Toasted Coconut Italian Cream Bundt Cake takes the classic layer cake and puts the whole thing in one pan. Toasting the coconut and pecans first is the entire difference between warm and buttery and flat and sweet.
Italian cream cake is traditionally a 3 layer situation with coconut, pecans, buttermilk, and cream cheese frosting. It’s excellent and it’s also a whole afternoon. This is the same flavor built into a Bundt, which means one pan, one bake, and a glaze instead of a frosting job.
Cream cheese goes into the batter, not just the glaze. That’s what gives it the tight tender crumb and the slight tang against all that sugar. The almond extract is doing something. Nobody will name it, everybody will notice it.
My dear readers, toast the coconut. Don’t skip it and then tell me the cake tasted flat.
Ingredients in Toasted Coconut Italian Cream Bundt Cake
- Unsalted butter (1 cup, room temperature): Actually room temperature, meaning it gives when you press it but still holds its shape. Cold butter won’t cream properly and greasy melted butter is worse.
- Cream cheese (8 ounces, room temperature): Full fat block cream cheese, not the spreadable tub kind. This is what makes the crumb dense and tender instead of airy.
- Granulated sugar (2½ cups): It’s a lot. It’s also structural here, so don’t cut it.
- Eggs (5 large, room temperature): Cold eggs will seize the creamed butter and cream cheese into a curdled mess. Set them out with everything else.
- Vanilla extract (2 teaspoons): The base note.
- Almond extract (½ teaspoon): This is the bakery flavor. It’s what makes people ask what’s in it and then guess wrong.
- Cake flour (2½ cups): Cake flour, not all purpose. The lower protein is what keeps this tender under all that fat and sugar.
- Baking powder (1 teaspoon) and baking soda (½ teaspoon): Both. The soda has the buttermilk to react with.
- Salt (½ teaspoon): Against 2½ cups of sugar, this is not optional.
- Buttermilk (1 cup): Real buttermilk. The acid tenderizes the crumb and works with the soda.
- Sweetened shredded coconut (1¾ cups total, toasted): 1½ cups goes into the batter and ¼ cup is for finishing. Sweetened, not unsweetened. Unsweetened flakes toast differently and read drier in the cake.
- Pecans (1¼ cups total, toasted and chopped): 1 cup for the batter, ¼ cup for the top. Chop them after toasting, not before.
- For the glaze: 4 ounces cream cheese, 1½ cups powdered sugar, 2 to 3 tablespoons milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and a pinch of salt. The cream cheese has to be genuinely soft or you’ll be picking lumps out of the glaze with a spoon.
How To Make Toasted Coconut Italian Cream Bundt Cake
Preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C) and generously grease and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan. Get into every groove. This is the step people rush and then regret in about 90 minutes.
Toast the coconut and pecans separately, because they don’t cook at the same speed. Spread 1¾ cups of shredded coconut on a baking sheet and toast for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring once, until it’s golden at the edges. Watch it, the sugar on it goes from golden to burnt fast. Then toast 1¼ cups of pecans for 8 to 10 minutes until they smell like pecans. Let both cool, then chop the nuts and set aside ¼ cup of each for finishing.
Beat 1 cup of butter, 8 ounces of cream cheese, and 2½ cups of granulated sugar together for 4 to 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Give it the full time. This is where the cake gets its lift and there’s no shortcut.
Add the 5 eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Then mix in 2 teaspoons of vanilla and ½ teaspoon of almond extract.
In a separate bowl, whisk together 2½ cups of cake flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, ½ teaspoon of baking soda, and ½ teaspoon of salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the batter in 3 additions, alternating with 1 cup of buttermilk. Start with flour and finish with flour. Mix just until each addition disappears. Overmixing from here on is how you get a tough cake.
Fold in the toasted coconut and pecans by hand. The batter will be thick and luxurious looking. As it should be.
Spoon it into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Give the pan a couple of firm taps on the counter to settle it.
Bake for 1 hour 5 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. If the top is browning fast at the 45 minute mark, tent it loosely with foil.
Cool in the pan for exactly 15 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack. Fifteen minutes is the window. Less and it’s too fragile, more and the sugars set and glue it to the pan. Let it cool completely before you glaze, which takes about 90 minutes.
For the glaze, beat 4 ounces of softened cream cheese until it’s completely smooth before anything else goes in. Then add 1½ cups of powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Beat until silky. Add the third tablespoon of milk if it’s too thick to drizzle.
Drizzle it over the cooled cake and finish with the reserved ¼ cup of toasted coconut and ¼ cup of chopped pecans while the glaze is still wet so they stick.
