Lemon Coconut Cake
73 Comments
Posted: 06/13/20
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Moist, flavorful homemade Lemon Coconut Cake! A homemade loaf cake bursting with lemon and coconut flavor that’s topped with a lemon cream cheese frosting and shredded coconut. It’s a quick and easy dessert, yet impressive. No layering or hassle so anyone can make it!
Today’s recipe is a burst of fresh flavor. That tangy lemon mixed with coconut is irresistable in this quick and easy Lemon Coconut Cake.
It’s made in a loaf pan so it’s such a quick and easy dessert recipe perfect for spring and summer. The cake is completely from scratch and has a mix of lemon and coconut flavoring.
Then you top it with homemade cream cheese frosting with lemon zest and shredded coconut for the finishing touch.
My mouth is watering just thinking about this cake again!
Why You Need to Make this Cake!
- Completely from scratch
- Perfect for any occasion
- Moise and Soft
- Easy to make, yet impressive
- Topped with homemade cream cheese frosting
- Garnished with lemon zest and coconut
Ingredients Needed
- All purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Shredded coconut
- Coconut yogurt
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Lemons
- Coconut oil
- Almond extract
- Cream cheese
- Unsalted butter
- Powdered sugar
- Almond extract
- Milk or half and half
This cake gets its amazing lemon flavor from a combination of lemon zest and lemon juice.
It’s so flavorful with three types of coconut flavoring from coconut yogurt, shredded coconut and coconut oil.
My mouth is watering just thinking of biting into the cake with that amazing lemon and coconut combination!
Steps to Prepare Cake
- First you will combine the dry ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in another.
- After that you will then combine the wet and dry ingredients.
- Next step is to pour into the loaf pan and bake.
Steps to Prepare Cake Cream Cheese Frosting
Now, we must talk about the best part of the cake (in my opinion) – Cream Cheese Frosting! That golden cake gets smeared with a generous amount of cream cheese frosting, and then sprinkled with shredded coconut and bright flecks of lemon zest.
That creamy, sweet and tangy frosting really takes this cake over the top. I absolutely love the combination of lemon and coconut with cream cheese frosting.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until combined. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Make sure it’s smooth!
- Add milk, extract and lemon zest and beat until combined. If the frosting is too thick add additional milk to thin it out.
- Spread the frosting on the cooled cake and top with shredded coconut and lemon zest.
You could also toast your coconut and top it with toasted coconut to mix up the flavor profile a bit!
Storage Tips!
You can prepare this ahead of time. We wouldn’t recommend more than 24 hours.
Store it in an airtight container in refrigerator to keep it fresh longer.
The same rules apply for leftovers!
Whether you whip this up for a special occasion or any regular day, I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!
Love Lemon? Check out these favorites!
- Grab a hot cup of coffee, some friend and a slice of this Lemon Bundt Cake with Lemon Frosting!
- Start with a box cake mix and turn it into Lemon Poppy Seed Cake!
- With only 6 ingredients any one can make these Lemon Cream Turnovers that start with a puff pastry!
WATCH THE STEP BY STEP VIDEO FOR THIS RECIPE BELOW:
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Lemon Coconut Cake
Tender, Fluffy Lemon Loaf Cake Topped with Cream Cheese Frosting, Coconut and Lemon Zest!
Video
Ingredients
Lemon Cake:
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup coconut yogurt I used full-fat coconut Greek yogurt
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- Finely grated zest of 1 medium-large lemon
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 2 ounces cream cheese softened
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 1-2 tablespoons milk or half and half
- Shredded coconut and lemon zest optional garnish
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and shredded coconut.
- In a large bowl, whisk yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, coconut oil and almond extract until well combined. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until well combined, the batter will be thick.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake for 45-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place the pan on a rack to cool.
Frosting:
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until combined. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add 1 tablespoon milk, extract and lemon zest and beat until combined. If the frosting is too thick add additional milk to thin it out.Spread the frosting on the cooled cake and top with shredded coconut and lemon zest.
Tips
- You could also toast your coconut and top it with toasted coconut to mix up the flavor profile a bit!
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1, Calories: 480kcal (24%), Carbohydrates: 67g (22%), Protein: 6g (12%), Fat: 21g (32%), Saturated Fat: 15g (94%), Cholesterol: 86mg (29%), Sodium: 157mg (7%), Potassium: 219mg (6%), Sugar: 47g (52%), Vitamin A: 380IU (8%), Vitamin C: 1.9mg (2%), Calcium: 108mg (11%), Iron: 1.6mg (9%)
Mary Zimmerman says
I pinned this recipe months ago to make for my husband and my friend as we celebrate their birthday’s together. The cake was great, and got wonderful reviews! I baked it for 45 minutes and just used a drop of almond extract in the frosting. It wasn’t dry at all. It looked beautiful, was moist and it tasted great. Thank you.
Brooke Kill says
Yay Mary! I’m happy you enjoy Mary!
Ginger says
Came out dry. Maybe add another cup of yogurt
Courtney says
Please adjust as needed!
Carolanne says
Great recipe adding the coconut adds anther texture and taste
Lyne says
Fantastic!!!… my son does not like coconut and he ate it all. Very very good❤️
Courtney says
Yay! Thanks for rating this recipe! 🙂
Gayl says
Fantastic cake. I had to also make gluten free. I used coconut flour and almond meal to improve the texture of the gluten free flour. It worked well.
Julie Evink says
So glad it worked out with the substitutes! Thanks for commenting and rating the recipe!
Shelley says
The cake was hard and dry. It did not look like the picture. It tasted more like the almond extract. I was very disappointed.