This moist and fluffy vegan coconut cake is layered with a creamy blueberry yogurt mousse that is super refreshing, delicious and lighter than traditional frosting. The recipe is dairy-free, egg-less, easy to make and perfect for summer!
Vegan Blueberry Coconut Cake Recipe
Do you love Vegan desserts with coconut flavor like Raffaello? Well, I do! But, honestly, I have always been a big fan of any coconutty sweet treat. No matter if it’s a chocolate bar like bounty or something smooth and creamy like coconut ice cream or pudding or panna cotta – I really love anything with coconut!
Also, my grandma has always loved baking with coconut. I can still remember that she made a coconut mandarin cheesecake very often because it was our family’s favorite cake. And in winter season she often baked homemade cookies or airy Baiser macaroons made with shredded coconut.
And while I‘m writing this I can really smell these golden browned baked shredded coconut flakes. Yum! I think I have to make a vegan version of another coconut cake soon, and if it succeeds I‘ll share the recipe here too so stay tuned!
Blueberry Coconut Cake
Well, but today it’s all about this delicious blueberry coconut cake! The sponge cake itself is super soft, moist, and rich in coconut flavor! And even though, it contains NO EGGS and NO DAIRY, it’s still fluffy thanks to the combination of baking soda and baking powder.
Quick & Easy One-Bowl Coconut Cake Recipe
What I love about this recipe is that the cake batter comes together super quick in one bowl! Just combine the dry ingredients, then pour in the coconut milk, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Stir to combine and lastly fold in shredded coconut. Then, fill in your prepared cake pan and bake. That’s it!
Blueberry Coconut Yogurt Cream Frosting
The coconut blueberry mousse frosting for this cake is not a traditional buttercream or cream cheese frosting as you may expect. It’s just made with coconut yogurt and whipped coconut cream so it’s light, fluffy, wonderfully creamy and just perfect for summer!
To firm up the blueberry yogurt coconut cream mixture you’ll need adding agar-agar (or substitute gelatin if non-vegan). But if you’ve already tried one of my no-bake tart, cheesecake or pie recipes, you may already be familiar with the use of agar-agar. However, if you have still no idea what it is or how to use it, you can read the blogpost of my no-bake mango cheesecake recipe for useful information.
How to assemble Coconut Cake
Since the agar-agar yogurt mixture starts to gel when it gets cooler than 95°F (35°C), you should assemble the cake as fast as possible.
Can I make a Naked Cake?
It’s totally up to you if you want to frost the sides too (as pictured) or if you’d rather like to just create a naked cake as I did with my blueberry lemon cake. If you choose the first option, reserve 1/4 of the cream for the sides before folding in the fresh blueberries. And after assembling, carefully loosen the cake ring, then you can gently frost the sides with the reserved cream. However, if you choose the second option you can add 1/3 of the cream instead of just 1/4 for each layer. Just in case you’ll have any blueberry cream left after assembling, you can fill it into a jar, then refrigerate and once it has set enjoy as a mousse dessert.
This Vegan Blueberry Coconut Cake is
- Egg-less
- Dairy-free
- Moist & Fluffy
- Soft & Spongey
- Rich in coconut flavor
- Reminds of fruity Raffaello
- Layered with creamy Blueberry Yogurt Mousse Frosting that is light, refreshing & just so delicious!
Can I use a larger cake pan?
This exact recipe will make three thin 7-inch cake layers (as pictured) or two thin 9-inch cake layers. But you could also use a 8-inch cake pan to make a two layer cake with thicker layers like my chocolate cake.
If you want to double this recipe for four 9-inch cake layers like my lemon cake, I recommend you to divide the batter in two springform pans to ensure evenly baked cake layers. When you add too much batter in one springform pan, the cake needs a longer baking time. This means the sides will get too dry while the center is still unbaked.
Anyway, if you want to make just a single layer cake, you can make this vegan coconut cake recipe exactly as is and bake in a 9-inch or 10-inch pan. Please make sure to do a cake test – always – since the baking time may vary when using another pan.
Can I make cupcakes with this recipe?
