Keto Coconut Cake (Healthy, Sugar-Free)
By Carine Claudepierre
Published on 05/08/2020 - Last updated on 11/25/2023
This recipe may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
This is the best Keto Coconut Cake recipe, a moist, soft, fluffy crumb with an intense coconut flavor, a creamy coconut frosting, and crispy toasted coconut on top.
Bonus, this coconut cake recipe is gluten-free and dairy-free! So keep reading to learn more.
Calling all the coconut lovers with this keto coconut cake recipe! I am a coconut fan, and I used to love fluffy, moist coconut cakes from the bakery with crunchy toasted coconut on top.
You know that feeling when you try something new, and the result is way beyond your expectations?
That is the story about this keto gluten-free coconut cake.
Let me explain how you can easily – yes, it’s a super easy keto coconut cake – make this recipe at home in less than 40 minutes. And if you love this recipe, you have to try my Coconut Flour Cake!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This coconut cake is an amazingly easy recipe:
- Ready in 45 minutes, baking included
- Healhty
- Keto-friendly
- Low-Carb
- Gluten-Free
- Refined-sugar-free
- Dairy-Free Base
- Paleo
- Nut-Free
How To Make Gluten-Free Coconut Cake With Coconut Flour
This low-carb coconut cake is dairy-free, made entirely with coconut products to provide the most intense coconut flavor.
Keto Coconut Cake Ingredients
These are the ingredients I chose to use in the recipe:
- Coconut flour – it’s one of the lowest-carb flour and the best to add a strong coconut flavor to a coconut cake. However, coconut flour is 4 times more absorbent than other flours, and that’s why you must measure this flour very carefully. Make sure your flour is fine, fresh, and with no lump. I recommend you work in grams for this recipe, or if you are using cups, make sure you heap the cup and level it before adding it to your mixing bowl.
- Eggs – large eggs at room temperature are required. If your eggs are too small, the cake will be very dry. Eggs are 100% keto-friendly.
- Full-fat canned coconut cream – This is the most important ingredient in this recipe for many reasons. First, it adds a delicious coconut flavor to this coconut cake. Then, the cream creates the best moist, fluffy crumb. That’s why you shouldn’t use low-fat coconut cream or coconut milk beverages. Finally, if you can’t find coconut cream, another option is heavy cream. It won’t add the fabulous coconut flavor from the coconut cream, but the cake texture will remain intact. Note that you can buy full-fat canned coconut cream in the Asian aisle of your supermarket. Check the ingredient list for no sugar added, and also remember that you must shake the can before measuring your cream as cream and milk split in the can.
- Coconut Extract – this enhances the keto coconut flavor. If you can’t find coconut extract without added sugar, simply use coconut stevia drops.
- Vanilla extract
- Baking powder
- Unsweetened Desiccated Coconut – or shredded coconut if you prefer big pieces of coconut into the cake crumbs. Make sure it’s unsweetened, as shredded coconut sometimes contains added sugar making it incompatible with sugar-free desserts.
Instructions
This is another easy keto cake recipe I am sharing with you.
All you have to do is to beat the eggs with cream, vanilla, coconut extract, and erythritol until light in color. Then, beat in the coconut flour until the cake batter is shiny and has no lumps.
I highly recommend using a beater to prevent lumps in the batter and to ensure a fluffy cake crumb.
Stir in the desiccated coconut at the end and bake your cake in a greased 9-inch cake pan until the top of the cake is golden and the center is set.
Baking
Coconut flour is highly liquid absorbent, and that is why coconut flour cakes may cook faster than regular wheat-based cakes.
For a moist coconut flour cake, I recommend you insert a skewer in the center of the cake after 20 minutes and keep checking every 5 minutes for 30 minutes.
Your cake is ready when a little to no crumb sticks on the skewer. Overbaking your coconut flour cake would make it very dry, so be careful about timing.
Also, always adjust the time based on your cake pan size. I am using a 9-inch pan and baking the cake for 25 minutes on fan mode at 350°F (180°C).
Adjusting Cake Baking Time
This cake will need more baking time if:
- Using a smaller cake pan, less than 9 inches in diameter.
- Baking on regular mode – usually, baking time will be closer to 30-35 minutes.
- Didn’t add enough coconut flour.
