Moist and creamy vegan coconut cake with a coconutty sweet potato frosting which reminds of Raffaello! The recipe is dairy-free, eggless, gluten-free, oil-free, refined sugar-free, nut-free, and furthermore easy to make. This healthier dessert is the perfect cake for all coconut lovers out there and also a great birthday cake.
Coconut Cream Birthday Cake
Today is not only Mother’s Day but it’s also my mom’s birthday and therefore I baked a cake! Since my mom doesn’t like chocolate (yes, I know… I don’t understand it either, haha) I made a vegan coconut cake because she loves coconut as much as I do. Unfortunately, my mom doesn’t live close (actually over 7500 km away), so this cake is rather symbolic. I know she will still appreciate this little gesture, and I am sure she knows how much I love her!
Gluten Free Coconut Cake
This coconut cream cake is, of course, plant-based, and also gluten-free. I used a combination of rice flour and oat flour, however, I am pretty sure that you could also use a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend. And if you aren’t gluten-free, you can try using all-purpose flour or spelt flour. Please note, that I haven’t made this cake with any other flour combination, so I cannot guarantee that the result will be the same!
Allergy-Friendly Recipe
If you follow me on Instagram or already subscribed to my blog newsletter, you will know that I share vegan recipes which are, most of the time, pretty healthy! I try to avoid refined sugar, gluten, and oil (or vegan butter) because I just don’t feel good when I consume any of these ingredients.
This vegan cake doesn’t contain refined sugar, oil, eggs, or butter which makes it so much healthier than most other (coconut) cakes. It’s also soy-free, and nut-free, and I am sure you will be surprised if I tell you that this cake contains veggies!
Sweet Potato Frosting
Yes, that’s right, this vegan coconut cream cake contains sweet potatoes! I used Japanese sweet potatoes that have white flesh. Here they are called “batata” and they are totally different from orange sweet potatoes. What is the difference between white (Japanese) and orange sweet potatoes? Well, Japanese sweet potatoes are much drier (they contain more starch) and they are a little bit sweeter than orange ones. They are simply perfect to use in desserts!
I know that Japanese sweet potatoes aren’t available everywhere but if you happen to have them in your local supermarket, then definitely buy them! They are really amazing, and I am sure you will love them as much as I do.
Some people commented that they used orange sweet potatoes for the frosting, which worked fine. Of course, the color of the frosting will be different.
I cannot tell you how much I love the frosting which I made with the Japanese sweet potatoes. It totally reminds me of Raffaello, the almond/coconut candy which was my absolute favorite (besides Bounty) before I went vegan! The cream tastes almost the same, I am not kidding!
How To Make Vegan Coconut Cake?
- First, peel, chop and boil the Japanese sweet potatoes until fork tender. For this recipe, you will need 340 grams of cooked sweet potato (about 1 medium Japanese sweet potato or two small ones).
- Meanwhile, add all dry ingredients into a bowl. Process the wet ingredients in a blender and pour the mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients. Whisk until combined. Pour the cake batter into the cake pan (I recommend using two) and bake it in the oven.
- While the cake is in the oven, you can prepare the frosting. It’s super easy, as you need to simply process all frosting ingredients in your blender until smooth and creamy.
- Once the cake has cooled completely, frost it and decorate it with coconut flakes.
How To Store
Store the cake covered in the fridge for up to 5 days.
You can also freeze the cake slices for up to 3 months. Let thaw at room temperature.
Useful Tips:
- Use two cake pans for shorter baking time and to avoid cutting the cake into two layers.
- Add coconut rum or coconut extract for a delicious coconutty taste.
- If you don’t want to use sweet potatoes for the frosting, you can also check out my No-Bake Carrot Cake recipe. It has a deliciously creamy frosting made out of pudding (custard) and soaked cashews!
- The recipe calls for coconut butter. It can be store-bought or homemade. If you want to make it yourself, you will need to process about 3 cups of shredded unsweetened coconut in a food processor until it turns into coconut butter and has a creamy texture (which takes about 20-30 minutes, therefore I would recommend using store-bought coconut butter.
