Three Day Coconut Cake for your Spring or Easter Celebration

Three Day Coconut Cake is a retro cake recipe for Spring or Easter that stands the test of time! It’s easy to make, starting with a box mix, but requires planning ahead, as it benefits from sitting in the refrigerator for three days for best flavor!

Happy Friday!

How about an easy, crowd-pleasing recipe for your Spring or Easter celebrations?

This coconut cake recipe is an oldie but a goodie!

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I was first introduced to this cake by my Mother-in-law back in the early 80s and it was love at first bite! It’s super easy to make, the hardest part is waiting three days to give it time in the refrigerator for the flavors to develop. You can dig in before then, but it truly is best if you wait. . . it only gets better the longer it sits in the fridge, by day 5, it’s sublime! The frozen coconut and the sour cream are both key, as they keep the cake moist and from being overly sweet.

I included a copy of my MIL’s two saved recipes, one from a community cookbook, the other from the newspaper.

They are lots of variations of this ‘Three Day Coconut Cake’, starting with quantity of sour cream, sugar, and coconut; mixing the frosting/filling and letting it stand in the refrigerator the day before so you have a ‘Four Day Cake’; adding whipped topping to the sour cream mixture, etc.

I’ve tweaked this recipe over the years and substitute unsweetened coconut milk for the water in the box mix for additional coconut flavor. Instead of mixing the coconut in with the sour cream mixture, I found it easier to sprinkle the coconut on top of the frosting layers and press it in on the sides of the cake, which prevents it from being too heavy to spread and sliding off the sides of cake like an avalanche.

You can leave the sides of the cake naked if you prefer, but we like the cake coated in a lightly sweetened blanket of flaked coconut.

Optional cake decoration for Easter:

Add green tinted coconut “grass” and jelly beans or candy eggs around the rim of your cake plate.

Find easy directions to tint coconut -> HERE.

You can use 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans to make this cake, whichever you have or prefer.

If your cakes have a dome on top after baking, you’ll want to level them off with a serrated knife

for a straight and sturdy cake before frosting and stacking your layers.

Here are the easy steps and ingredients

For the cake:

15.25 oz. white cake mix, I used Duncan Hines Perfectly Moist Classic White Cake Mix 

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1/3 cup vegetable or neutral oil

3 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or Homemade Vanilla Extract

For the frosting:

16 oz. sour cream (full fat for best flavor)

8 oz. container whipped topping (Cool Whip), thawed

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

2 (6 oz.) packages frozen unsweetened coconut

*Extra sweetened flaked coconut for top and sides of cake

(*I like Baker’s Sweetened Angel Flake Coconut which is moister than other flaked coconut on the baking aisle. I used 3/4 of a 14 oz. bag to cover sides and top of cake)

To make cake:

Place a rack in the center of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray two 8 or 9-inch round cake pans with baking spray with flour, such as Baker’s Joy; set pans aside.

Place the cake mix, coconut milk, oil, eggs, and or vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until blended, 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 1 minute longer.

Divide the batter evenly between the two pans, smoothing it out with a rubber spatula. Place the pans in the oven.

Bake until cakes spring back when pressed with your finger and are lightly golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the cakes from the oven, and place them on wire racks to cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove cakes from pan and place right side up on cooling rack. Allow the cakes to cool completely, 20 minutes longer.

Optional: To make slicing easier / more precise, wrap each layer in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 1 hour.

Place the bottom half of a cake layer on a serving or cake plate, cut side up. Add strips of wax paper under edge of cake to keep plate clean before assembling.

To make frosting:

Place the sour cream, whipped topping, and confectioners’ sugar in a large bowl. Beat with the mixer on medium speed until well combined, 30 to 45 seconds.

Spread cut layer with 1 cup of the frosting. Sprinkle one fourth of the coconut (about a heaping 1/2 cup) on top of the frosting. Top with the matching top half of the cake layer, cut side down. Spread with another 1 cup frosting and another fourth of the coconut. Continue with cake layers, adding frosting, then coconut. Spread the top of the cake with the remaining frosting and coconut. Add frosting to sides of cake and press in sweetened flaked coconut to sides to cover and more on top to garnish.

Note: You can use frozen unsweetened or sweetened flaked coconut, whichever you prefer. I like the unsweetened frozen for between the layers of this cake as it has more coconut flavor and moister than what you buy on the shelf. Sweetened flaked coconut is pretty and best for garnishing the top and sides. Frozen coconut is near the frozen fruit in the grocery store and is more challenging to find than it used to be. I had to search a couple of different grocery store chains and found it at a local Food Lion. It looks like it’s available at Kroger’s which we don’t have in NC. If you can’t find frozen coconut, substitute Bakers Angel Flake brand which is moister than other bagged coconut brands.

