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Tom Cruise coconut cake is a dense pound cake with coconut flavor and silky white chocolate throughout. The indulgent frosting is a coconut cream cheese buttercream with sweetened coconut on the outside. It’s a coconut lover’s dream—but a super sweet one.
Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe
- Famous Copycat: You could spend a lot of money buying the cake straight from the source, but this recipe is seriously so good you don’t need to.
- Flavor: I am not kidding when I tell you guys that this cake is seriously the best thing I have ever tasted! I’m so happy with how it turned out.
- Versatile: This cake is so delicious it will be a hit for any occasion, holiday, birthday, Christmas, Easter, or just anytime that sweet tooth hits.
What is Tom Cruise Coconut Cake?
This cake is called the Tom Cruise Coconut Cake after the white chocolate coconut bundt cake created by Karen Doan from Doan’s Bakery in Woodland Hills, California. Every holiday season, Tom Cruise orders a bunch of these cakes to send all around the country to his Hollywood friends. You can order them from Gold Belly and have them shipped to you, but it costs $129.99 (with free shipping, haha). If you want to save yourself some dough (haha, pun intended), make your own! I promise my recipe will deliver the same crazy good flavor and texture. Actor Tom Hanks even said this is the cake he would want for his final meal!
Ingredients for Tom Cruise Coconut Cake
Cake
- Cake Flour: Provides the base of the cake and gives a light, fluffy texture.
- Granulated Sugar: Adds the best sweet flavor and wonderfully caramelized texture.
- Leavening Agents: Baking Powder and Baking Soda are used as leavening agents to make the bread airy.
- Salt: Salt is necessary to add contrast to the sweet to enhance all the flavors.
- Unsalted Butter: Adds moisture and a rich flavor.
- Eggs: Used as a binding agent to create delicious, dense bread.
- Coconut Extract: The star of the show! All of the delicious coconut flavor needed to give this cake its flavor profile.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds a warm, sweet flavor. Use store-bought or my homemade vanilla extract.
- Sour Cream: Gives the cake added moisture and gives it a nice crumb.
- White Chocolate Chips: Provides an extra bit of sweetness and the best texture.
Coconut Frosting
- Cream Cheese: Provides the base of the frosting and a tangy, creamy flavor.
- Salted Butter: Gives the frosting a buttery, rich flavor and texture.
- Powdered Sugar: Adds sweetness and makes the frosting light and fluffy.
- Coconut Extract: A touch more coconut flavor to add to this incredible coconut cake!
- Cream of Coconut: Give the frosting more coconut flavor and add moisture to give it the right texture.
- Sweetened Shredded Coconut: One more layer of coconut goodness!
How to Make Tom Cruise Coconut Cake
I’ve heard so much about this famous coconut cake that Tom Cruise sends to all his friends during the holidays that I wanted to try it myself. When I saw the price tag, I knew I needed to make my own recipe. You guys, it’s seriously so good! I can’t wait for you to try it!
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 12-cup bundt pan well with pan spray and set aside. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and set aside.
- Beat: Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Combine: Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed to make sure everything is evenly incorporated.
- Mix: Add the sour cream and both the coconut and vanilla extracts and mix until evenly incorporated.
- Mix: Add the flour mixture, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure it’s all incorporated. Mix at medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes until the batter is thick and pale. Fold the white chocolate chips into the batter before spreading the batter evenly in the prepared bundt pan.
- Bake: Bake for 60-75 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean from the center and the cake springs cake when lightly pressed on. Let the Tom Cruise coconut cake cool for at least 30 minutes before inverting it onto a baking rack.
Frosting
- Beat: Add the butter and cream cheese to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat them at medium-high speed.
- Combine: Add the powdered sugar to the butter mixture and beat on medium-high until fully combined.
- Mix: Add the coconut extract and coconut milk.
- Beat: Beat until it’s pale and fluffy.
Coconut
- Frost: Once the cake is fully cooled, add the frosting to the outside of the cake.
- Add Coconut: Press the coconut all around it until it is fully coated. I like to do this over a large baking sheet to catch all the excess coconut.
Coconut Cake Tips and Variations
- Baking Spray: I recommend using a pan spray that is specifically for baking and has flour in it. This will help your bundt cake release cleanly from the pan! Use a paper towel to blot out any pools of spray before adding the batter to the pan. If you don’t have baking spray, you may use regular pan spray and dust the inside of the pan thoroughly with flour, tapping out the excess.
- NO Peeking! Try to resist opening the oven door too early to test the doneness fo the cake. This can cause the cake to sink in the middle! Bundt cakes typically take quite a bit of time to bake.
- Toasted Coconut: You can toast the coconut flakes for the outside of the cake if you would like. Spread it out on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 5-7 minutes, stirring every minute or two until toasted to your liking. Let it cool completely before pressing it to the outside of the cake.
How to Store and Make Ahead Tom Cruise Cake
- Fridge: You can store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Make Ahead: The cake can be baked up to 2 days before frosting. Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator until you are ready to frost it.
More Coconut Cake Recipes to Try
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Tom Cruise Coconut Cake
Tom Cruise coconut cake is a dense pound cake with coconut flavor and silky white chocolate throughout. The indulgent frosting is a coconut cream cheese buttercream with sweetened coconut on the outside. It's a coconut lover's dream—but a super sweet one.
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 cups cake flour
- 2 ⅔ cups granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 5 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon coconut extract, or emulsion
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream
- 6 ounces white chocolate chips
Coconut Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup salted butter
- 3 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- ¼ cups cream of coconut
- 2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray 12-cup bundt pan well with pan spray and set aside.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and set aside.
- Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed to make sure everything is evenly incorporated.
- Add the sour cream and both the coconut and vanilla extracts and mix until evenly incorporated.
- Add the flour mixture, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure it's all incorporated. Mix at medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes until the batter is thick and pale.
- Fold the white chocolate chips into the batter before spreading the batter evenly in the prepared bundt pan.
- Bake for 60-75 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean from the center and the cake springs cake when lightly pressed on. Let the cake cool for at least 30 minutes before inverting it onto a baking rack.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Add the butter and cream cheese to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat them at medium-high speed.
- Add the powdered sugar to the butter mixture and beat on medium-high until fully combined. Add the coconut extract and coconut milk, beating until it’s pale and fluffy.
Assembly
- Once the cake is fully cooled, add the frosting to the outside and press the coconut all around it until it is fully coated. I like to do this over a large baking sheet to catch all the excess coconut.
Nutrition
Calories: 973kcalCarbohydrates: 124gProtein: 9gFat: 51gSaturated Fat: 32gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 173mgSodium: 505mgPotassium: 215mgFiber: 2gSugar: 99gVitamin A: 1296IUVitamin C: 0.3mgCalcium: 91mgIron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried this recipe?Mention @alyssa_therecipecritic or tag #therecipecritic!