Should you give this vegan coconut cake recipe a try, please leave a comment below, and don’t forget to tag me in your Instagram or Facebook post with @elavegan and #elavegan because I would love to see how it turned out! And for more easy vegan cake recipes, definitely check out the following recipes:
- Chocolate Zucchini Cake
- No-Bake Carrot Cake
- Baked Cheesecake
- Red Velvet Cake
- Caramel Apple Cheesecake
Vegan Coconut Cake
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 cups (180 g) oats (gluten-free if needed) ground into flour
- 3/4 cup (120 g) white rice flour (see notes)
- 1 1/2 cups (130 g) shredded unsweetened coconut ground into flour (see notes)
- 1 cup (150 g) coconut sugar (or use 150 g of regular sugar)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
Wet Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup (160 g) apple sauce or 160 g peeled zucchini
- 1 1/3 cup ml) (320 ml) coconut milk canned
- 4 tbsp (80 g) maple syrup or agave syrup
- 1 tbsp white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
Frosting:
- 340 g (1 medium or 2 small) (340 g) Japanese sweet potato (see notes)
- 2/3 cup (160 g) coconut butter (see notes)
- 1/3 cup (105 g) maple syrup or agave syrup
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) coconut milk canned
- 4 tbsp (40 ml) coconut rum or use more coconut milk (see notes)
Instructions
- I recommend measuring the ingredients in grams on a kitchen scale.
- Peel the Japanese sweet potato and chop into 1-inch cubes. Boil in water until fork tender. For this recipe, you will need 340 grams of cooked sweet potato (about 1 medium Japanese sweet potato or two small ones).
- Meanwhile, process the oats and shredded unsweetened coconut in an electric spice/coffee grinder or blender. Then add all dry ingredients into a bowl.
- Preheat oven to 356 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius). Grease two 8-inch (20 cm) or 7-inch (18 cm) cake pans (or springforms) and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- Process the wet ingredients in a blender and pour the mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients. Whisk until combined.
- Divide the batter between the two cake pans and bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost clean. It can still be a little bit crumbly but shouldn't be wet! If you use just one cake pan the baking time will be much longer (about 50-55 minutes) but I definitely recommend 2 cake pans.
- While the cake is in the oven, you can prepare the frosting. Simply process all frosting ingredients in your blender until completely smooth and creamy.
- Once the cake has cooled completely, frost it and decorate with coconut flakes. Chill in the fridge for about 3 hours before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- Please use shredded unsweetened coconut, also known as desiccated coconut. Do NOT use coconut flour, as it's completely different and dries out the batter! You could use 130 grams of ground almonds (or other ground nuts of choice) though.
- Rice flour: Some people reported that they used regular flour instead of rice flour with good results.
- Frosting: I used Japanese sweet potatoes for this recipe. Japanese sweet potatoes have white flesh and are much drier than orange sweet potatoes. They are furthermore sweeter and perfect for desserts. If you don't have access to Japanese sweet potatoes I would recommend making the frosting of my No-Bake Carrot Cake but make sure to increase the amount of ingredients by about 50%.
- Some people commented that they used orange sweet potatoes for the frosting, which worked fine (I haven't tried it). Of course, the color of the frosting will be different.
- The recipe calls for coconut butter, not coconut oil. The coconut butter can be store-bought or homemade. If you want to make it yourself, you will need to process about 3 cups of shredded unsweetened coconut in a food processor until it turns into coconut butter and has a creamy texture (which takes about 20-30 minutes, therefore I would recommend store-bought coconut butter.
- If you don't want to use coconut rum, then use more coconut milk. You could also add a little coconut extract for an enhanced coconutty flavor.
- You can also check out my Vegan Coconut Cups Recipe.
- Nutrition facts are for one slice (of 12).
