More Recipes Like This

Related Collections

Free Membership

Favorite Products

Print This Recipe

Full Page

3x5 Card

4x6 Card

Email This Recipe

Rave Reviews Coconut Cake

SUBMITTED BY: Glenda PHOTO BY: Cramer

"A wonderful moist coconut cake perfect for birthday parties. Walnuts and pecans are interchangeable in this recipe."

RECIPE RATING:

Read Reviews (36)

Review/Rate This Recipe

Original recipe yield 1 -8 or 9 inch layer cake

SERVINGS

(Help)

Servings
USMETRIC

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 1/3 cups water
4 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups flaked coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups flaked coconut
2 teaspoons milk
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 8 or 9 inch round cake pans.
Blend the cake mix, pudding mix, water, eggs and oil in a large mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed for 4 minutes. Stir in 2 cups of the coconut and the chopped walnuts. Pour the batter into the prepared pans.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35 minutes. Let cakes cool in pans for 15 minutes then remove and finish cooling on rack.
To Make Frosting: Melt the butter or margarine in a skillet. Add the 2 cups flaked coconut and stir constantly over low heat until golden brown. Spread coconut on absorbent paper to cool.
Cream the remaining 2 tablespoons butter or margarine with the cream cheese. Add the milk and confectioners' sugar alternately, beating well. Add the vanilla and stir in 1 3/4 cups of the toasted coconut.
To Assemble Cake: Spread tops of cooled cake layers with some of the frosting. Stack them and then frost the sides of the cake. Sprinkle Cake with the remaining toasted coconut.

ADVERTISE WITH US

REVIEWS

Reviewed on Jan. 15, 2007 by LILYP

Good but there's an error in the recipe. The first step that uses butter should say to melt... MORE

Reviewed on Apr. 15, 2007 by Jenn in Texas

Amazing cake, but as others have said, not near enough icing. I doubled it the second time I... MORE

Reviewed on Jul. 23, 2003 by MAGGIE MCGUIRE

This is moist and flavorful. And like its name, always gets rave reviews. I make this cake... MORE

Reviewed on Dec. 3, 2006 by CHRISCOOKING

This cake is very good!! But... I did make a couple of changes. I used 3 Jumbo eggs, 1/3 cup... MORE

Reviewed on Sep. 30, 2003 by YASAMIN

Full Review

The reviewer gave this recipe 1 stars. This recipe averages a 0 star rating.

YASAMIN
Sep. 30, 2003

Sorry to have to give this recipe its first bad review...there must be something REALLY wrong with one or more of the ingredient measurements or the amount of time to bake. Both the cake and the frosting were a disaster. I only deviated from the recipe in that I omitted the nuts. The cake was nowhere near fully baked after 35 minutes - I had to put it in again for about another 20 minutes at least...and then it was super crumbly. I think there was too much egg in the batter. The frosting was impossible to spread smoothly, which made the crumbly cake fall apart even more! In hindsight, this is not too surprising - there is not much of anything moist added to the cream cheese in order to give it a cake-frosting consistency. I am not a novice baker, so I probably should have followed my instincts a little more, but I guess I was fooled by all the glowing reviews this recipe recieved. No one said they changed anything. I have a hard time believing that following this recipe exactly could yield a good cake...anyway, there are a lot of other coconut cake recipes out there, so next time I'll try a different one!

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
5 users found this review helpful

Sorry to have to give this recipe its first bad review...there must be something REALLY wrong... MORE

Reviewed on Nov. 19, 2007 by Chrysaea

Full Review

The reviewer gave this recipe 5 stars. This recipe averages a 0 star rating.

Chrysaea
Nov. 19, 2007

I scaled this recipe down (from the original 12 to 9), which was the perfect amount to make 12 standard size cupcakes. I baked them at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes and they turned out great - just make sure to bake until the tops are dry, although the cake will seem firm when the top is still sticky. I'm a pastry chef and I work for a cupcake exclusive bakery in Austin, TX so I suppose this is kind of my specialty. As for the cake mix, if you don't have a box of cake mix then you can always make your own using "Cake Mixes from Scratch" recipe on this site. Half of that recipe will be just enough. As for the icing, it is absolutely divine, but it needs to be refrigerated for 10-15 minutes before you use it. Toasting the coconut was a lot less complicated that it's made out to be. I put it on medium heat and just kept the coconut moving the entire time, and then I poured it out of the pan onto a paper plate with some napkins. Make sure your cakes are completely cooled before you try to ice them, as cream cheese icing is notorious for melting easily. If you get impatient, then just throw them in the fridge for a while like I did - you definitely do NOT have to worry about these drying out. I think the pudding is really the key to all the great moisture, but it makes the texture a bit heavier than a regular cake. Either way, it's a wonderful recipe and a great deviation from the standard variety of cakes.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
4 users found this review helpful

I scaled this recipe down (from the original 12 to 9), which was the perfect amount to make 12... MORE

Reviewed on Apr. 8, 2007 by Beverly

I made this cake for my two grandkids for Easter. They loved it. I decorated some of the... MORE

Reviewed on Mar. 11, 2006 by emilindy

I needed to make a coconut cake for a hawaiian-themed dinner with some friends, and this... MORE

Reviewed on Mar. 29, 2004 by TEXASREDTOP

This cake is wonderful! I substituted coconut cream pudding mix for the vanilla and coco loco... MORE

Reviewed on Aug. 29, 2002 by KEHOLT

I tried this cake for Mother's Day and it was absolutely delicious! Very moist and flavorful.... MORE

MORE MEMBER REVIEWS