Vegan white chocolate coconut cake

Name: Vegan white chocolate coconut cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 2/3 cups all-purpose/ spelt flour; 1 cup brown/white sugar; 1 1/2 tsp baking soda; 3/4 tsp salt; 1 1/2 cups dried coconut shreds; 1 1/2 cups coconut milk* (canned, full fat); 1/2 cup olive oil (or coconut oil, melted); 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar); 3 tsp vanilla extract; 1/4 tsp almond extract (optional); 3 cups powdered sugar; 3 tbsp (vegan) butter**; 3 tbsp coconut cream (the top, creamy part, of the canned coconut milk); 4 tbsp white chocolate; dried coconut shreds (Optional. Add as much as you want)

May 17, 2022

By Shirley

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This fluffy, decadent vegan white chocolate coconut cake is just what you need to treat yourself and your loved ones. It’s way easier to make than you’d imagine and in no way possible will you believe it’s vegan. It’s delicious, moist & rich, and that white chocolate frosting is simply divine.

The best vegan white chocolate coconut cake. Period!

You know those days when you have a few random ingredients at home, and when you look at them long enough you get this ‘aha’ moment. I had a coconut can somewhere hidden in my kitchen pantry and some vegan white chocolate. I almost felt a light bulb, above my head, turning on. After a quick search, I found a great coconut cake recipe by loving it vegan. After a few tweaks, I managed to make a vegan white chocolate coconut cake that is super rich and tender with the most perfect texture. The sweet vanilla, white chocolate notes, and tropical coconut will blow you away.

Tips to make a great cake

This cake is quite easy to make, but if you take notes of these tips, you will make sure you’ll have a rich and moist cake.

Prepare ahead

It’s always a great idea to prepare ahead. Make sure you have all ingredients on the counter, all spoons, and other equipment ready for grabbing. I used to skip this part which makes baking stressful and chaotic.

Never overmix the vegan cake batter

I never understood this part of recipes. I thought it was quite silly because you always mix well until all ingredients are combined, right? There is a difference though between mixing well and overmixing. When you keep mixing your batter, even though all ingredients are already combined, the protein structure will start to change making it a chewy, almost gummy cake. If you want a dense, rich, and moist cake, it’s better to just mix until all ingredients are combined. The shorter, the better. It’s better to have some lumps here and there than a chewy cake.

Sift your flour

To be honest, I tend to skip this step more often than not. As it is packaged, shipped, and stored, flour settles in the bag. Sifting lightens it up again. It also creates space for the other components in the recipe to get in between the flour particles and do their work. Sifting your flour will make you have fewer lumps in your cake. Since you can’t overmix the batter (see point above) to make sure all lumps are gone, it’s better to sift the flour.

Sift then measure, or measure then sift?

This is a great tip from www.culinaryhill.com. This is important and it’s easy to determine if you read your particular recipe carefully. If the recipe calls for 1 cup of sifted flour, then you need to pre-sift the flour into a bowl and then measure the flour. If the recipe calls for 1 cup of flour, sifted, then measure the flour first, and then sift it. This recipe calls for the latter option. For more information about sifting flour, please check the abovementioned link.

Always preheat your oven first thing

I always forgot this step at the beginning. Some cake batters tend to come out better when immediately baked after mixing. If you forget to preheat the oven, then you’ll have to wait sometime before baking. This can make the – already mixed- cake batter come out differently than intended.

White chocolate coconut frosting

Ah! Frosting. The best part of a cake – only when it’s done correctly though. Frosting in general is often too sweet or too thick for my taste. Fortunately, this one is the perfect combination of white chocolate and coconut taste. When combined with the cake, you won’t have the feeling of it being too sweet. If you’re not too fond of frosting, you can definitely leave this part out and add pieces of white chocolate into the cake batter instead of into the frosting. There are some easy tricks to make this a great frosting

Room temperature, melted, white chocolate is key!

First of all, where can you find vegan white chocolate? I found mine at Eko Plaza (here) and it’s quite delicious. When melting white chocolate, make sure to let it cool down to room temperature before adding it to the mix. If it’s too hot, this will cause a too runny frosting.

One by one

Learn from my mistakes. I used to simply add all ingredients to a bowl and start mixing. A better frosting consistency will be reached if you first add the butter and mix it for around 2 minutes (using an electric mixer). After those 2 minutes then add the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Lastly, add the ‘wet’ ingredients such as coconut milk and melted chocolate, and keep mixing until thick enough. If the mix is too thin, then simply add more powdered sugar, one tablespoon at a time, until the right consistency is reached. The same goes if the frosting is too thick. Slowly add coconut milk, one tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached.

It can melt

Remember that this frosting is made with mostly butter and white chocolate, which both tend to melt in warmer temperatures. If you’re going to frost the whole cake at once, but you won’t have it all the same day, just make sure it’s stored in an airtight container in a cool room. You could also make the frosting, keep it in the fridge, and only frost the cake when having a slice.

Recipe FAQ

Can I use another type of oil?

Sure, Any vegetable oil will do. Just remember that some oils may have a stronger taste

Can I use non-vegan white chocolate/butter?

Of course. If you’re not vegan, then use any other white chocolate/butter brand you’d like.

Can I use a different cake mold?

Absolutely. Whatever you have will do. Just remember that different molds will have different baking times.

Can I make these as muffins?

I haven’t tried muffin molds yet. If you don’t mind a heavy, rich muffin, then I think it will be okay.

Can you make this cake gluten-free?

Yup! Just make sure to use gluten-free all-purpose flour. Use in the same quantity as regular flour.

I really hope you enjoy this fluffy, decadent, and rich vegan white chocolate coconut cake. Remember that food is not the enemy. Food should not be earned and you are allowed to enjoy food and still be healthy. If you need help with your nutrition journey, please remember we have an amazing nutritionist that can help you make healthy choices without depriving yourself of the things you like.

Now tell me, do you also love white chocolate? Will you be making this recipe? If you do please tag us on Instagram (@fitqueens_wellness) or on Facebook (@fitqueens.wellness)

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