For my mother’s 65th birthday, I created this cake and used a straightforward vanilla buttercream to ice it. The absence of gluten is undetectable!
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr |
| Servings: | 16 |
| Yield: | 16 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 cups gluten-free flour
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- 1 cup flaked coconut
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Whisk flour, sugar, coconut, walnuts, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt together in a bowl. Add coconut milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract; mix until batter is smooth. Spread batter into the prepared baking dish.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.
- You can use two 9-inch round pans instead of a 9×13-inch baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 345 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 35 g |
| Cholesterol | 47 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Sodium | 355 mg |
| Sugars | 21 g |
| Fat | 22 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I made this cake for a friend who is gluten free and dairy free. I did not know how it would turn out. OMGosh. We all loved it. So moist and tasty. And I got a gluten free/dairy free recipe for a frosting. Thanks for such a great recipe.
I made this recipe as listed and it was a hit at a church potluck. I also have made it multiple times without the coconut and nuts. It’s now a family favorite. It’s great with either vanilla or chocolate dairy free “buttercream” frosting.
My first time making a 3 layer cake. The flavour was excellent. I did not have any applesauce so I used the equivalent puréed banana. It was a dense cake, not a light and fluffy cake. I used a 1 to 1 gluten free flour substitute (white rice/brown rice blend) which is probably why it was so dense. I want to make this again with a different GF flout to see if it will be lighter. I also used the hand blend method and will try the machine mixer method next time.
I made 24 cupcakes which baked for 16 min. I followed the recommendations of others and used a mix of coconut flour and GF flour. I cut the sugar as well and didn’t think it was sweet enough. I used coconut oil instead of veg oil I really didn’t think this tasted enough like coconut. This is still a good, moist cake though. I will make it again for sure!
walnuts tasted great in the cake easy to make no coconut flavor at all
I had just taken a food sensitivity test and among the items I have a mild sensitivity to, there were several I had been eating my entire life. Among these are wheat, gluten and cow milk. It is VERY difficult to find a cake recipe that can accommodate all my sensitivities (oh did I mention I can’t do pea protein, which is in vegan, soy-less butter. And that soy is also something else I can’t do?). So I am about ready to throw in the towel when I find this recipe. I used olive oil last time and the cake came out slightly green. It was extremely moist and does the job credibly. I can’t say it is the best cake I have ever had in my life but I will say that for someone with very limited dessert choices (and who lives for dessert), this is a godsend. Cinnamon is a good addition to the cake. Thank you for posting this!
Omg. So good. My first cake ever from scratch and it was a huge hit!!! I used Bobs Red Mill 1 for 1 gluten free flour that has xathum gum in it already and skipped the xathum gum. Better than any other cake I have ever had. For frosting, I mixed coconut flakes into pre-mixed vanilla icing and then added another layer of coconut on top of that. Yum. Thank you!
Excellent
OMG! This was great. It came out moist and tasty. One of the best gf cakes I have made. I love coconut so I added a bit of coconut extract and used pecans instead of walnuts. I also used 1/2 c canola oil and 1/2 c coconut oil. This one is a keeper.
Even better than I expected. I didn’t have gluten free flour mix, so used 1/2 and 1/2 coconut/almond flours. Also cut the sugar down to 3/4 C and added a T or two of agave. Ate without frosting and still amazing. Thank you!
OMG! Love this! Just found out I had to go gluten free and desserts were a huge problem – nothing turned out right. But this wonderful baby! Used cane sugar / honey instead of sugar, and coconut oil. All else the same. It taste so good it really does not need frosting but I may put a simple glaze over top next time. Thank you! Thank you for this!
I made this Gluten free. I would make this again and not take the advice of other reviewers and I would leave in the amount of sugar in the directions. I would also use just GF flour and not use a mix of GF and coconut flour. I would also add a light vanilla frosting with coconut added in.
followed recipe and used 2 nine inch pans. Cook notes said 20 min. cook time…NO WAY.. Recipe called for 1 tablespoon b aking powder. I questioned this but thought perhaps the gluten free flour needed more than the usual. Caused large rising and overflow in the oven and the cakes to fall. That being said…the flavor is delicious and the texture was chewy after 40 min of baking time. Kind of a brownie or should I say blondie. Anyway…creator, check the ingredients and maybe make an adjustment to the baking powder.
I used coconut oil, coconut sugar, and coconut extract. I cooked them in 2 8” round pans. They came out pretty brown but some of that is the coconut sugar. I cooked them for 35 minutes.
My husband has lupus and I’m always looking for gluten free recipes …. I made this cake making only a little tweak of adding some cinnamon and it was very delicious …. I also added some pumkin seeds instead of the walnuts . It was a great tasting cake, I will surely be making this over and over again …. Thank you!!!!!!
Came out Delicious !!! Will defitnetly make this again.
Yes, added chopped walnuts in to cake.
This was very yummy! I just did a coconut glaze instead of the frosting.
I FINALLY have a “go to” cake. Besides being incredibly easy to make, this cake was insanely delicious! I am dairy free and for years I’ve struggled to make a dessert my family likes. They loved this cake! Everyone went back for seconds, even my dad who only likes supermarket bakery cakes full of bad chemicals and dairy! Plus it’s gluten free. No one even believe me. Anyway. What I did was I used coconut oil, half cane sugar half coconut sugar, full fat canned coconuT, And i found a super high quality coconut extract I used. I beat the eggs separately, one at a time, with a stand mixer and added the coconut and vanilla extract to the beaten eggs (enhances the flavor). I made in 2 9” rounds in convection oven for 17 minutes. Frosted it with a homemade vegan buttercream frosting (it was drool-worthy) made of vegan butter, powdered sugar and more coconut extract. I also topped with toasted coconut shreds. It was very very sweet (the way we like it) so you could easily cut sugar in half. It was so moist it honestly didn’t even need frosting, but if you want an ultra indulgent dessert then frost it 🙂 Can’t wait to make it again!
This was fantastic! My first attempt at gluten free baking….. I must say I’m sold. Only thing is, it was way too sweet for me…. mostly my fault though. I cut down the sugar in the recipe to one cup but my coconut was sweetened shredded coconut. Just a personal preference as no one else complained! Definitely a keeper!!! Thank you!
I made this, but with brown sugar instead of sugar and lactose free milk instead of the coconut milk (I didn’t have any). The cake still turned out wonderful. It still has a slight coconut flavour. I will definitely make this again! Oh, I also cooked it for about 10 min less