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
Simple and Delicious Vegan Cookbook by ElaVeganCLICK HERE to order!If you are using Pinterest, feel free to pin the following photo:
Hi Ella I am in love with this cake and want to make it in a 10” springform. Is there a way of calculating how much more I would need of every ingredient? Thanks so much in advance
Hi Patricia, if using a 10” springform, I would recommend using 50% more of every ingredient, for example, instead of using 150 grams of sugar, use 225 grams. Or instead of 1 tsp baking soda, use 1 1/2 tsp. 🙂
Hi! I was wondering if there is anything I can’t replace the white rice flour with?
You can use all-purpose flour, as mentioned in the recipe notes. 🙂
Hi, I’m from France and I want to do your cake recipe but I have a problem with the icing. In fact, Japaneses sweet potatoes are very rare in France, even in Paris. This recipe seems so good that I want to try it for my birthday, but some of my friends are allergic to diary and nut so I can’t do the icing of your carrot cake. Do you have an idea that I could use for substitute? Thank you so much
Hi Lea, you could make the cream layer of my “Chocolate Lasagna“, though it isn’t as firm.
Another option would be to make a vegan buttercream, check out this Peanut Butter Cake for the recipe.
I hope this helps. 🙂
What if you’re allergic to oats what can you substitute oats with? Thanks!
Hi, you could try buckwheat flour, or maybe sorghum flour. 🙂
Hi! As I don’t have 2 pans of the same size, can I devide ihe batter and bake them one at a time? Will something happen to the one is resting? If I can, for how long should I bake them?
Thanks!
Hi Andrea, I think that should be ok (I never tried it though). The baking time is the same as mentioned in the instructions (30-35 minutes). 🙂
Hi Ela, it would be good to insert a picture of the Japanese sweet potatoes. Where do you buy them in Germany, which store?
Hi Nevana, I don’t live in Germany. But many of my German readers bought them in an Asian store. You can read the comments on my German site. 🙂
Hi Ela! You think I could use agave nectar instead o a granulated sugar? Do you think the result would be much different? I really want to make this cake! It looks so delicious! Thank you!
Hi Patricia, it might work just fine, but I never tried it. I would reduce the amount of coconut milk a bit, otherwise, the batter might turn out too thin. 🙂
This cake is sooooo good!!! I made it with agave and brown rice flour and it turned out great. I did as you said and used a little less coconut milk. Amazing!
That’s awesome, Patricia! I am so glad you loved it. 🙂
Hi Patricia! Do you mind letting me know how much you reduced the coconut milk by? I am really excited about making this cake for a friend’ birthday, but would like to use honey instead of the coconut sugar. Thank you so much in advance!!
This frosting is deliciously addictive. How did you get your’s to be so white? I used white sweet potato, but it still turned out kind of a khaki/tan color… Any tips to enhance the whiteness?
I am so glad you liked it! I am not sure, we have two different kinds of sweet potatoes here. The flesh of one variety is a little yellowish and the other one is pretty white (that’s the one I used). Also, my coconut butter was pure white. 🙂
I’m a little confused. Does the recipe call for coconut milk, or coconut cream?
Can’t wait to try it!
Hi Sio, I meant coconut butter in the comment (not cream). I will edit it. 🙂
I hope you will like the cake!
I have the same issue with the color of the frosting. But who cares, it’s sooooo delicious! I’m currently licking the bowl and can’t get enough of this frosting. It’s my second time making this cake and I gotta say, this is the best coconut anything on the planet. I used two 9″ pans and used 2Tbs of Coco Real (Cream of Coconut) and 2 Tbs of coconut Malibu Rum for the frosting. The rest, I followed the recipe.
So glad you liked it, Sherri! 🙂
Hi Ella .. I’m making it now ,,but I had to do some errands and asked mi husband to put the batter in the oven ???? I know big mistake.
He forgot to split the batter and only used one pan. Should I bake it longer ? Same temperature? I’m afraid of the batter burn on une outside and be raw inside.
I guess I have to cut it .
Please help me ????
Yes, you will need to cut it, but please let it cool completely first.