Coconut Cake Cream Cheese Frosting
While this low-carb coconut cake recipe is dairy-free, I prefer a cream cheese frosting. It adds a delicious creamy layer on top of the fluffy crumb, and you won’t regret it.
To make this keto cream cheese frosting, you need:
- Soft cream cheese – remove the cream cheese from the fridge for 1 hour before using it. If you cut the cream cheese into pieces, it is easier to beat in the next step.
- Full-fat coconut cream – same as above, let it warm up before using.
- Coconut extract
- Powdered erythritol – to sweeten the frosting.
Expert Tips
Avoiding Eggy Taste
Coconut flour cakes call for many eggs, and this is just how the recipe should be made! As I mentioned earlier, coconut flour is not like all other flour.
It has very special chemistry since it contains 4 times more fiber than regular flour. Fibers are water/liquid absorbent, and if they are not in contact with a liquid binding agent, they create crumbly, dry, and fragile cakes.
Therefore, a coconut flour cake requires lots of liquid, particularly eggs, to bind the flour and prevent the cake from having an unpleasant texture.
This said it’s not because this keto coconut cake uses 4 eggs that it tastes eggy at all! To cover a potential eggy taste in this low carb cake recipe, I am using:
- Good quality coconut extract and vanilla extract. I am talking about natural extracts, these are strong and intense and they add the best flavor to your cake. It would be very hard for the eggs to overpower the flavor of the natural extract.
- Coconut cream instead of heavy cream. Coconut cream is very flavorsome. It not only enhances the coconut flavor of your cake but also covers any eggy taste you don’t want in a keto cake.
- Eggs at room temperature. Yes, cold eggs enhance the eggy flavor of baking, so make sure you bring the eggs to room temperature before baking this healthy coconut cake. To do so, fill a bowl with lukewarm water and place the eggs in the bowl for 20 minutes or remove the eggs from the fridge 3 hours before baking the cake.
- Coconut frosting – the coconut frosting will be the extra coconut flavor on top of this cake that will absolutely cover any egg taste left in the cake, so don’t skip it!
Keeping The Cake Moist
Keto coconut recipes can be slightly tricky because of the high moisture absorbance of the flour. Here are my tricks to keeping cakes moist.
This is a moist gluten-free coconut cake recipe, and if you want to make sure your cake comes out as most as mine, you must:
- Use full-fat canned coconut cream or heavy cream but don’t use low-fat products, or the cake crumb will be dry.
- Measure the coconut flour precisely. To do so, ensure that your flour is fine, and fresh with no lumps. If you are using cups, don’t overly heap the flour in the cup and level the cup. Otherwise, use grams/oz for the best result. Note that old bags of coconut flour may have already absorbed some moisture and lost their properties – liquid absorption.
- Check baking time – see notes above about checking the baking time often to ensure the best baking time based on the oven, pan size, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, I wouldn’t recommend adding chocolate as it would change the texture.
If you want chocolate, try my Keto Chocolate Cake.
More Keto Cake Recipes
If you love keto cakes, I have many more for you!
Did You Like This Recipe?
Leave a comment below or head to our Facebook page for tips, our Instagram page for inspiration, our Pinterest for saving recipes, and Flipboard to get all the new ones!
Keto Coconut Cake
Ingredients
- 4 large Eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup Coconut Cream canned, full fat, shake the can before measuring, or use heavy cream
- ½ cup Granulated Sweetener like erythritol or allulose
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1 teaspoon Pure Coconut Extract
- ¾ cup Coconut Flour fresh, no lumps, measure precisely
- ½ cup Unsweetened Desiccated Coconut
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
Cream cheese frosting
- 4.4 oz Cream Cheese soft, at room temperature, cubed
- ¼ cup Powdered Erythritol
- ¼ cup Coconut Cream (Unsweetened) canned, full fat, shake the can before measuring, or use heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon Pure Coconut Extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Grease a 9-inch cake pan with coconut oil or butter. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, using an electric beater on low/medium speed, beat the eggs with coconut cream, erythritol, coconut extract, and vanilla for 30-45 seconds or until slightly lighter in color.
- Beat in coconut flour and baking powder until the batter is shiny and has no lumps. Stop the beater and stir in the desiccated coconut.
- Transfer the coconut cake batter onto the prepared cake pan and spread evenly.
