You look like you could use a slice of coconut cake…
A big slice of soft coconut cake… for breakfast!
Yes, coconut cake for breakfast.
Cake so soft and crumbly and sweet, bursting with juicy pineapple and luxurious vanilla… You’ll feel as if you went to bed and woke up in paradise, and then you won’t want breakfast to end!
Above, glazed with coconut milk and Sugar-Free Powdered Sugar.
Brunch time!
This year, I celebrated Easter twice. Emily’s parents drove up on Saturday morning, and she and I hosted a fancy Easter brunch. (Emily is my friend with whom I share a house. I call her my roommate, but luckily we have our own rooms!)
And Emily made mimosas, as well as some non-vegan foods. It was quite a big mess to clean up afterwards. So many dishes…
Her parents loved the coconut cake and had two slices each, even though there was a ton of other food!
I was originally calling it coconut bread because it’s cooked in a loaf pan, but they said the recipe was so soft and cakey that it was more like a breakfast cake than a bread.
Coconut Breakfast Cake
(makes 1 large loaf)
- 1 cup spelt or white flour (or this: gluten-free version)
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp Ener-g or 2 tbsp ground flax (If you must, you can omit. The loaf just won’t rise as much)
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp sugar, unrefined if desired, or xylitol
- 1/8 tsp uncut stevia OR 1/4 cup more sugar
- 2 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240g) crushed pineapple, drained (You can sub ripe banana)
- 1/2 cup full-fat canned coconut milk (see nutrition link below, for a lower-fat option)
- optional ingredients: chopped macadamia nuts or walnuts, shredded coconut, rum extract
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine all wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine dry and stir well. Mix dry into wet, but don’t overmix. Pour into a greased or sprayed loaf pan, and cook for 35-38 minutes. Let cool at least ten minutes before going around the sides with a knife and removing from loaf pan. As mentioned above, I used a simple glaze of the sugar-free powdered sugar mixed with a little leftover coconut milk. But my absolute favorite way to eat this recipe is spread with coconut butter! Store very loosely covered overnight, or cover with saran wrap and fridge for a few days. This cake/loaf tastes even better the longer it sits, because it keeps getting sweeter! This recipe freezes well.
Have you ever been to Hawaii?
Or any tropical location? We visited Hawaii a lot when I was little, because it was a good connecting point between Japan (where we lived) and the US. My other favorite tropical location is Thailand… one of the best things about these tropical locations is the plethora of tropical fruits, especially coconut! Side note: I also have a tab just for coconut recipes:
Link Of The Day:
Coconut tab…coconut bread? How did you know I am onto everything coconut right now?! This looks so good it is distracting me from my homework. I have told it later.
Anyway I REALLY want to see Hawaii but haven’t yet. It is absolutely on my list of places to see. I have been to Australia however which definitely has some tropical areas. It was an amazing experience.
What I really love about this post is that it is dark and stormy for me right now and your post is all sunshine and warm feeling. 🙂 Definitely what I needed!
Just pulled mine out of the oven! I added shredded coconut to the dry ingredients and used oat flour instead of spelt or white. Can’t wait to taste it!
Believe it or not, one of my favorite tropical locations is Guatemala. When I lived there, I would visit this black sand beach. My hotel was literally right on the water and had this beautiful porch area where I could sit, watch the waves, and drink coconut water from a coconut. Oh, and Honduras is great, too; when I was there, my snorkeling guide literally climbed a tree to fetch a coconut for me! He cracked it against the tree and I scooped out the flesh with my hands…primitive, maybe, but divine!
Coconut water from the actual coconut is 100 times better than any of the ones I’ve found in cartons. 🙂
I love how they can crack the coconut open with their hands… I have a difficult time even using a knife or a hammer!
I recently cracked my first coconut – chucked it out of the window of my 1st floor flat! It was great, got my flatmate to run down and retrieve it for me 😛 I’d put it in a plastic bag though, next time…
This looks AMAZING! I’m not even a big coconut person but I’ll probably make this!
