Coconut Poke Cake

I originally created this Coconut Poke Cake for my upcoming dessert ebook, Sweet Things, which will be released in a few months. But after testing it, I knew it was far too good to keep to myself until then. I made this recipe four times to get every detail exactly where I wanted it—the right amount of moisture, plenty of coconut flavor, a soft and fluffy crumb, and a light frosting that complements the cake without overpowering it.

The result is a cake that’s incredibly moist without feeling heavy. Every bite is packed with coconut flavor from coconut milk, shredded coconut, and a touch of coconut extract, while the sweet coconut milk soak keeps the crumb tender for days. And then there’s the frosting—my Coconut Cloud Frosting—which is so light and airy that it practically melts in your mouth.

If you’re a coconut lover, you’ll also want to check out my Coconut Cream Pie, Coconut Cheesecake, and Coconut Blondies after you make this one!

Why You’ll Love This Coconut Poke Cake

• It’s soft and incredibly moist. The coconut milk soak keeps every bite tender without making the cake soggy.
• Packed with real coconut flavor. Coconut milk, shredded coconut, and coconut extract work together to create coconut flavor in every layer.
• Easy to make ahead. In fact, this cake tastes even better after chilling overnight, making it perfect for parties and holidays.
• The Coconut Cloud Frosting is unforgettable. Instead of a heavy buttercream, this frosting is light, fluffy, mousse-like, and perfectly complements the rich cake.
• Perfect for feeding a crowd. Baked in a 9×13-inch pan, it’s easy to transport and simple to serve for birthdays, potlucks, Easter, Mother’s Day, or summer gatherings.

Key Ingredients

A few ingredients work together to make this Coconut Poke Cake especially soft, flavorful, and moist.

All-purpose flour: creates a tender cake with enough structure to hold the coconut milk soak.

Butter and oil: give you the best of both worlds—butter for flavor and oil for extra moisture that lasts for days.

Sour cream: adds richness and helps create an incredibly soft crumb.

Full-fat canned coconut milk: is used throughout the recipe—in the cake, the milk soak, and the frosting—for the best coconut flavor. Be sure to whisk the coconut milk together before measuring, since it naturally separates in the can.

Sweetened shredded coconut: adds moisture and little bursts of coconut throughout the cake.

Sweetened condensed milk: combines with coconut milk to create the rich soak that gives this poke cake its signature texture.

Cream cheese and heavy cream: create the base of the Coconut Cloud Frosting, making it rich while still incredibly light and fluffy.

Vanilla and coconut extract: enhance all of the coconut flavors without overpowering the cake.

About the Coconut Cloud Frosting

I named this Coconut Cloud Frosting because it truly feels like a cloud—light, airy, and mousse-like, with just enough structure to hold its shape. Instead of being dense like a traditional buttercream, it’s incredibly fluffy and practically melts in your mouth.

The frosting starts with a base of butter and cream cheese for richness and stability, then gets flavored with coconut milk, vanilla, and coconut extract. Finally, whipped cream is gently folded in, creating its signature light texture.

It’s one of my favorite frostings for sheet cakes, poke cakes, and cupcakes because it’s easy to spread and stays beautifully fluffy after chilling. While it’s sturdy enough to hold decorative swirls, I wouldn’t recommend using it for a tall or heavily stacked layer cake.

How to Make Coconut Poke Cake

This recipe comes together in four simple stages: bake the cake, add the coconut milk soak, prepare the frosting, and assemble.

Prepare the Pan

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan and line it with two overlapping strips of parchment paper, leaving overhang on all four sides to create handles. This makes it easy to slide the parchment out from underneath the cake before adding the milk soak, instead of leaving the paper in the pan.

Make the Coconut Cake

Before you begin, open the coconut milk and pour it into a bowl. Whisk until smooth and evenly combined. You’ll use some in the cake batter, some in the milk soak, and some in the frosting. You’ll need about 1½ cans total for this recipe. I used Thai Kitchen brand coconut milk.

Whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl and set aside.

In a separate bowl cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This step incorporates air into the batter and helps create the soft texture of the finished cake.

Add the oil, eggs, & vanilla

Mix in the oil, eggs, vanilla, and coconut extract, followed by the sour cream.

Alternate the dry ingredients & coconut milk

Alternate adding the dry ingredients with the coconut milk, mixing only until everything is incorporated.

Add in the shredded coconut

Finally, gently fold in the shredded coconut before spreading the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake!

Bake until the center springs back lightly and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out with just a few moist crumbs.

Poke the Cake

Here’s where the “poke” comes in. After the cake has cooled for about 30 minutes, poke holes all over the surface using a skewer or fork. If you used the parchment paper method, carefully slide the strips out from underneath the cake first.

