat again, just until combined. Stir in the coconut.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 60-65 minutes, until golden on top and light brown on the edges. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, place the cooling rack on top of the cake, hold the sides firmly and invert the pan over the rack. The cake should drop smoothly out of the pan. Tap firmly on the pan with a wooden spoon, if necessary to free the cake from the pan. Let the cake cool completely before glazing.
  • To make the glaze, melt the butter in a small glass bowl. Add the powdered sugar, milk, and coconut extract. Whisk together until smooth. The glaze should pour off the spoon in a white stream. Add a teaspoon more milk to thin it, or 1-2 tablespoons more powdered sugar to thicken it, if necessary. Drizzle the glaze over the cake. Sprinkle generously with coconut. Store at room temperature, loosely covered, preferably not airtight. This cake will keep nicely and stay very moist for 3-4 days. Enjoy!

Notes

COOK’S NOTE: I’m not an advocate for buying a slew of specialty ingredients, but the coconut extract is key to the lovely flavor in this cake. While I would typically not use an imitation "vanilla" extract, I used an imitation coconut extract (because it was the only option at the store) for this recipe and it worked beautifully.
Tried this recipe?Mention @barefeetkitchen or tag #barefeetkitchen!
{originally published 11/20/15 – recipe notes and photos updated 5/2/17}
The BEST Coconut Pound Cake (traditional and gluten free recipes included) get the recipe at barefeetinthekitchen.com
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About Mary Younkin

Hi, I’m Mary. I’m the author, cook, photographer, and travel lover behind the scenes here at Barefeet In The Kitchen. I'm also the author of three cookbooks dedicated to making cooking from scratch as simple as possible.

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  1. Cathy says

    Ooohhh my goodness gracious! This is absolute deliciousness! We are a family of foodies who are accustomed to great tasting well prepared dishes. We all agree that your recipe has passed our test with an A+! Thanks for sharing!5 stars

    Reply

  4. Nicki cornett says

    No doubt, the best pound cake I have ever eaten. My mother used to make a coconut layer cake for Christmas every year which the whole family enjoyed, but I really prefer this recipe. I am 77 yrs old, believe me, I have tasted a lot of cakes. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  6. DeNece says

    Saturday, Oct 12th was my 56th birthday, and while it was a lovely day, I missed having a birthday cake. Yesterday, I decided to make myself one and stumbled on this recipe after deciding I wanted a coconut cake.

    Something has to be phenomenal for me to leave a review so, can I just say that this was the most delicious and tender and moist cake I have EVER made! EVER! I didn’t
    make the glaze, nor any glaze, as I felt it would be sweet enough on its own, and I’m not a fan of frosting/glaze
    anyway. Trust me when I say it doesn’t need it! The only
    thing that might have made it better (if even possible)
    would have been a dollop of fresh whipped cream and
    some berries. Also, the grocery store only had ”imitation coconut flavoring”, and not “extract”, so I’m very excited to try it again with the real stuff!

    I will take it to work tomorrow as I fear that if it’s not out of my house I will eat the entire cake!!

    This recipe is going to be kept VERY handy for any event that I may need to bring a dish to…. I CANNOT WAIT to make it for the holidays! Thank you for sharing such a phenomenal recipe! I LOVE IT!5 stars

    Reply

      • DeNece says

        Thank you, so much, Mary… I’m actually making this again, right now, for Thanksgiving today at my mom’s house… Sure hope it doesn’t upstage the pumpkin pie! 😉5 stars

        Reply

  10. Joanna Lau says

    I made this on a flat pan because I didn’t have a Bundt pan and my husband and his whole office gave kudos to the chef. Thank you!! I read some comments and I agree that this can be made with less sugar and with it without frosting. I also didn’t have milk handy so I used Cinnabon creamer (so maybe that’s why I can do with less sugar). My husband said this is his favorite cake now!

    Reply

  11. Thom says

    Two questions:

    1. Ingredients: Did you use sweetened or unsweetened shredded coconut?

    2. Technique: You day to beat the butter and sugar until fluffy crumbs form. When making a cake I usually cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 5-6 minutes, at which time it’s a light yellow and fluffy but not “crumbs.” Why is your technique different? What difference does it make in the texture of the cake?

    Thanks.

    Reply

    • Mary Younkin says

      Hi Thom, I use sweetened coconut. All I can really say with regards to the method is that it works well as written. Feel free to stick with whatever method you prefer for cake baking. While I’ve never seen the need to cream the butter and sugar for this cake for that long, it’s not likely to hurt anything. Happy baking!

      Reply

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