Vegan Coconut Cake

This oil free Vegan Coconut Cake is moist, soft, fluffy and packed with delicious flavors and perfectly sweetened. It’s made with brown rice flour as the sponge base and covered with soft and smooth and creamy coconutty frosting. It’s a perfect crowd pleaser.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword gluten free coconut cake, how to make vegan coconut cake, vegan coconut cake recipe, vegan coconut layer cake

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Cooling time 15

Total Time 55

Servings

Calories 355kcal

Author Gunjan

Ingredients

Dry ingredients

2 cups brown rice flour
1 cup unsweetened dried coconut flakes
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Wet ingredients

1 large ripe banana (not over ripe)
1/2 cup unsweetened canned coconut cream (only white cream portion)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp coconut extract
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Frosting

1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk (tetra pack)
1/4 cup unsweetened canned coconut cream (only white cream portion)
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp coconut extract

Topping

1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut (fresh/frozen)

Instructions

Preheat oven at 350-degree Fahrenheit and prepare two 8-inch round cake pans by greasing them thoroughly. In a mixing bowl combine all the dry ingredients and mix it with a spoon very well. There should no be any lumps of baking soda. Keep it aside.
In a large mixing bowl mash banana and add ½ cup coconut cream (only white) in it. Beat it with a hand electric mixer at medium speed until its creamy and well mixed. (about 3 minutes).
Add rest of the wet ingredients to it and beat it again with the hand electric mixer at medium speed for 2-3 minutes.
Now, fold in dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and beat it again at low speed until a batter is formed. Then, fold the batter again manually with a spatula scraping from all sides. This will be a thick but soft batter and not pouring consistency.
Spoon it out equally in the two cake pans. Tap it very nicely so as to spread it evenly throughout. This may take about 1-2minutes. Place them in the middle rack of the oven and bake it for 25-30minutes or until the tester comes out clean. Let the top slightly brown but not too much. Do not exceed 30 minutes or else it will burn. Once done turn off the oven and take them out. Place them on a fat surface and let cool completely (about15 minutes).
In the meanwhile, combine all the frosting ingredients in a saucepan (except coconut extract). Whisk it very well until there are no lumps. Turn it on at high flame and keep stirring continuously until it starts to thicken. Remove from flame and add coconut extra to it. Whisk it vigorously until it thickens nicely and settles down in consistency. Place the pan in the refrigerate for quick cooling for 10 minutes. Once cooled whisk again to make it fluffy and ready to use it.
Now, invert one of the cakes pan on a flat surface. With the help of a butter knife cover the top of it with about 1 cup frosting.
Then, invert the second cake on the first one and cover the entire cake with the frosting. Then, with a cake smoother smoothen it by removing the extra frosting.
Lastly, cover the entire cake with defrosted shredded coconut. Slice and enjoy.

Video

Notes

Make sure to defrost the shredded coconut at room temperature before covering the cake.
Shredded coconut that I used in this recipe as the topping is different from dried coconut flakes. Shredded coconut is basically fresh grated coconut that is frozen which is easily available in Trader’s joe or in any Indian store in the frozen section.
Brown Rice flour is gluten free and does not absorb too much liquid so be careful of the measurements.
Use only the white cream portion and discard the leftover liquid.
For the frosting, you may substitute sugar for maple syrup but the frosting color may change slightly.
Do not add coconut extract in the frosting while coking. It should be added once it starts to thicken and is removed from flame so as to get the right flavor.
I used lightened coconut milk that comes in tetra pack just like any other milk.
Most importantly, let the cake cool down completely before layering and slicing. This will firm up the cake and make it less crumbly.

Nutrition