Soak the Cake

While the cake cools, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk and coconut milk. Slowly pour the soak over the cake, giving it time to absorb before adding more. Use a pastry brush if needed to help distribute the liquid evenly across the entire surface.

Cover the cake and refrigerate for several hours, or overnight if possible. This resting time allows the soak to fully absorb and creates the incredibly moist texture that makes poke cakes so irresistible.

Make the Coconut Cloud Frosting

Beat the butter for about 30 seconds until smooth. Add the softened cream cheese and continue beating for another minute until completely creamy and free of lumps.

Add the Powdered Sugar

Mix in the powdered sugar until incorporated.

Add the Coconut Milk & Vanilla

Aadd the coconut milk, vanilla extract, and coconut extract. Beat until smooth. The mixture will look fairly loose at this stage—that’s exactly what you want.

Make Whipped Cream

In a separate bowl, whip the cold heavy cream to stiff peaks using an electric mixer on medium-high speed. As soon as stiff peaks form, stop mixing. Overwhipping can cause the cream to become grainy or chunky.

Fold in the Whipped Cream

Gently fold half of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture to lighten it. Then fold in the remaining whipped cream until no streaks remain.

The finished Coconut Cloud Frosting should be incredibly light, fluffy, and mousse-like while still holding its shape well enough to spread over the cake.

Assemble the Cake

Once the cake has chilled and absorbed the coconut milk soak, spread the Coconut Cloud Frosting evenly over the top using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon.

Add Shredded Coconut & Chill

Finish with a generous layer of shredded coconut. I personally love the soft, snowy look of untoasted coconut, but toasted coconut is also delicious if you prefer a nuttier flavor and a bit of crunch.

Refrigerate the cake for at least 30 minutes before slicing. This gives the frosting time to set slightly, making the cake easier to cut into clean squares.

Serve chilled and enjoy!

Coconut Poke Cake vs. Coconut Tres Leches Cake

You may have noticed that this recipe closely resemebles a tres leches cake. Although this Coconut Poke Cake is inspired by the rich, milky texture of tres leches, it isn’t technically a coconut tres leches cake.

Traditional tres leches cake is made with a light sponge cake that can absorb a generous amount of liquid without becoming heavy or falling apart. It’s then soaked with three different milks, usually sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and whole milk or heavy cream.

This recipe takes a different approach. The cake itself is richer thanks to butter, oil, sour cream, and shredded coconut, creating a soft, tender crumb that isn’t meant to absorb quite as much liquid as a sponge cake. Instead of using three milks, it’s soaked with a simple combination of sweetened condensed milk and coconut milk, which gives it incredible moisture while keeping the coconut flavor front and center.

If you’re looking for a true coconut tres leches cake, I would recommend starting with a sponge-style cake and soaking it with coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk or heavy cream.

Variations

This Coconut Poke Cake is delicious exactly as written, but here are a few ways to make it your own.

• Toast the coconut. I personally love the soft, snowy texture of untoasted coconut, but toasted coconut adds a wonderful nutty flavor and a little crunch.
• Add fresh fruit. Strawberries, raspberries, or pineapple are all delicious served alongside this cake.
• Add citrus zest. A little lime or lemon zest in the cake batter or frosting adds a bright contrast to the sweet coconut. This will make it quite similar to my Lemon Coconut Cake.

Storage

Store the cake tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Because of the milk soak and cream cheese frosting, this cake should always be refrigerated. The Coconut Cloud Frosting stays surprisingly fluffy even after a few days, and the cake often tastes even better on the second day once the soak has had more time to absorb into the crumb.

I don’t recommend freezing the fully assembled cake, as the whipped cream in the frosting may lose some of its light, airy texture after thawing.

FAQ

Other Coconut Delights

If you love coconut desserts, be sure to check out some of my other favorites, including my Coconut Cake, Coconut Cheesecake, Coconut Blondies, Coconut Macarons, Lemon Coconut Cake, and Coconut Brigadeiros. Each one is packed with coconut flavor and perfect for any coconut lover! If you make this Coconut Poke Cake, I’d love to hear what you think. Leave a comment and rating below, and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram so I can see your beautiful creations!