- Bake in center rack for 20-25 minutes on fan-mode or for 30-35 minutes or regular mode. I recommend you insert a pick in the center of the cake every 5 minutes from 20 minutes of baking. If it comes out clean or with a little bit of crumb, it's cooked! This is the best way to prevent a coconut flour cake from overbaking and getting dry (you want the crumb to be soft and moist!)
- Cool 5 minutes in the pan then transfer onto a cooling rack.
- Cool 1 hour on the rack, or wait until it reaches room temperature to frost. Only make the frosting 10 minutes before frosting the cake, or if you want to make the frosting ahead, don't store in the fridge, or it will get hard and difficult to spread.
Cream cheese frosting
- To make the frosting, beat the cream cheese with coconut cream, coconut extract, and powdered erythritol until fluffy. If too thick, add more coconut cream until it reaches a texture you love.
- Spread the icing on top of the cake and serve with extra toasted desiccated coconut.
Storage
- Store the cake in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze, in an airtight box.
- Defrost the cake on the counter.
Tools
Getting Started What Is Keto? Macro Calculator Sweetener Converter Intermittent Fasting Keto Fruits Keto Vegetables Keto Flours Fighting Keto Flu Healthy SweetenersWant My Kitchen Equipment?
Nutrition
About The Author
Hi, I'm Carine, the food blogger, author, recipe developer, published author of a cookbook, and founder of Sweet As Honey.
I have an Accredited Certificate in Nutrition and Wellness obtained in 2014 from Well College Global (formerly Cadence Health). I'm passionate about sharing all my easy and tasty recipes that are both delicious and healthy. My expertise in the field comes from my background in chemistry and years of following a keto low-carb diet. But I'm also well versed in vegetarian and vegan cooking since my husband is vegan.
I now eat a more balanced diet where I alternate between keto and a Mediterranean Diet
Cooking and Baking is my true passion. In fact, I only share a small portion of my recipes on Sweet As Honey. Most of them are eaten by my husband and my two kids before I have time to take any pictures!
All my recipes are at least triple tested to make sure they work and I take pride in keeping them as accurate as possible.
Browse all my recipes with my Recipe Index.
I hope that you too find the recipes you love on Sweet As Honey!
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Disclaimer
The recipes, instructions, and articles on this website should not be taken or used as medical advice. You must consult with your doctor before starting on a keto or low-carb diet. The nutritional data provided on Sweetashoney is to be used as indicative only.
The nutrition data is calculated using WP Recipe Maker. Net Carbs is calculated by removing the fiber and some sweeteners from the total Carbohydrates. As an example, a recipe with 10 grams of Carbs per 100 grams that contains 3 grams of erythritol and 5 grams of fiber will have a net carbs content of 2 grams. Some sweeteners are excluded because they are not metabolized.
You should always calculate the nutritional data yourself instead of relying on Sweetashoney's data. Sweetashoney and its recipes and articles are not intended to cure, prevent, diagnose, or treat any disease. Sweetashoney cannot be liable for adverse reactions or any other outcome resulting from the use of recipes or advice found on the Website.
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Wow!!! What a delicious cake. Huge hit for the entire family. Thank you much for this cake as it was called for as we’ve been on strict Keto without sweets!!! Loved it!!!!
Made this today, and it is simply amazing. As the other have cannot eat dairy I made it without the glaze, but it is still so moist and delicious. I added a little extra vanilla as well as a bit more coconut, which i sprinkled on top. Thank you so much for this most delicious cake☺
Thank you !
This cake absolutely satisfied my cake cravings and is brilliant for a coconut lover like me! It was soft and had a nice crumbly texture. Superb!
Thank you for the lovely feedback, Enjoy the recipe here, XOXO Carine
I have been eating low carb for several years now and this is definitely the best cake recipe yet – no hint that it is low carb – moist, rich and gorgeous. Thank you for your brilliant free recipes Carine.
Delicios, thanks for sharing the recipe. I love this cake 🎂.
Wow this recipe looks awesome!! Thank you for sharing and I did read all your tips and tricks. One other thing I found when baking with keto is not to use farm fresh eggs or those expensive ones with all the extra omegas in them. I find those kinds of eggs in keto baking impart a very eggy taste. I just use the cheap store brand eggs and they work every time with no eggy taste. I totally agree with your comments about having the REAL extracts, they make everything so much better and no chemical taste. Also I’ve been using allulose as a sugar substitute lately and find it even better then erythritol because it doesn’t crystallize when refrigerated. Also makes an incredible caramel sauce and was thinking that may be another incredible way to top this cake? I’m going to give this a try tomorrow, thank you for including the weighted measurements it makes such an incredible difference especially with coconut flour! 1 tablespoon too much and you can have a brick instead of a cake! Lol! Ask me how I know!
