This vegan coconut cake is a simple and healthy-ish recipe made with a soft and moist wholegrain sponge cake and filled with delicious vegan coconut custard. This cake is perfect for kids and adults alike, for birthdays and special occasions. It’s dairy-free, egg-free, but still moist and delicious. Everyone will love it!

Wholegrain-Vegan-Sponge-Cake

Check out our best plant-based dessert recipes!

Tips

Wholegrain-Vegan-Sponge-Cake
  • Take your time. Each component of this recipe is very easy to make, however when seen all at once it might seem daunting. Make sure you have time at hand, if not make the spongecake a day in advance.
  • Use the syrup to moisten the spongecake. This is common practice in most Italian sponge cakes. It really makes a massive difference and it will make your cake super moist and yummy.
  • Apply coconut with a small spatula. We tried applying the coconut with our hands, but that’s very very messy.

Storage

Whole vegan Sponge cake with coconut cream on platter

Our vegan coconut cake keeps at room temperature for up to 4 to 5 days before turning stale. Keep it in a cool place, and cover it with an upside-down bowl or cake keeper. You can also store it in the refrigerator if you have space.

Similar recipes

You can easily customise your Sponge Cake with your preferred jam or custard. Chocolate, Pistachio and vanilla custard are some of our favourites that are perfect with a Wholegrain Sponge cake

If you liked this coconut cake recipe, please leave a comment below and a star rating. Feedback really helps us improve our content, and it helps other too.

For many more easy dessert ideas, check out our desserts category page.

Wholegrain Vegan Sponge Cake with coconut cream

Vegan coconut cake

By: Nico Pallotta
5 from 3 votes
This vegan coconut cake is a simple and healthyish recipe made with a soft and moist wholegrain sponge cake, and filled with a delicious vegan coconut custard. This cake is perfect for kids and adults alike, for birthdays and special occasions. It's dairy free, egg free, but still moist and delicious. Everyone will love it!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 16 people
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Italian

Equipment

  • Springform pan or cake pan, 18 cm diameter (7 inches)

Ingredients

For the sponge cake

  • 240 g whole-wheat flour
  • 240 g bread flour
  • 21 g baking powder
  • 400 g plant milk
  • 250 g brown sugar
  • 60 g sunflower seed oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

For the coconut custard

  • 500 g plant milk
  • 200 g coconut milk
  • 70 g cornstarch
  • 100 g sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the topping

  • ½ cup shredded coconut
  • 250 ml vegan whipped cream

For the syrup to moisten the cake

  • 200 g water
  • 100 g sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions 

For the sponge cake

  • Preheat the oven to 180C (356F). In a large bowl, add plant milk, oil, sugar, vanilla extract and mix well together with a spatula until the sugar is dissolved.
    mixing liquids
  • Sift the two flours and the baking powder while adding them to the bowl with the liquids.
    sifting flours
  • With a spatula, incorporate the flour and the liquids together trying to break the lump. Do not over-mix. It whould only take you 1 or 2 minutes.
    making the cake batter
  • Grease your springform pan with some vegetable oil, then dust it with flour and pour the cake batter in it.
    Pourin the cake batter into a form
  • Bake for 50 minutes at 180C (356F). Check with a toothpick if it's cooked inside.
    Baking in the oven
  • Let cool down on a cooling rack before taking it out of the form and cutting it into 3 equal layers of about 2cm (0.8 inches) each. Use a serrated knife/bread knife to cut the cake.
    cutting the cake in layers

For the custard

  • In a pot off the heat, whisk together all the ingredients for the custard till there are no lumps in the liquid.
    making the custard
  • Bring onto the heat, and keep whisking, on low-med heat, until the liquid truns into a thick custard. Then take off the heat and let cool down for 20 min, stirring occasionally.
    cooking the custard

For the syrup

  • In a small pot on low heat, dissolve the sugar in the water, then add the vanilla and set aside.
    making the syrup

Assembling the cake

  • Place the base layer of the sponge cake onto a serving platter and brush it with ⅓ of the syrup.
    building the coconut cake first layer
  • Cover it with a generous amount of coconut custard.
    covering the layer with custard
  • Put the middle layer of sponge cake on top of the custard, applying some gentle pressure to fix it in place. Brush another ⅓ of the syrup on top, and cover with another layer of custard.
    adding the second layer
  • Add the last piece of the sponge cake on top of the custard, but flip it upside down. Then with a spatula level off the custard coming out on the side of the cake.
    fixing the sides
  • Brush the top layer with the remaining syrup, then cover the whole cake with your vegan whipped cream.
    covering the vegano coconut cake with whipped cream
  • Cover the whole cake with shredded coconut.
    covering the vegan coconut cake with shredded coconut
  • Store in the refrigerator or eat straight away!
    serving the vegan coconut cake

Notes

MEASUREMENTS
We recommend using the metric system for this recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 328kcal, Carbohydrates: 58g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Potassium: 339mg, Dietary Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 30g, Vitamin A: 221IU, Vitamin B6: 1mg, Vitamin C: 4mg, Vitamin E: 3mg, Vitamin K: 1µg, Calcium: 158mg, Folate: 31µg, Iron: 2mg, Manganese: 1mg, Magnesium: 33mg, Zinc: 1mg
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Nico and Louise in the kitchen

Hi! We are Nico & Louise

Welcome to The Plant-Based School, a food blog with easy, tasty, and wholesome recipes.

Our aim is to help you and your family eat more veggies through delicious recipes with simple ingredients.

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2 Comments

    1. Hi Heather, 2 tsp for the sponge, 1 tsp for the custard, 1 tsp for the syrup, but if you like a stronger vanilla aroma feel free to add more. 🙂 Thanks!