Coconut Poke Cake

Camila Hurst

This is a soft, fluffy coconut poke cake with a sweet condensed milk soak that keeps it incredibly moist. The frosting is light and fluffy—more cloud-like than a heavy buttercream—but still stable and rich from cream cheese and coconut cream. Finished with lots of coconut on top.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Chill/Cooling Time 3 hours hrs

Total Time 4 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 15 servings

Calories 650 kcal

Ingredients

 

Dry Ingredients

• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour 270 g
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp fine salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter softened (113 g)
• 1⅔ cups granulated sugar 330 g
• ¼ cup neutral oil 60 ml
• 3 large eggs room temperature
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp coconut extract
• ½ cup sour cream 120 g
• ¾ cup plus 2 tbsp canned full-fat coconut milk 210 ml
• ¾ cup sweetened shredded coconut 60 g

Coconut Milk Soak

• ½ cup sweetened condensed milk 150 g
• 1 cup coconut milk 240 ml

Coconut Cloud Frosting

• 8 oz cream cheese softened (226 g)
• ½ cup unsalted butter softened (113 g)
• ½ cup coconut milk 120 ml
• 1¼ cups powdered sugar 150 g
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp coconut extract
• 1¼ cup cold heavy cream 300 ml

For Finishing

• 2 to 3 cups shredded coconut

Instructions

 

Prepare the Pan:

• Lightly grease a 9×13-inch pan with spray oil. Cut two long strips of parchment paper and lay them across the pan in opposite directions, overlapping in the center and extending up the sides to create handles. I line the pan this way so I can easily slide the parchment strips out from underneath the cake before adding the milk soak, rather than leaving the paper in the pan. Check pictures in the post for reference.

Make the Cake:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
• Open the coconut milk and pour it into a bowl. Whisk until smooth and evenly combined. You’ll use some in the cake batter, some in the milk soak, and some in the frosting. You’ll need about 1½ cans total for this recipe. I used Thai Kitchen brand coconut milk. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In another large bowl, or the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter for thirty seconds. Add the sugar and beat for another 4 to 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
• Add the oil and beat for another minute to combine.
• Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Along with the final egg, add the vanilla and coconut extract.
• Add the sour cream and stir. Then add one third of the dry ingredient mixture and mix on low to combine.
• Add half of the coconut milk and mix. Follow with another third of the dry ingredient mixture. Stir just until incorporated.
• Pour the rest of the milk in and mix. Add the remaining flour mixture and stir.
• Fold in the shredded coconut.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.
• Bake for about 32 to 38 minutes, until the center springs back lightly and a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs.

Make the Coconut Milk Soak:

• Whisk the sweetened condensed milk and coconut milk together until smooth.
• Once the cake has cooled for about 30 minutes, poke holes all over the surface with a skewer or fork. If you used my parchment-paper method, gently pull the strips out from underneath the cake.
• Slowly pour the soak evenly over the cake. It may look like a lot at first, so give it a moment to absorb before adding more. Use a pastry brush to help spread the soak evenly across the surface.
• Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least a few hours, preferably overnight.

Make the Coconut Cloud Frosting:

• Beat the butter for 30 seconds. Add the cream cheese and beat for another minute until smooth.
• Add the powdered sugar and beat until incorporated.
• Add the coconut milk, vanilla, and coconut extract. Mix until combined. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks using an electric mixer over medium-high speed. Once the peaks are stiff, stop whipping. Be careful not to over whip and have the whipped cream become chunky. You want peaks, but you still want the whipped cream to be smooth.
• Add half of the whipped cream to the bowl with the cream cheese mixture. Fold to combine. Add the remaining whipped cream and fold until light, fluffy, and fully combined.
• The frosting should feel airy and mousse-like while still holding its shape nicely.

Assemble:

• Spread the frosting over the chilled cake.
• Top generously with shredded coconut.
• Chill for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

Notes

To serve: This cake actually gets even better after a few hours—or overnight—in the refrigerator, as the soak has time to fully absorb into the crumb.

Coconut topping: You can toast the coconut for the topping, but I personally love the soft snowy texture of raw coconut here.

Storage: Store the cake in the fridge for up to 4 days. The frosting stays surprisingly fluffy.

Shredded Coconut: I used sweetened shredded coconut, which is softer and adds more moisture to the cake. If using desiccated coconut, reduce the amount from ¾ cup to ½ cup, since it is drier, finer, and absorbs more moisture from the batter.

Coconut Milk: I used Thai Kitchen full-fat coconut milk. The cake batter and milk soak were developed using coconut milk, not coconut cream, so I don’t recommend substituting coconut cream in those components. For the frosting, however, coconut cream may be used.

Sour cream: Full-fat plain Greek yogurt may be substituted in an equal amount.

Neutral oil: Use a mild-flavored oil such as vegetable, canola, avocado, or grapeseed oil. Avoid strongly flavored oils such as extra-virgin olive oil.

Coconut extract: The coconut extract strengthens the coconut flavor but may be omitted.

Cream cheese: Use full-fat, brick-style cream cheese for the most stable frosting. Spreadable cream cheese sold in tubs contains more moisture and may make the frosting too soft. You may have to reduce the amount of coconut milk, or add more powdered sugar.

Nutrition

Serving: 1sliceCalories: 650kcal

Keyword coconut cake, coconut sheet cake, coconut soak cake

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