Yes, you can! I recommend you to bake cupcakes for about 20-25 minutes and muffins for about 25-30 minutes. Then check by doing a cake test if they’re done. When you insert a toothpick into the middle of a cupcake and it comes out clean, then you can remove them from the oven. Otherwise, bake 5 minutes longer and check again.
Looking for more vegan Layer Cake Recipes to try? Then you may also like my
- Chocolate Raspberry Cake
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Snickers Cake
- Blueberry Lemon Cake
- Strawberry Lemon Cake
- Vegan Black Forest Cake
- Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Strawberry Cream Cake
- Vegan Vanilla Cake
If you try this Vegan Blueberry Coconut Cake Recipe be sure to leave a comment and rating letting me know how it turns out! Your feedback is always super helpful for me and other readers who are planning to try the recipe. And if you take a photo of your dreamy blueberry coconut dessert please tag me on Instagram @biancazapatka and use the hashtag #biancazapatka because I love seeing your remakes! Happy baking!
Blueberry Coconut Cake with Yogurt Frosting
Author:You do not have a fitting cake pan at hand right now? Try my Cake Pan Conversion Calculator!
Ingredients
Coconut cake
- 1 ½ cup coconut milk full-fat, 360ml
- 2 tbsp lemon juice or sub 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour 320g
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1 cup sugar 200g
- ½ cup coconut oil 120ml, melted
- 2 tsp vanilla extract optional
- 1 cup shredded coconut flakes 80g
Blueberry Yogurt Frosting
- ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp blueberry juice 100ml, *see recipe notes
- 1 tsp agar-agar 100% powder - no flakes!, or sub 1 tbsp powdered gelatin (if-non vegan)
- 1 cup coconut cream 240ml, or another non-dairy whipping cream
- 1 cup full-fat coconut yogurt 240g, or sub another thick yogurt *see recipe notes
- ½ cup sugar 100g, or to taste
- 3.5 oz wild blueberries 100g, canned or frozen *see recipe notes
- 3.5 oz fresh blueberries 100g
To Serve (Optional)
- fresh blueberries
- fresh blackberries
- shredded coconut flakes
Instructions
Coconut Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly grease a 7-inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. (*Please read my blogpost if you want to use another size).
- Sift the flour, baking powder, and baking soda into a mixing bowl. Add the salt and sugar and whisk to combine.
- Add the coconut milk, melted coconut oil, lemon juice, and vanilla extract and mix until just combined, then add the shredded coconut flakes. (Whisk it all by hand to make sure there are no butter lumps at the bottom of the bowl. The batter will be slightly thick but please do not overmix or your cake will get dense).
- Pour the batter evenly into your prepared cake pan. Bake for about 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of your cake comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack. (The cake must be completely cool before cutting, frosting and assembling *see recipe notes).
- Once the cake is cooled cut into 3 even cake layers.
Blueberry Yogurt Frosting
- Add the coconut yogurt, sugar, and drained wild blueberries* into a mixing bowl. Stir to combine, then set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, whip up the coconut cream until fluffy and stiff peaks form. Place in the fridge until ready to use.
- In a small saucepan, stir the agar-agar into the blueberry juice. Bring to a boil and cook for about 2 minutes or according to the package instructions.
- Remove from heat and stir in 2-3 tablespoons of the coconut yogurt mixture to cool slightly. Now pour the entire agar-agar mixture into the remaining coconut yogurt, then fold in the whipped coconut cream (stir just until combined).
- Reserve 1/4 of the cream for the sides (Skip this step if you want to create a naked cake look). Fold the fresh blueberries in the remaining cream, then immediately assemble the cake. (Since the agar-agar mixture starts to gel when it gets cooler than 95°F (35°C), you should layer the cake as fast as possible).
Assembling the Cake (*see step-by-step pics above)
- Put the bottom cake layer on a serving plate and place a cake ring or springform pan around. Now add 1/3 of the blueberry cream, then add the second cake layer, followed another 1/3 of the cream. Place the third cake layer on top and finish with another 1/3 of the cream. Then carefully loosen the cake ring to cover the sides of the entire cake with the reserved cream.