I let it cool but unfortunately it broke ????. My bad. I will make it again ????thanks Ella for your answers ..❤️
Aww, I am sorry to hear that, Patricia. I hope the next try will be much better. 🙂
Hello Ela,
I made your sweet potato coconut frosting 3 times so far, and I got a different texture each time. Do you let the sweet potatoes cool before blending? Should the butter be hard or soft before blending?
Thanks for your help!
Kavita
Hello Kavita! Yes, I let them cool. And the coconut butter was softened. Depending on the starch content of the sweet potatoes, the result might differ. 🙂
Thanks Ela, I will do the frosting as you have instructed????.
Kind Regards,
Kavita
You are very welcome, Kavita. 🙂
Thank you for this recipe!! My daughter has a ton of allergies and her birthday is in a couple days. Just did a dry run of the frosting using purple sweet potato. It came out so pretty & delicious!! Can I store the frosting in the fridge? And does it thicken up a bit? Mine seems a little thin – more coconut butter? Thank you again! I’ve been sharing your recipe with my friends in functional medicine! 🙂
Sounds great, Rachel! Yes, you can store it in the fridge. You could use less coconut milk to make it thicker next time. 🙂
Ela, I’ve been craving coconut cake since the lock down began here in March and this cake 100% hit the spot. To say that it was incredible is an understatement. I have a bit of a sweet tooth and was worried it wouldn’t be sweet enough but the coconut, maple, and sweet potato made a divine combo that was perfect without additional sugar. Thank you so much for sharing!
You are very welcome, Maya! I am so glad you like the cake. 🙂
OMG Ela, thank you so much for this recipe. This cake is a heaven. My partner said he never eaten better one in his life. So that means I made better one than my mother in law ???? Thanks for you, is so delicious and easy to make. We ate it in 1 day, mostly my partner ????
Didn’t look as nice as yours but never mind, the taste was amazing. I’ve replaced coconut butter to cashew butter and put regular sweet potatoes instead of Japanese. ???????????? I can’t wait to try your other recipes as well.
Suzi
Aww, that’s awesome, Suzi! I am so glad it was a success! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
I made this cake for a birthday party and it was delicious! The birthday girl couldn’t believe that it was vegan. Her jaw dropped when I said there was sweet potato in the frosting. To me it tastes like sweetened condensed milk.
It’s a very good recipe, though I had to buy a few things that I didn’t have in my pantry, but now that I have them, I’ll be making this for sure more often.
Thank you for posting the recipe.
Yay, that’s amazing, Gerry! I am so glad you guys liked it. 🙂 Thanks for your feedback!
Do you use just the white part in the coconut can or mix it all first the weigh please
Hi Chanti, no, I don’t use just the white part. The can is shaken before use. 🙂
Hi Ela.
Thank you for a very nice recipe. My husband really enjoys this cake. I baked one yesterday and weighed everything and measured the liquids with a glass jug. I have been baking glutenfree for a long time and doing it your way, is the only way.
Just one small problem that I cant seem to correct. The cake yesterday was baked in a 7” x2 pans.
As the cake was still in the oven it started doming and cracking. The doming told me to use a bigger pan. Nevertheless I glued it together with icing and not a crumb was wasted.
This morning I baked another one using 8”pans. Much better but still cracked and it is now cooling on racks and really cracking right through while cooling.
Please can you advise me as to what could be the cause. My oven…thermofan…was 180 degrees, it baked for 30min. It is not dry…yesterday the very badly cracked one was divine too, not dry at all. Holding thumbs that you have an answer for me. I used my vitamix to make flour from gfree oats and. From dessicated coconut.
Normally a gfree cake cracks if it is too dry, ingredients not weighed properly and too little fluids. That is definitely not the issue here..
Hoping to hear from you.
Once again thanks for sharing your recipe.
Kind Regards
Mariana Van Wyk
Hello dear Mariana! Thanks so much for your thorough feedback. I am so glad you loved the cake. 🙂 Sorry to hear about the cracking. Did you use applesauce or zucchini?