Place the cake in a cake saver or under a glass dome in the refrigerator until time to serve, preferably for three days for best flavor.

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Print Recipe

Three Day Coconut Cake

Three Day Coconut Cake is a retro cake recipe that stands the test of time! It’s easy to make and starts with a box mix, but does require planning ahead, as it benefits from sitting in the refrigerator for three days to allow the flavors to develop.

Prep Time35 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

chill time3 days d

Total Time3 days d 1 hour hr

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: 3 Day Coconut Cake, box mix coconut cake, coconut cake with sour cream, coconut milk, Easter dessert, frozen coconut, make ahead recipe

Servings: 12 servings

Equipment

• mixer

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 15.25 oz. white cake mix
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil or neutral oil
• 3 large eggs room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the frosting:

• 16 oz. sour cream full fat for best flavor
• 8 oz. container whipped topping such as Cool Whip, thawed
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• (2) 6 oz. packages frozen unsweetened coconut thawed or partially thawed
• Extra sweetened flaked coconut for top and sides to garnish cake Baker's Sweetened Angel Flake Coconut recommended (about 3/4 of a 14 oz. bag)

Instructions

To make cake:

• Place a rack in the center of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Grease and flour two 8 or 9-inch round cake pans; set pans aside.
• Place the cake mix, coconut milk, oil, eggs, and or vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until blended, 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 1 minute longer. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans, smoothing it out with a rubber spatula. Place the pans in the oven.
• Bake until cakes spring back when pressed with your finger and are lightly golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the cakes from the oven, and place them on wire racks to cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove cakes from pan and place right side up on cooling rack. Allow the cakes to cool completely, about 20 minutes longer.
• Optional: To make slicing easier and more precise, wrap each layer in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 1 hour.
• If your cakes have a dome on top, level them off with a serrated knife, then slice each layer in half horizontally to yield four layers.
• Place the bottom half of a cake layer on a serving or cake plate, cut side up. Add strips of wax paper under edge of cake to keep plate clean before assembling.
• Spread cut layer with 1 cup of the frosting. Sprinkle one fourth of the coconut (about a heaping 1/2 cup) on top of the frosting. Top with the matching top half of the cake layer, cut side down. Spread with another 1 cup frosting and another fourth of the coconut. Continue with cake layers, adding frosting, then coconut. Spread the top of the cake with the remaining frosting and coconut. Add frosting to sides of cake and press in sweetened flaked coconut to sides to cover and more on top to garnish. Remove strips of wax paper.
• Place the cake in a cake saver or under a glass dome in the refrigerator for a minimum of four hours, but preferably 3 days for best flavor before serving. Flavors will meld and develop and cake will become moist and more flavorful the longer it sits.

To make frosting:

• Place sour cream, whipped topping, and confectioners’ sugar in a large bowl. Beat with the mixer on medium speed until well combined, 30 to 45 seconds.

Notes

• Frozen coconut is found in the freezer section by the frozen fruit. You can use frozen unsweetened or sweetened flaked coconut, whichever you prefer. I like the unsweetened frozen for between the layers of the cake as it has more coconut flavor and moister than what you buy on the shelf. I used Baker's Sweetened Angel Flake Coconut (in the baking aisle) for garnishing the cake sides and top, as it's pretty and moist. I used about 3/4 of a 14 oz. bag to garnish sides and top. If you can't find frozen coconut, substitute Bakers Angel Flake brand which is moister than other bagged coconut brands.
• The sour cream cuts the sweetness of the Cool Whip and makes the frosting taste more homemade. Use full fat or reduced fat sour cream, (not fat free) for best flavor.
• Optional: Frost just the top and between the layers, leaving sides naked on the cake. You can reduce the sour cream to 8 oz. and sugar to 1/2 cup for naked sides.
• Optional decoration for Easter: Add green tinted coconut "grass" and jelly beans or candy eggs around rim of cake plate. Find directions to tint coconut

Find 20+ recipes to make your Spring or Easter celebration extra sweet -> HERE.

You’ll find desserts, as well as a round up of make-ahead sides and salads.

The winner of a set of 4 bunny plates from my giveaway is Darlene G.

Thanks to all who entered!

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