- Refrigerate for 2 hours or so until the blueberry yogurt frosting has set.
To Serve
- Garnish your cake with fresh blueberries and blackberries and sprinkle over some shredded coconut flakes if you like. Serve chilled and enjoy!
Notes
- I recommend you to bake the cake the day before. Once cooled to room temperature, wrap in foil tightly and chill in the fridge overnight. Next day it’ll be easier to cut into even cake layers.
- You can also freeze the unfrosted cake for up to one month. Just make sure to wrap it tightly in foil to avoid freezer burn.
- If you want to make a traditional cream cheese buttercream frosting you can check out this recipe.
- I used 3,5oz (100g) canned & drained wild blueberries and 3,5oz (100g) fresh blueberries, but you could also use just canned or just fresh blueberries. If you’d like to use frozen blueberries, make sure to thaw and drain them completely before folding into the coconut yogurt.
- If you can’t find coconut yogurt you can sub another non-dairy yogurt. Just make sure the consistency is thick and creamy like greek yogurt.
- I used the juice from canned blueberries but you could also use another fruit juice like blackberry juice. Alternatively, you could also cook the agar-agar just in non-dairy milk.
- If making this cake non-vegan, simply mix 1 tbsp of instant powdered gelatin into the sweetened coconut yogurt blueberry mixture, then fold in the whipped cream and layer the cake. No cooking required!
- The frosted cake must be stored in the fridge or the blueberry yogurt frosting may melt.
- Please read my blogpost for additional information about this recipe.
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Hi Bianca,
I was looking for a fresh and light cake cream filling like this one, but I would cimbine it with chocolate ganache. Now, the ganache can be easily left at room temperature for lets say 0,5-1 hour, but what about this frosting? If used as a middle layer inside of the cake – how long do you think would need to start melting? Shall I add some coconut oil to firm it up even more? Thanks!
Hi Clara!
This pretty much depends on the temperature outside of the fridge. Coconut oil won’t help you with that because it melts at a very low temperature. I would recommend to not leave the cake outside of the fridge for longer than 1 hour as well.
Hi Bianca,
The recipe looks beautiful! I want to bake it for my dad’s birthday but I don’t have agar or gelatin. Do you think cornstarch would work as a thickener? Is there a substitute for either of those that might work?
Thank you.
Hi Bhavya,
I can’t tell you whether cornstarch will work or not. I would say that when using cornstarch you’d need to heat the whole amount of cream to thicken it. If you give it a try, please let me know how it worked. 🙂
Love how moist the layers are because of added coconut flakes, and the yogurt frosting is perfectly light (I used Kite Hill plain coconut yogurt) – this one’s also one of my favorites.
So glad you love it! ❤
Thank you! 🙂
If I wanted to fold frozen and smashed blueberries into the cake batter would the extra liquid make it bake unevenly?
Yes! But you can toss frozen blueberries in cornstarch first, then fold in the batter.
Hi, I love the colour of the frosting! But if I use gelatin and only fresh blueberries, would there be any purple colour at all? Thanks
Hi Anna,
feel free to use gelatin instead of agar if you’re not vegan
The blueberries will add an amazing natural color!
Best,
Bianca
Hello. I need your advice. If I use gelatin do I have to dissolve it in blueberry juice first and then mix with coconut yougurt mixture and ommit the juice completely? Because from your notes I understood that powdered gelatin is supposed to be mixed ditectly with yogurt mixture.
Thank you in advance for your help
Hi Jola, if using powdered instant gelatin you can mix it directly with yogurt mixture. I recommend reading the package instructions to be sure your gelatin is the instant version. If it is NOT instant, it has to be dissolved in the blueberry juice first and then mixed with coconut yogurt mixture.
Der ist echt lecker und gar nicht so schwer zu machen😍 Wir hatten nur Probleme mit der Creme, weil wir keine Sahne.
Es freut mich, dass der Kuchen geschmeckt hat! Vielleicht machst du ihn ja das nächste mal mit Sahne! 😃