Coconut Cream Cheese Pound Cake
This Coconut Cream Cheese Pound Cake is profoundly buttery and dense, and it’s packed with pure coconut flavor. All it needs is a simple dusting of powdered sugar for a finishing touch. However, it’s also delicious with whipped cream and fruit, and the flavor is more pronounced the day after it’s been made. Delicious!

A few months ago, I posted a classic pound cake recipe, and I had a couple people ask me if I could post a coconut pound cake. I love coconut myself…so why not. I’m so happy to share this recipe with you for coconut cream cheese pound cake.
Pound cakes are well known as a southern delicacy, and it’s no wonder. They are so buttery and dense, not too sweet, and perfect with a simple dusting of powdered sugar or some whipped cream and fruit. They are such a simple yet loved dessert. I love to snuggle up on the couch with a hot cup of coffee and piece of pound cake. It’s so good for breakfast or dessert.
Once you see how easy it is to make a pound cake, you’ll be wanting to venture out and make different flavors. Pound cake recipes are so versatile.
Lets’ get ready to make this pound cake. I know you’re going to love it!!
Ingredients Needed For This Recipe

Granulated Sugar: Adds sweetness and flavor.
All-Purpose Flour: All purpose flour is used in this recipe, because it doesn’t contain leavening agents. We’re adding our own…baking powder.
Baking Powder: Baking powder is a leavening agent, and makes cakes rise. You don’t see it often in pound cakes. However, we are using a small amount in this recipe to give the cake just a slight amount of lift, so that it’s not super dense. It basically just lightens the crumb a tiny bit. Don’t worry, it will still be dense and buttery.
Salt: Salt always enhances the other flavors in baked goods. We need some.
Sweetened Shredded Coconut: A main star in this recipe…make sure to use sweetened flake coconut. Also toss it in your blender or food processor and pulse it a few times. That way you’ll get tiny little bits of coconut evenly distributed throughout the cake.
Unsalted Butter: Use unsalted butter. We’re already adding salt to this recipe, therefore, we don’t need salted butter. It would ad too much salt to the recipe. If you only have salted butter, omit the salt in the recipe.
Large Eggs: They provide richness, structure and bind all ingredients together. Make sure to use the amount called for in this recipe, 6 large eggs. Pound cakes call for several eggs.
Pure Almond Extract or paste: Don’t use over 1 teaspoon of almond extract. It is more potent than vanilla extract, and a little goes a long way. One teaspoon is the perfect amount in this cake. You can taste a hint of it, but the coconut flavor rules here. I used my favorite pure almond paste in this recipe from Taylor and Colledge. It is divine!
Pure Coconut Extract: Make sure to not substitute imitation for pure coconut extract. The pure extract truly brings out the wonderful coconut flavor in this cake.
Cream Cheese: Don’t use cream cheese in a tub. Use a block of full-fat cream cheese. Cream cheese adds a slight tanginess to this recioe.
Milk (not pictured): Milk provides moistness and lends to a tender crumb. You can use 2% or whole milk in this recipe.

