This Chocolate Coconut Cake is my favorite chocolate cake recipe – it’s moist for days and super chocolatey. And the coconut icing & toasted coconut topping compliment the cake perfectly.
Chocolate Coconut Cake
If you saw my “Let’s Chill” post from Labor Day, this is the cake with a slice missing that was sitting in the cake carrier with ice packs taped to it. 🙂 I took it to the tailgate for the WVU vs. Alabama football game that weekend. It’s not necessarily football food, but I was tasked with bringing sweets and since I’d made this, it was one of the things I brought. Despite not being inherently football food, it ended up being a big hit. Like I said, it’s crazy moist and full of flavor. If you like chocolate and coconut together you will definitely love this cake!
After the game, my sister in law took some home to the rest of the family, who didn’t come to the game. When my brother came by the next day, he made sure to come inside and get one more taste of this cake before it was gone. Just like everyone else, he couldn’t prevent himself from just one more bite. 🙂 One of my favorite things about this chocolate cake is that you only need to use one bowl. One less dish to wash is a win in my book! You’ll notice it’s a very dark cake and that’s because I use Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa. It’s my fave and ever since I used it the first time, I’ve never bothered with any other. If you haven’t tried it, I totally recommend it. Of course, you could use regular cocoa if you prefer.
It’s also a slow-bake cake, so it bakes at 300 degrees. Weird, right? But it works! The coconut icing is as coconut as it comes and I could just have eaten it by itself. The toasted coconut not only looks pretty, but adds more coconut flavor and a bit of texture. This cake is a totally win. I have a feeling it will be requested again. 🙂
You might also like
Outrageous Chocolate Coconut Cheesecake Cake
Coconut Cream Pie Cupcakes
Easy Coconut Cheesecake
Best Chocolate Cake
Best Coconut Macaroon
Shop the recipe
Chocolate Coconut Cake
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12-14 Slices
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Chocolate Coconut Cake is my favorite chocolate cake recipe – it’s moist for days and super chocolatey. And the coconut icing & toasted coconut topping compliment the cake perfectly.
Ingredients
CHOCOLATE CAKE
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup boiling water
COCONUT ICING
- 1 1/4 cups butter
- 1 1/4 cups shortening
- 9–10 cups powdered sugar
- 4 tsp coconut extract
- 3–4 tbsp water or milk
- 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice
- Calories: 988
- Sugar: 103.8 g
- Sodium: 405.7 mg
- Fat: 55.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 121.9 g
- Protein: 4.6 g
- Cholesterol: 72.1 mg
Keywords: chocolate coconut cake, coconut cake recipe, best coconut cake recipe, easy coconut cake, best chocolate cake recipe, easy chocolate cake recipe, homemade chocolate cake, chocolate cake with coconut
Filed Under:
Enjoy!
This post may contain affiliate sales links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Due to a wheat allergy, I’m replacing coconut flour for the all purpose flour; that’s the most substantial change but how would that affect the recipe?
★★★★★
I don’t really use coconut flour, but in my limited experience with flour alternatives, they tend to be pretty different and require other adjustments.
I was questioning using the shortening and vegetable oil and should have trusted my instincts. My boyfriend randomly picked this recipe was excited to try it based on the reviews. I didnt want to rain on his parade so I went with it. The final product was not worth the effort or calories, in my opinion. The cake was moist and the frosting was a great texture but the flavor was not there. I believe if some of the ingredients were swapped for other things, like butter instead of shortening, it would be good. I’d suggest a better quality chocolate and finding good coconut extract.
★★★
Recipe looks great ! I will be making it for a co-workers birthday but using 2 9″ pans instead of 3 8″- how long should I bake for ?
It’ll actually be similar. I’m not sure of the exact time, but maybe just a few minutes more.
It looks delicious. Do I need to change recipe for a 9×13 pan? Or baking time? Thank you
No, bake it at the same temperature for about 40-50 minutes. You could probably cut the frosting in half.
Delicious cake. I can’t eat refined carbs so I altered the recipe. I love how bob red mills oat flour works in baking a bit more then whole wheat flour. I use unrefined coconut palm sugar for sugar. I use virgin coconut oil in place of vegetable oil (adds extra coconut flavor to it, plus It’s unrefined) i also use cacao powder instead of cocoa as it adds an even richer flavor I find. For the frosting I don’t use shortening and I used coconut palm sugar. Didn’t have coconut extract but i didn’t need it. I used vanilla and it worked fine. Baking I find however with oat flour has a slightly different texture. It’s more goey, which I personally love. It tasted like coconut lava cake as I’d call it. Should have let it sit a bit longer to cool down completely so it’s a bit of a messy cake as it almost fell apart on me. I was too impatient to try it. That’s ok. I wasn’t going for looks. It is the best cake ever.
★★★★★
I’ve been making this recipe (chocolate coconut cake) for the past couple years as a tradition for my husband’s birthday every year. It’s both of our favorites! Previously I was making the recipe you had posted that included melting marshmallows for the icing. Can you send me the older version of this recipe so I can make it again this year?
This recipe has not been updated. The frosting never included melted marshmallows. I have a s’mores cake that uses melted marshmallows in the frosting.
This is my favorite chocolate cake ever! (And everyone that has tried it!) I actually have made it about 3 times, just changing the frosting sometimes! Thanks for this amazing recipe!
★★★★★
So glad you’ve enjoyed it!
Hello! Can I use cake flour for this recipe, or is AP flour recommended?
Cake flour would be fine, but it’s not necessary in this cake. It’s already plenty tender.