Coconut Cream Cheese Pound Cake is a soft, sweet pound cake with coconut flavor bursting throughout. This rich cake recipe is the ideal dessert to present at any party or family gathering – it’s everything a perfect pound cake should be!
If this cake sounds good to you, you should definitely check out my Classic Coconut Cake Recipe! It’s the best ever!
This Is A Sweet and Simple Coconut Pound Cake
I know coconut isn’t everyone’s most favorite. It seems to be one of those “love it or hate it” ingredients. I have found mostly it seems to be a “texture” issue more than a flavor issue, so while this coconut cake includes sweetened flaked coconut, it really melts right into the cake as it bakes, leaving it with a subtle coconut flavor and a tender crumb. Add in some cream cheese into the cake batter and you have a rich, moist cake!
What To Expect With This Coconut Pound Cake:
- The cream cheese and the butter make this rich, without being “too” rich. The cream cheese adds extra moistness without tasting like cream cheese!
- If you eat this cake the day you make it, it’s fluffy and light in texture. If you eat it the next day it becomes a bit more dense, but gets extra moist and (in my opinion) even better!
- This cake is perfect paired with the icing listed in the recipe, or a fluffy buttercream. You could even just dust it with powdered sugar or serve it with whipped cream and fruit. In all honesty this cake is really simple.
Ingredients:
- Butter at room temperature
- Cream cheese at room temperature
- Granulated sugar
- Large eggs
- Vanilla extract, or if you want to amp up the coconut flavor add in coconut extract instead.
- Kosher salt
- Baking powder
- All purpose flour
- Sweetened flaked coconut
- Powdered sugar
- Milk
How To Make Coconut Pound Cake:
- Cake: Preheat oven to 325°F. Coat a 10 cup bundt pan with nonstick spray OR coat with shortening and lightly dust with flour, tapping off excess. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the butter and cream cheese together on medium speed until smooth. Add in sugar and mix for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Add in eggs, one at a time, the extract(s), salt, and baking powder until mixed, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour, mixing until just incorporated.
- Stir in the coconut.
- Spread batter into your prepared pan and bake for 70-80 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes and then invert pan onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Icing: Whisk the powdered sugar and milk together until smooth. Pour the glaze on top of the cake while it’s still warm.
Pro Tips:
- You could even toast the coconut before adding it into the batter for a deeper flavor and more texture.
- Make sure to grease your bundt pan generously. If you use baking spray, coat the pan right before adding the batter. If you opt for butter or shortening, really add a thick layer and then dust with powdered sugar or flour to add another barrier.
- Pour the icing on the cake with it’s still warm for a thin layer a lot like a glazed donut. If you add it when the cake is cooled the glaze will be a little thicker on the cake which is great too!
How To Store Coconut Pound Cake:
Store this cake airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can wrap it tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil right on your cake plate. Store the same way in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You can also freeze this cake by wrapping it airtight and placing in the freezer for up to 30 days for best freshness. Thaw at room temperature.
Coconut Is Your Thing? Try These Other Awesome Coconut Recipes:
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Coconut Cream Cheese Pound Cake
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hr 10 mins
- Total Time: 1 hr 35 mins
- Yield: 16 slices 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Coconut Cream Cheese Pound Cake is a soft, sweet pound cake with coconut throughout. This rich cake recipe is the ideal dessert to present at any party or family gathering – it’s everything a perfect pound cake should be!
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 6 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon coconut extract)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups shredded flaked coconut
Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2–3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Coat a 10 cup bundt pan with nonstick spray OR coat with shortening and lightly dust with flour, tapping off excess. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the butter and cream cheese together on medium speed until smooth. Add in sugar and mix for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Add in eggs, one at a time, the extract(s), salt, and baking powder until mixed, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour, mixing until just incorporated.
- Stir in the coconut.
- Spread batter into your prepared pan and bake for 70-80 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes and then invert pan onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Glaze
- Whisk the powdered sugar and milk together until smooth. Pour the glaze on top of the cake while it’s still warm.
Notes
store airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 428
- Sugar: 51.3 g
- Sodium: 191.9 mg
- Fat: 15.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 69.8 g
- Protein: 7.1 g
- Cholesterol: 77.4 mg
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I baked this cake earlier and just finished eating a slice (SO is still working on his) and it’s as good as you said. I do find it a bit too sweet for my taste though. Would reducing the sugar by half a cup be a workable solution?
You could do that.. or using unsweetened coconut is an option too!
In regards to Rossy’s question about reducing the sugar to lighten up the sweetness, would increasing the salt to 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 tsp help cut the sweetness without altering the recipe otherwise? I add a little more salt to my frosting when it’s too sweet.
This sounds like a good solid recipe to play around with. Of course, I want to try it as written the first time because the texture looks wonderful and the list sounds perfect, but then I want to test alternative flavors. Here are my suggestions to try:
• 1 tsp of Cardamom; which to me is like a citrusy cinnamon flavor (only that addition).
• 1 tsp Cinnamon, 1 small jar of chopped cherries, and 1/2—3/4 cup slivered almonds (around a 4-6 oz bag I suppose), substitute Almond Extract for Vanilla and still use the Coconut Extract too (1 tsp of each).
• When ready to serve the original version or the alternative version with the cherries and almonds, grate Dark Chocolate over each slice (NOT melted in recipe).
My FB Page, Sew Lambitious, has been on hold while dealing with Cancer (longterm) and severe pain issues, but now that I have been forced to retire from working, I hope to be active on the page again by Summer 2018. Sewing, Painting, Crafts will be posted after I can get my upstairs rooms converted to craft rooms. I HOPE! =)
I love that you said you could eat it with your hand. I always eat pound cake by hand, and it always has to be a “hunk” not “just a little sliver”. I saw something on tv with Amy Shumer and she was talking about hand cake……only hers was a layer cake with gooey icing! Whatever floats your boat 🙂
This looks so amazing! Coconut is the perfect flavor for summer!
What are your thoughts on using coconut oil instead of butter? Does the batter need the fluffiness of the room temp butter, or will hot-summer-melted coconut oil work for the flavor?
I really feel like the coconut oil would make it a bit dense. I am sure it would work, but the texture wouldn’t be the same 🙂 If you try it I’d love to hear how it came out!
Hi – we love coconut and pound cake in our house so this sounds great. I also wondered – sweetened or unsweetened coconut ?
You can use either…but I used flaked sweetened coconut.
Hi – I just made this – but left out the coconut as I am horribly allergic to it. So I used sliced strawberries instead. Wow!!!! I baked it to take to our National Night Out pot-luck tomorrow night. Thanks for the basic recipe.
What a great idea!! I will have to try that!
This pound cake has the most incredible texture! When you say you used strawberries, I assume that you don’t not mean in the cake batter, but on top of cooked cake, correct? I was wondering if cake without coconut would be just as yummy.
I am always stumped when a recipe calls for “flaked coconut” since there are two kinds of “flaked coconut” — sweetened and unsweetened. Which is it for this recipe?
IN this recipe you can easily use either, which is why I didn’t specify. I use sweetened though!
So, I saw Coconut Cream cheese Pound Cake, & was ready to put this in the recipes folder! love all three! Pinned!
You had me at coconut. This looks incredible! I’m a big fan of eating cake with my hands 🙂
This looks amazing!!! Is the amount of sugar (3 cups) right?
yes 🙂