Mixing the cake batter

- In a medium bowl, whisk together the sifted and measured flour, baking powder, salt and coconut. Set aside.
- Add the cream cheese to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on medium high speed for about one minute until very smooth and free of any lumps. Add butter and sugar and mix on medium speed for about two minutes until the sugar and butter are well combined with the cream cheese. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the coconut and almond extracts and milk, mixing for about 30 seconds, just to incorporate. On low speed, add the flour-coconut mixture. Mix only until the flour mixture is incorporated, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary. This is a thick batter.
- Simply spoon the batter into your prepared pan and bake. See full recipe card below for specific instructions.
Pro Tips for this Recipe
- Make sure to use the right size pan. Whether you’re using a tube or bundt pan, make sure it will hold 12 cups. If you’re not sure, add cups of water to the pan to see how much it holds. If for any reason your cake bakes up over the top of the pan, once it’s cooled, you can slice the overage off the top. You’ll be inverting it anyway and no one will notice.
- Make sure the cream cheese, butter, milk and eggs are at room temperature, before starting this recipe.
- Make sure to measure the flour correctly. Sift some flour first. Then spoon the flour into a measuring cup and level it off with a knife edge. Too much flour equals dry cake.
- Once you’ve creamed the cream cheese and add the butter and sugar, it’s important to cream the butter and sugar together for the amount of time listed in the recipe. Don’t over mix the batter. Over mixing this cake batter will cause gummy streaks in the baked cake. Pound cakes aren’t like regular cakes. They don’t need all that extra air.
- Don’t over bake the cake. A toothpick test should come out with a few slightly moist crumbs.
- Don’t be tempted to raise the oven temperature to 350. It should bake slowly at 325 degrees.
- This pound cake will keep for 4 to 5 days at room temperature, if wrapped tightly. The flavor actually gets better after day one.
- Use pure ingredients in this recipe…pure coconut and almond extracts and real butter. It makes a huge difference in pound cakes, since they call for lots of butter, and the butter and extracts are the star flavors.
- If you prefer a crunchier texture on the outside of the cake, you can butter the pan and sprinkle it with granulated sugar instead of dusting it with flour. I personally prefer flour. If you are short on butter, you can also use solid shortening to grease the pan.

FAQ’s
Can I freeze this cake?
Yes. This cake freezes beautifully. I suggest slicing it first, then wrapping each piece in plastic wrap. Place slices in a large ziploc storage bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature. I don’t recommend using a microwave to thaw the cake slices. It will dry them out.
Why is there a gummy streak in my pound cake?
If you have a gummy streak running through your cake it means you’ve over creamed the butter and sugar. Over creaming incorporates too much air. (This would be okay in a regular cake). When the pound cake bakes the extra air makes it rise quickly, then fall as it cools, leaving a gummy streak that makes the cake look under baked, when it’s not.
Can I bake this cake in loaf pans?
Yes. You will need two standard loaf pans for this cake batter. Make sure to brush them with soft butter and lightly flour them, tapping out any excess flour.
Can I add other flavorings to this cake?
Yes. If you want a regular cream cheese pound cake, simply add 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract or 2 teaspoons of almond flavoring. Don’t over-do the almond extract. It’s pretty potent. You can add rum flavoring, lemon, orange, just about any flavor if you desire.

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Print
Coconut Cream Cheese Pound Cake
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Category: Cakes/Desserts
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
This pound cake is profoundly buttery and dense, and has a divine coconut flavor. It’s delicious with a dusting of powdered sugar, or some whipped cream and fruit, and the flavor is more pronounced the day after it’s been made.
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (sift then measure)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut, pulsed a few times in a blender
- 1 8–ounce package cream cheese, softened
- 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 6 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon pure coconut extract
- 1 teaspoon pure almond extract or almond paste
- 1/4 cup milk
- Powdered sugar for dusting the cake
- Coconut flakes for sprinkling over cake (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and lightly flour a 12 cup tube or bundt pan. Make sure to tap out all the excess flour. If using a bundt pan, use a pastry brush and make sure to get butter into all the crevices. Same with the flour. You can also use solid shortening if you don’t have enough butter.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the sifted and measured flour, baking powder, salt and coconut. Set aside.
- Add the cream cheese to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on medium high speed for about one minute until very smooth and free of any lumps. Add butter and sugar and mix on medium speed for about two minutes until the sugar and butter are well combined with the cream cheese. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the coconut and almond extracts and milk, mixing for about 30 seconds, just to incorporate. On low speed, add the flour-coconut mixture. Mix only until the flour mixture is incorporated, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and level it out by gently shaking the pan back and forth. The batter will be thick. Bake the cake for approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the top comes out with no more than moist crumbs on it. The top should be a nice golden brown.
- Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes. Invert the cake onto a wire rack, and allow it to cool completely before slicing.
Okay yo sub in canned coconut milk for the regular milk?
Hi Kristi, Yes you sure can.
It’s 1- 8 oz.. pkg, of cream cheese, right?
Hi Milli, Yes, one 8-ounce pkgs.