Of course, caramel and coconut are perfect combo. Enjoy the cake, XOXO Carine
Planning to make this today for my birthday. What type of erythritol for the cake batter, granular or powdered?
In any of my recipes, if you don’t see the word ‘powdered’ it means I am using the classic crystal erythritol. Enjoy the cake and happy birthday to you! XOXO Carine
So good and easy yo make ! Just made my second one in 3 days ! Look forward to trying more Sweet As Honey recipes !
I’ve baked keto desserts the last couple years and have only found a few recipes that are delicious, but this is definitely one of them! Enjoyed every bite of it:)
So glad you found my keto blog then, I have lots of keto cakes and treats for you to try! Enjoy, XOXO Carine
Didn’t have any success with this recipe. I’ve measured everything carefully and it was very dry. In the end I made little biscuits with the batter that was more like a dough. What have I done wrong? Disappointed x
I am sorry it didn’t work for you but I don’t see how the batter could be as dry as biscuit ! You may have add way too much coconut flour or used small eggs. The batter is very wet and not like dough with the ratio recommended in the recipe. Nate that coconut flour has 4 times more fiber than regular flour and you must be very precise when baking with it as it soak liquid really fast. It means that a bit too much of it will result in a crumbly dry dough. I recommend you weight the ingredients for precision too. Enjoy ! XOXO Carine
Hello,I really want to try keto desserts but i’m new to all this. Is it alright if i substitute the sweetener erythritol with stevia?
No you can’t use pure stevia as a replacement to erythritol as stevia is is overly sweet and doesn’t add bulk to baking.
Can I put rhubarb on top and bake together? Or is it better to use recipe for keto vanila cake? Thank you
I am sure it will be deLicious ! coconut and rhubarb sounds very tasty to me:) Let me know how it goes. Enjoy the recipes around here, XOXO Carine
I just made this cake for my birthday yesterday and I absolutely loved it. Just the right amount of sweetness. My husband who’s not a coconut fan said it was delicious and asked for seconds. I didn’t have any coconut cream but used the creamy part of the coconut milk. I also didn’t have any extract and it still was delicious! Will definitely be making this cake again with all the ingredients.
Happy birthday ! And thanks for bringing my keto cake recipe to your table, it makes me SO happy. The extract is optional and if your husband is not a fan of coconut it is actually a great idea to skip it ! Enjoy the recipes on the blog, XOXO Carine
This cake is amazingly good. Very moist and the taste it’s great, the only thing I would change next time is that I will use less sugar. Other than that it’s very delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
Thank you for the amazing review! Enjoy the recipes on the blog, XOXO Carine
Best coconut cake ever. I used canned coconut milk rather than coconut cream. This recipe is one of the besr if you are on the Keto diet. Merci Carine.
Thanks so much !Merci beaucoup et a bientot, XOXO Carine
oh my heavenly goodness!! if you are a coconut fan, you must try this! the frosting was ESPECIALLY delicious on this cake. I toasted my coconut before adding to the cake. (I also used only 1/3C and it was perfect for me) cant wait to make it again! yum!
Thank you for this lovely review! I am so glad you enjoyed my coconut cake recipe. Enjoy the blog keto recipes, XOXO Carine
Hi, just wondering if there is a substitute I can use for cream cheese in the icing. I have a sensitivity to all cheese and would be so pleased to find an alternative so that I can make this coconut cake and other recipes that I immediately dismiss when I see this listed in the ingredients. Thank you.
No problem, you can simply use soft butter, same amount or canned coconut cream (the top part of the can, scoop out the cream and whisk). Enjoy the cake, XOXO Carine
Hi Carine, can you recommend a substitute for the cream cheese for a diary free version of this cake? Looks delish!
Yes, sure you can replace cream cheese by same amount of canned coconut cream and whip it ! Make sure you store the can in fridge overnight so when you open it the cream will be on top. Also, cold coconut cream whip easily like heavy cream. Enjoy the cake, XOXO Carine.
Looks delish. Can’t wait to try. Thanks.
I can’t wait to read your feedback on this cake! Take care, XOXO Carine