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This Coconut Cloud Cake is tender, creamy, and packed with coconut flavor, with warm cake soaked in full-fat coconut milk and topped with fluffy cream cheese frosting. It bakes in a simple 9×13-inch pan, then chills into a cold, soft dessert that looks fancier than the effort involved. This easy make-ahead cake is a perfect choice when something sweet and reliably good is needed.
Why You’ll Love It
- Light, airy texture — cake flour and egg whites keep the rich cake feeling soft and cloudlike.
- Easy 9×13-inch pan — no stacking layers, trimming domes, or complicated assembly.
- Clear coconut flavor — coconut extract, coconut milk soak, and shredded coconut bring plenty of flavor without being overwhelming.
- Better chilled — the cake improves after chilling, making it ideal for making ahead.
Ingredient Notes
Cake flour is important here. It gives the cake that soft, cloudlike crumb, and regular all-purpose flour really will not give you quite the same result.
Use full-fat canned coconut milk—not the refrigerated coconut beverage. Different creature entirely. Give the can a good shake before opening, because the creamy part and the thinner liquid tend to separate. The recipe calls for pouring it over the warm cake, and that is where the magic happens. A little patience is required.
For the heavy whipping cream, use the real stuff, nice and cold. The topping needs two cups, and chilled cream whips up far more happily than cream that has been sitting out.
Use sweetened shredded coconut because that is what belongs on this cake. Unsweetened coconut can be a little too dry and earnest. For extra texture, toast a small handful separately and scatter it over individual slices, but do not toast the full cup if you want the cake to look like the soft snowy thing it is meant to be.
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups cake flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup butter, softened — not melted; learned that one the annoying way
- 4 egg whites
- 1 egg
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons coconut extract
- 1 (15-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk, for pouring over the baked cake
For the topping:
- 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons coconut extract
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, for the top
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F and thoroughly grease a 9×13-inch cake pan.
In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the sugar. For this cake, sifting helps keep everything soft and light, so go ahead and do it.
Slice the softened butter into little pats and add it gradually, mixing with a hand mixer a couple tablespoons at a time. Keep going until the mixture looks sandy and crumbly. It will not look like a normal smooth cake batter at this point, and that is okay. Don’t panic and add extra liquid.
Slowly mix in the four egg whites, then add the whole egg. Once those are incorporated, pour in the one cup of heavy whipping cream, the vanilla extract, and the coconut extract. Beat everything for 1 to 2 minutes, until the batter is well combined and looks airy.
Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Start checking around the 30-minute mark. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Every oven has its own personality.
As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, use a fork to poke shallow holes all over the top. Not down to the bottom like digging for oil; just enough to give that coconut milk someplace to go. Shake the can of full-fat coconut milk well, open it, and pour it evenly over the warm cake.
Let the cake cool completely to room temperature while it absorbs the coconut milk. It may look like too much liquid at first. It isn’t. Walk away.
For the topping, beat the softened cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth. Add the sugar, vanilla extract, and coconut extract, then beat again until it is all blended. Slowly add the chilled heavy whipping cream and beat until stiff peaks form, about 3 to 4 minutes. Watch closely. Overwhipped cream goes from fluffy to weirdly grainy faster than seems fair.
Spread the frosting over the cooled cake and sprinkle the sweetened shredded coconut over the top. Chill for at least an hour before serving.
Variations
You can also add a handful of toasted coconut over the finished cake for a little color and crunch. Keep most of the coconut untoasted for that pillowy, snowy look.
Crushed pineapple between the cake and frosting can make the top slippery and a little watery. Not terrible, just not worth repeating. Sometimes a recipe is already doing enough. There is no need to put a fruit cocktail in every dessert just because it’s warm outside.
Storage & Reheating
Keep Coconut Cloud Cake covered in the refrigerator. Because of the cream cheese and whipped cream topping, it needs to stay chilled, and frankly it tastes best cold anyway.
It will keep nicely for about 3 to 4 days, though the coconut on top gets a little softer as time goes on. The cake itself stays wonderfully moist from the coconut milk soak. The cake may even be better after additional chilling.
There is no reheating needed here—please don’t microwave this poor thing. Serve it cold, or let it sit for a few minutes before serving if a softer chill is preferred.
Final Notes
There is something about a refrigerator cake that feels comforting. Dessert is handled, waiting quietly behind the milk and the mustard and whatever leftovers have not been claimed yet.
Make this when something soft and sweet and reliably good is needed. Make it when coconut extract needs a purpose. Either reason is perfectly respectable.
Coconut Cloud Cake
Ingredients Â
- 2 3/4 cups cake flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup butter softened, not melted
- 4 egg whites
- 1 egg
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons coconut extract
- 1 15-ounce can full-fat coconut milk for pouring over the baked cake
- 1 8-ounce package cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons coconut extract
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream chilled
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut for the top
InstructionsÂ
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and thoroughly grease a 9x13-inch cake pan.
- In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt, then stir in the sugar.
- Slice the softened butter into little pats and add it gradually, mixing with a hand mixer a couple tablespoons at a time until the mixture looks sandy and crumbly.
- Slowly mix in the egg whites, then add the whole egg; once incorporated, pour in the heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract, and coconut extract, then beat for 1 to 2 minutes until the batter is well combined and airy.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, starting to check around 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, use a fork to poke shallow holes all over the top, then shake the can of full-fat coconut milk well and pour it evenly over the warm cake.
- Let the cake cool completely to room temperature while it absorbs the coconut milk.
- Beat the softened cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth, add the sugar, vanilla extract, and coconut extract, then slowly add the chilled heavy whipping cream and beat until stiff peaks form, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Spread the frosting over the cooled cake, sprinkle the sweetened shredded coconut over the top, and chill for at least 1 hour before serving.