May I ask where you live? Altitude and humidity can often make a huge difference. I live close to the ocean at sea level in a tropical, very warm, and humid climate. 🙂
Maybe it would help if you put a water-filled bowl into your oven to create steam?
Kind regards,
Ela
Hi Ela,
Sorry I forgot to mention that I used Apple sauce.
Thanks????
Hi Ela.
Thanks for you response. I live in Cape Town at the sea. So maybe your suggestion of water in a bowl will do the trick.
You replied on my phone but I only receive emails on my Ipad. However I saw your reply on my phone. My Ipad was in for repairs.
Thanks for your feedback.
I will add my email address now on the Ipad.
Regards Mariana
Yes, definitely try the water in a bowl trick. 🙂
Hi again ????. I made it yesterday… delicious.
I I used buckwheat flour instead of rice
( trying to avoid white flours ) at the begging the frosting was kind of watery (a little to liquid ) but I put it over the cakes and put it back on the refrigerator and leave it overnight and today was perfect. I decorated on top iwith blueberries around and a huge strawberry in the middle. And at the base I incrusted slices almonds ..
the only think I notice is that if is not for the frosting ,,the cake will be kind of dry.
Any suggestions to add a little be more moist ? Thanks ????
Hi Patricia, I am so glad it turned out delicious. Yes, you could add a little oil to the batter next time. 🙂
Thanks .. I will ????
Hi ????. I will try to make it today again And I would like to know if Should I replace the applesauce with the oil ? Or just add oil and the applesauce ? If I had to add both how much oil should I add. ? Thanks
Hi Patricia, I would suggest using 1/3 cup applesauce and 1/3 cup oil (80 grams each). I hope it helps. 🙂
Hi Ella ????. I will make it tomorrow for my son’s wedding
He is in Ecuador and due to the pandemic the wedding will be via zoom… so it will be more as a symbolic cake.
I will decorate it with edible flowers and almond brittle .. and I want to freeze it for him.
How long does it will last in the freezer ? Thanks ????
Maybe I should decorate it after I defrost it ?
Hey Patricia! That’s a nice idea. 🙂 You can freeze it for a few weeks, but I would definitely recommend decorating it after defrosting. 🙂
Hi Ela,
I’ve read through all the comments and couldn’t find my answer.
Can I sub almond flour for oat flour instead of buckwheat or quinoa? I can’t eat oats or buckwheat unfortunately.
It looks amazing and I’m really hoping to make it!
Hi Jessica, I never made this recipe with almond flour, so I am not sure it would work. I believe sorghum flour or millet flour might work better. 🙂
Hope this helps!
Couldn’t find the Japanese sweet potatoes but going to attempt the frosting with purple ones, fingers crossed…
I bought cashews just in case it doesn’t work.
Please report back how it worked with purple sweet potatoes. I bet it will look lovely! 🙂
Hi Ela,
This cake looks amazing and I’m super excited to make it. Just want to check whether you would recommend trying aquafaba to make the cake more fluffy or whether you would avoid it as it would change the flavour?
Thank you!
Hi Maja, I never tried aquafaba in this recipe, so I am not sure how it would turn out. You could try adding just a few tablespoons. 🙂
Hi ela ????. What kind of rice flor you recommend? White , brown , seer rice ? Thanks
Hi Patricia! I used white rice flour as mentioned in the recipe 🙂 But I think brown might work too (never tried it though).
OMG! The most delicious coconut cake I’ve ever tasted in my life! Everyone asked for seconds. So moist, coconuty, and delicious. And that frosting…Mmmmm…can’t wait for another excuse to make this. Thank you!!!
Awesome! I am so glad you loved it, Sherri! Thanks for your great feedback. 🙂
Hi,
The recipe says 2 cups of instant oats. If I already have oat flours how many cups / gms should I use?
Thank you!
Hi Shivani, please use 180 grams as mentioned in the recipe. 🙂