Things You Should Know
- Everything at room temperature. Butter, cream cheese, eggs, buttermilk. Cold ingredients are the number one cause of a curdled looking batter.
- Grease the pan with softened butter or shortening and a pastry brush, then flour it. Cooking spray pools in the grooves and it’s the most common reason a Bundt sticks.
- Don’t beat the cream cheese glaze with cold cream cheese. It won’t smooth out later, it just stays lumpy and you’ll be annoyed.
- Chop the pecans after toasting. Chopped pieces burn faster than halves.
- If the cake sticks anyway, set the inverted pan on a warm damp towel for a few minutes and try again.
- The cake really is better the next day. The coconut softens, the flavors settle, and the crumb gets moister. If you can wait, wait.
Variations
- Add 1 tablespoon of dark rum to the glaze instead of one of the tablespoons of milk. I haven’t tested it in this exact glaze, but rum and coconut are an old pairing and it’s the direction I’d go if I wanted more out of it.
- Swap the pecans for walnuts if that’s what you have.
- Add the zest of 1 orange to the batter with the vanilla.
- Skip the glaze entirely and dust it with powdered sugar. Different cake, still very good, and it travels better.
Storing
Keep it covered at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the fridge for 5. The glaze does better at room temperature.
You can freeze the unglazed cake, wrapped tight, for up to 3 months. Thaw it at room temperature and glaze it the day you’re serving.
Slices freeze fine too if you wrap them individually.
Try These Recipes Next
- Cherry Hand Pie Donuts
- Almond Croissant Bars
- One Bowl Chocolate Cake
- Coconut Cream Pie Bars
- Pineapple Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Toasted Coconut Italian Cream Bundt Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 2½ cups granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2½ cups cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1½ cups sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
- 1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
For the Cream Cheese Glaze
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 to 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
For Finishing
- ¼ cup coconut, toasted
- ¼ cup pecans, toasted and chopped
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F (163°C). Generously grease and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan.
- Spread 1¾ cups of shredded coconut on a baking sheet and toast for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring once, until fragrant and lightly golden. Remove and toast 1¼ cups of pecans on a separate sheet for 8 to 10 minutes. Let both cool, chop the pecans, and set aside ¼ cup of coconut and ¼ cup of pecans for finishing.
- In a large bowl, beat the 1 cup unsalted butter, 8 ounces cream cheese, and 2½ cups granulated sugar together for about 4 to 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add the 5 eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and ½ teaspoon almond extract.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the 2½ cups cake flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and ½ teaspoon salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the batter in 3 additions, alternating with the 1 cup buttermilk. Start and finish with the flour mixture.
- Fold in the toasted coconut and pecans. The batter will be thick and luxurious looking. As it should be.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared Bundt pan and smooth the top. Bake for 1 hour 5 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- For the glaze, beat the 4 ounces cream cheese until smooth. Add the 1½ cups powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and pinch of salt. Beat until silky smooth. Add another tablespoon of milk if needed for drizzling consistency.
- Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake and finish with the reserved ¼ cup of toasted coconut and ¼ cup of chopped pecans.
Recipe Notes
- Toasting: toasting the coconut and pecans makes a real difference. It gives the cake a warm buttery flavor instead of tasting flat and overly sweet. Toast them on separate sheets since sweetened coconut browns much faster than nuts.
- Almond extract: it quietly makes everything taste more bakery style without taking over.
- Pan size: use a 12 cup Bundt pan. This is a full batter and a 10 cup pan will overflow.
- Temperature: butter, cream cheese, eggs, and buttermilk should all be at room temperature.
- Cooling: 15 minutes in the pan, then invert. Longer than that and the sugars set and the cake sticks.
- Make ahead: this cake is even better the next day once the flavors settle.
- Storage: covered at room temperature for 3 days, refrigerated for 5. The unglazed cake freezes for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information
Toasted Coconut Italian Cream Bundt Cake FAQs
You can, and the cake will be a little denser and chewier. If you’re substituting, use 2½ cups minus 5 tablespoons of all purpose flour plus 5 tablespoons of cornstarch.
Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk and let it sit for 10 minutes. Not identical, but close enough.
Yes, but toast it for less time and expect a drier, less caramelized result. The sweetened kind is what gives this its chew.
Almost always the greasing or the timing. Cooking spray pools instead of coating, and waiting longer than 15 minutes before inverting lets the sugars set against the pan.
This batter is built for a Bundt. For a traditional Italian cream layer cake you’d want a different formula with whipped egg whites folded in.
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