Raspberry Coconut Cake
Everything from the moist cake to the creamy filling in this raspberry coconut cake recipe will have you coming back for more. Make this simple, indulgent cake for a special occasion like a birthday or even a fun weeknight surprise!
If you’ve got a party coming up, you’ll want to try my vegan cheeseball or even my chocolate coconut macaroons, too.
Have you ever had a day where you’ve indulged yourself in one of your favorite childhood treats and then felt disappointed that it wasn’t as good as you remembered?
I used to love raspberry zingers, but I’ve decided this cake tastes better. Yes, I pulled out all the stops for this vegan raspberry coconut cake. It’s easy to make and oh-so-delicious!
Why This Recipe is a Winner
- Coconut milk is added to the cake, making it moist, dense, and delicious
- Cashew cream combined with raspberries makes the perfect filling between the cake layers
- Coconut frosting is rich and creamy and adds a dramatic finish to this stunning cake.
I didn’t set out to make a vegan dessert to rival my favorite childhood comfort food, but it worked out well.
One of the first recipes I posted on this site was my Coconut Cake, and it seemed a perfect choice to revisit. Once that decision was made, it really was only a matter of time before raspberry filling came to mind.
What You Need
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe:
- Vegan Butter — Use storebought dairy-free butter like Earth Balance or make your own vegan butter.
- Granulated sugar
- Coconut milk — You’ll need a 13.5 oz can of full-fat coconut milk or coconut cream. Look at the ingredients and make sure it has at least 12 grams of fat.
- Apple cider vinegar
- Vanilla extract
- Coconut extract
- Flour — I recommend all-purpose flour.
- Baking powder + baking soda
- Salt
- Raw cashews — I buy these at the health food store or online.
- Raspberries — You can use fresh or frozen.
- Coconut oil — Use either refined or virgin coconut oil or substitute vegan butter.
- Agave nectar — Or substitute maple syrup.
How to Make Raspberry Coconut Cake
- Cream the vegan butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the coconut milk, vinegar, and extracts. Beat 2 to 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Mix the dry ingredients from the flour to the salt.
- Pour flour mixture into the whipped butter mixture and beat on low speed until just mixed.
- Pour batter into prepared pans.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until done.
- Cool cakes in pans for 10 minutes, then invert cakes onto cooling racks.
- Top the bottom cake with raspberry filling.
- Add the second cake and top with coconut frosting.
- Top frosted cake with flaked coconut.
Here’s more detailed step-by-step instructions.
Step One: Cream the Butter and Sugar
Use an electric mixer to cream together the vegan butter and sugar. You want them to be nice, light, and fluffy. This helps aerate the butter and creams the sugar into the butter as well.
Step Two: Add Coconut Milk
Next, add the coconut milk, vinegar, vanilla, and coconut extract. Beat until light and fluffy, approximately 2 to 3 minutes.
Step Three: Whisk Together Flour Mixture
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until combined. Pour flour mixture into the whipped butter mixture.
Beat on low speed until just mixed.
Step Five: Pour + Bake
Divide the batter equally among prepared pans. Level the batter in each pan by holding it 3 or 4 inches above a counter and dropping it flat onto the counter. Do this several times to release air bubbles and to ensure a more level baked cake.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the pans from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the pans for approximately 10 minutes. Then invert cakes onto cooling racks.
Step 5: Make the Raspberry Filling
To make the raspberry filling, drain the soaked cashews, and place them in a blender or a food processor. Pulse for several seconds, using a spatula to push down ingredients from the side of the bowl in between pulses.
Next, add the agave nectar. Continue pulsing and scraping the bowl until the cashews are relatively smooth.
Add the vegan butter (or coconut oil) and raspberries and pulse again in short bursts, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Continue until the mixture is creamy. Add coloring as necessary. Refrigerate.
Storage Tips
Store the entire cake in a cake storage container or individual slices in an airtight container. It will keep at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. Store it in the fridge for up to 7 days. Or store it in the freezer for up to 2 months.
More Coconut Desserts
If you like this raspberry coconut cake, you’ll want even more coconut desserts to try:
That’s it for this raspberry coconut cake. Enjoy!
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Raspberry Coconut Cake
Ingredients
For the Coconut Cake:
- 1 cup vegan butter , melted
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 13.5 oz can full fat coconut milk (see notes)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Raspberry Cashew Cream Filling:
- 1 cup raw cashews , soaked in water for 2 hours
- 1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil (or vegan butter)
- ¼ cup agave nectar
For the Coconut Frosting:
- ½ cup vegan butter
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon coconut flavoring
- 2 to 3 tablespoons soymilk
- Topping: ½ cup flaked coconut
- Optional coloring. To make the filling or the frosting pink, you can use pink food coloring, a drop or two of beet juice or juice from one or two raspberries.
Instructions
For the Coconut Cake:
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C. Grease and flour two (or three) 9-inch cake pans.
- Using an electric mixer, cream together vegan butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Next, add the coconut milk, vinegar, vanilla, and coconut extract. Beat until light and fluffy, approximately 2 to 3 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until combined. Pour flour mixture into the whipped butter mixture. Beat on low speed until just mixed.
- Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Level batter in each pan by holding pan 3 or 4 inches above the counter, then dropping it flat onto the counter. Do this several times to release air bubbles and assure a more level cake.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Cool in pans for 5 to 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto cooling racks.
- Once the cakes have cooled, place the bottom cake layer on a plate and top with Raspberry filling (recipe below). If you have prepared 3 cakes, then place the second cake on top of the raspberry filling and top it with additional raspberry filling. Top that with the final cake.
- Ice the entire cake with Coconut Frosting, being careful not to tear the cake when spreading the frosting over it. I use a butter knife dipped in warm water to help the frosting spread more easily.
- Top frosted cake with flaked coconut.
For the Raspberry Cashew Cream Filling:
- Drain the soaked cashews and place them in a blender or food processor. Pulse for several seconds. Use a spatula to push down ingredients from the side of the bowl and pulse again. Next, add the agave nectar. Continue pulsing and scraping the bowl until the cashews are relatively smooth.
- Next, add the coconut oil and raspberries and pulse again in short bursts, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Continue until the mixture is creamy. Add coloring as necessary. Refrigerate.
For the Coconut Frosting:
- In a mixing bowl, combine the coconut oil and powdered sugar. Using either a hand-held mixer or a stand mixer, beat on low speed until the powdered sugar is combined, gradually increasing speed up to medium. Mix on medium until light and fluffy. Add the coconut flavoring and mix again until combined.
- Next add the soymilk, one tablespoon at a time until you reach a desired, spreadable consistency. I like to be able to easily spread the frosting over the top of my cake so I usually use 3 tablespoons soymilk or vegan creamer.
- For a pink frosting, add some coloring (either beet juice, raspberry juice, or pink food coloring) and mix it again until the color is distributed throughout the frosting.
- Set aside until your cakes have completely cooled.
Recommended Equipment
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Notes
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This post was originally published in 2020 and was updated to include new photos, new text, and an updated recipe in 2021.
Thank you for the recipe, it looks amazing and I am about to try it! Is there any difference between using coconut oil vs vegan butter in the cake layers? How do they behave and what results do you get with either of them? Thank you so much!
This looks delicious! Does floor such as all purpose or wheat work?
Hi Salina. Thanks! Yes, all-purpose flour would work fine in this recipe. If you want to use whole wheat, I would recommend using whole wheat pastry flour.
Raspberry Zingers were my favorite treat for many years. I am excited to try this recipe! I don’t like to use agave nectar. Do you have any idea how much sugar I would use in place of the agave? Thank you.
I used this recipe to make cupcakes (and filled with the raspberry cream). Delicious! They had to cook for a really long time, but eventually cooked through. Making the cake today for Easter.
Hi Karen. So glad you liked it. And thanks for the feedback on the baking time. I will add a note to the recipe. Hope you like it in cake form too. Happy holiday weekend!
How long did you cook for cupcakes? I really want to make these as cupcakes in the next couple of days, I just bought all the ingredients 🙂
Hi Robin. I think these would be great as cupcakes! I would set the timer for 20 minutes and then check them to see if they’re done. I guess they might need a few more minutes, before you pull them out. Once they cool, I would top with the raspberry filling. You can either skip the coconut frosting or…insert a little in the middle of the cupcake. How tasty would that be!
I made this cake yesterday for my birthday & it was wonderful!! Cake stuck to two of the pans (I greased & floured & waited 20 min to cool) & the icing was runny (maybe b/c of too much juice from the raspberries to make it pink) but it was so delicious!!! Brought 1/2 for my coworkers & it was devoured fast! I will definitely make this again!
My cakes fell apart when I flipped them over. Why?
Hi Marie. There’s many things that can contribute to a cake falling – the size of the pan, the oven temperature, etc. But if you’re saying the cakes fell apart after you removed them from the pan, it sounds like you may have done the same thing I do way too often – I have a tendency not to wait long enough before removing the from the pan. The cake needs to cool for at least 10 minutes first. When you’re waiting for a cake…10 minutes can seem like an eternity!
How do you make it layered? do you get 3 pans the same size and distribute the batter between them?
Hi Rochelle. You’ve got it! Step #1 of the recipe indicates to prepare 3 round cake pans. For me that means using a paper towel to spread a thin layer of margarine or vegetable shortening around the inside of the pan and then lightly coating with some flour. Alternatively, you could spray the pan with vegetable spray. Then follow the rest of the steps and you’ll be instructed to pour the batter evenly between the three prepared pans. Once you bake the cakes, allow them to cool for about 7 – 10 minutes before inverting them onto a plate. Then once they’re completely cooled, they’re ready for some frosting!
Hope that helps!
Raspberry Zingers were my favorite as a kid and teenager, now that I’m GF I can’t enjoy them like I used to, when I clicked on this recipe I did not realize it was GF and I about shouted out loud for joy, I cannot wait to make this recipe, thanks so much for sharing!!!!
MCB
My son has nut allergies. Any suggestions to replace the cashews in the rasperry cream filling?
Well, there are a few options you could consider. You could use the cream part from a can of coconut milk (not the watery substance at the bottom of the can). If soy is not an issue, you could use silken tofu whipped in a food processor to smooth it out or even commercial vegan cream cheese would work too. Let me know if you try one of these.