Coconut Bundt Cake
I’m still on maternity leave and I’ve asked a few of my amazing blogger friends to fill in with some guest posts. Nancy, from gotta get baked, is here again today to help me out…isn’t she amazing? You met her last week when she shared these ooey-gooey Chocolate Bar Cookie Bars and today she is here again after my heart with this lovely coconut bundt cake. THANK YOU, Nancy…xoxo (PS: I had no idea you didn’t take part because of the pictures…I knew you were on a break! ) Pictures were updated in February 2021.
Nancy here, from gotta get baked (I know, I know, I’m here AGAIN! What was Zainab thinking about allowing me to guest post twice this month?)
I totally feel off my baking game lately. It’s as if I’ve lost my mojo. It all started a few months ago when I was attempting a layer cake for my best friend’s baby shower. It was a recipe I had made in the past with great success: a coconut layer cake with white chocolate buttercream icing. I baked the cake layers and the next day, after I had whipped up three cups of icing, I looked at the layers and knew immediately something was wrong. They looked awful – flat instead of tall and fluffy. I ripped off a piece, put it in my mouth, and realized the cake was completely gummy and dense.
Ugh.
Into the compost, it went. The icing went into the freezer (after I devoured a cup of it to drown my sorrows).
A lovely group of bloggers got together a few months ago to throw Zainab a virtual baby shower with the theme being one of her favorite flavors: coconut. I was so excited to join in but couldn’t decide for a long time what to make. I decided on bread pudding because, c’mon, bread pudding is delicious! I baked up a huge pan of coconut bread pudding with a streusel topping, was delighted with the taste, took about three hundred photos of it, and realized as I was browsing through them that they all looked like crap. I just couldn’t bear using such hideous photos so I didn’t participate in the shower. I no longer have the right to call myself a food blogger.
I mean, what the hell is that?!
Just recently, I was baking for my guest posts for Zainab. I wanted to use coconut because she loves it and to redeem myself for that failed baby shower post. I wanted to bake a coconut bundt cake but thought it would be fabulous to add a streusel topping. Since I couldn’t use a traditional bundt pan with a streusel topping (because a streusel topping on the bottom of a cake is sheer madness), I baked my cake in a tube pan, which requires you to invert the cake when you remove it and then put it back right-side-up.
I took the cake from the oven but only let it cool for about half an hour before I attempted removing it from the pan. BIG MISTAKE, people! The cake was still so hot and fragile that it completely fell apart as I inverted it onto a cooling rack.
My heart shattered as surely as the cake did.
It tasted awesome but there’s no way I was going to present Zainab with a cracked up cake (even though I know she would have appreciated the humor of the situation!). What is going on with me?! Well, I’ve been soldiering on with baking (it’s like riding a bike, right?) and thankfully, this lovely coconut bundt cake turned out beautifully, in taste and in looks! The bundt is super moist and fluffy, with a strong coconut flavor.
I’ve learned a few important lessons here, you guys. Never turn a hot ass cake out of its pan. And have a sense of humor. Roll with it! Life isn’t perfect. Looks aren’t everything. Have a little patience and definitely a lot of perseverance.
And eat cake. Because no matter what it looks like, it’s what’s inside that counts!
Coconut Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp, plus 1 tablespoon for greasing bundt pan
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 6 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons dark rum (optional)
- 1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter your bundt pan (12-inch) and set aside. I like using baking spray to grease my bundt pans.
- In a small bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Don't skip the sifting, please.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer or a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the vanilla extract and dark rum, mix to combine.
- Add in the coconut milk and mix to combine. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until the batter is smooth. Fold in the shredded coconut until combined.
- Pour the batter into the bundt pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Cool the cake for at least 20 minutes in the pan before turning the cake onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Serve with powdered sugar dusting.
- The bundt will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for three days or in the freezer for three months. It’s also fabulous toasted.
Notes
Adapted from Food Network
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I made the cake but added a half a cup of finely crushed almonds in addition to the Coconut, 2 Tablespoons of Amaretto and 2 Tablespoons of Coconut Rum and substituted the Vanilla Extract with Almond Extract. It was perfect and made a nice medium bundt, plus a Loaf pan. Thanks for
Oh that sounds delicious Rosie!! Thanks for sharing your substitutions.
Can you half this recipe for a 6 in bundt pan? Would this affect cooking time?
Yes, you can half the recipe. It will impact the cooking time so be sure to adjust accordingly.
Excellent recipe! This is the perfect amount of sweet, which is hard to find in a coconut cake recipe. I did swap out 1 cup of the all-purpose for cake flour, just to make it more fluffy, and it turned out very well.
Thanks for the feedback, Karen. I am glad to hear you love this recipe 🙂
Will this do in 9 inch bundt pan? I awant to add coconut extract but how much? I only have Sweetened coconut flakes, will that be ok to use or will that make the cake too sweet?
Add about 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon coconut extract. yes, you can bake in a 9-inch bundt pan however you will not need all of the batter. and yes sweetened coconut flakes will be okay to use. they will just make it very sweet.
Fabulous! Moist and tasty. Nice texture.
I’m glad you loved it!
I am a huge coconut fan, too, and find any excuse to bake up a coconut dessert, Unfortunately, my family isn’t so enamored with coconut—they are just nuts. Anyway, Nancy, your cake is gorgeous—you definitely got your mojo back! Zainab, we’re both so lucky to have Nancy as a friend—she’s the best.
Z and Nancy, well, now I know 🙂 you never told us!!! well, this coconut bundt cake looks amazing and you’re a rock star for baking this cake for the 3rd time!
Ha! This post is so funny! Epic recipe fails totally suck, but it looks like you got it right. I just got a new bundt pan I’ve been dying to try, so this may be the right recipe to break it in! I’m sure that your efforts to the baby shower were appreciated!
Coconut is one of my favorite flavors, love the way you bake it at this cake