We’re going to Hawaii in a few weeks, our 15th trip. We have land there where we’ll likely retire one day unless a spot opens up at a location of the Mr’s work on Kauai. I just found a house in the neighborhood we want so I’m itchin’ to get on the ball.
I hate to be that person who says “What can I substitute … with?”, but this cake looks awesome and I love coconut – but I don’t think I’ve ever had pineapple in my house before and they’re quite expensive around here, because there aren’t any grown in the country. Is there any way it can be substituted for something else?
P.S. Unrelated, but I just made your cornbread and in my excitement of making it, I didn’t notice that the corn I was using (I defrosted frozen corn because I didn’t have any canned corn) was expired in 2008 and in 2010. D’oh…
Oh haha you are THAT person, huh? 😉
Ok, so technically you can use anything… I am obsessed with versions of this bread, and I am trying to decide whether to put the pumpkin version or the double chocolate chip version in my cookbook. Or maybe strawberry… In any case, you can use mashed banana, pureed strawberries, or pretty much whatever else you wish as long as it’s 240 grams (usually 1 cup) and liquidy (i.e. don’t use pineapple chunks). But also, look for crushed pineapple in the canned section of many grocery stores.
I used canned pineapple chunks because I didn’t have crushed pineapple either. I just crushed them in the blender with the liquid ingredients.
This cake was amazing!!!
Purées fresh Strawberries. Just omit the milk and don’t drain…
Yum! Seriously I have a recipe bookmarked very similar to this and planned to make it this week, but I think I will have to make yours now– it being a little healthier and well stealing my heart…
That bread/cake looks so delicious! I’ve never been to Hawaii, but I have been to BVI and the Bahamas!
I’ve got some in the oven this morning! I’ll let you know how I/we like it whenever my mouth isn’t full…LOL. Love the Easter dress, by the way. And, I noticed your hair right away- the highlights are very nice. Have a great day!
Christie
Wow, you are fast! I can’t believe you already made it lol.
Hope it turns out well!!
I just made it too! I’ve already had three slices! Would it be really bad to have another? 😉
I don’t think this bread will last until tomorrow. It might be my new favorite recipe :).
You should call it Pina Colada Cake because of the pineapple!
Oh I so should! And now I am going to go edit my post to say you can add rum extract. You are a genius, miss Alex ;).
Katie, you better edit your post again because instead of “rum extract” it says “run extract” lol!!
LOL! Oops, thanks for letting me know!
Absolutely pina-colada craving inducing. Much healthier! 🙂
Never been to Hawaii, but my favorite tropical location is Key West, FL. Love it there. Your cake looks great! I love baking with spelt flour.
Do you mix the Ener-G with water first? Or do you just plop the poweder in with the dry ingredients?
THIS LOOKS AMAZING. I’m so excited for it!
I know it says to mix with water… but I never bother! I just mix it in with the dry.
I love that egg replacer… it is so easy to use. I’d use it in so many more of my recipes, but I’m just afraid too many people don’t have it on hand.
I’m from New Zealand and can’t find chia egg or flax egg in normal supermarkets I know I could try specialty stores but that’s a bit of a pain! Could you use egg or something else, or maybe suggest where to find it?
Can not wait to try this! Breakfast cakes are my new favorite thing!
Sorry I haven’t used a real egg in over 10 years, so I don’t know how that would work. Unfortunately, I have no idea where to find anything in New Zealand, but I hope I get to visit there someday. 🙂
Iff egg replacer works I don’t see why a real egg wouldn’t. Perhaps reduce the amount of baking powder just slightly(1/4 tsp maybe?) and use 2 large eggs (keep baking powder the same for 2 medium eggs). Haven’t tried it out yet but want to!
I used 1.5 eggs and it worked perfectly. You do not need flax seeds.
I love pineapple and coconut and coconut milk…the cake turned out so moist looking! Makes me want to take a tropical vacation 🙂
Oh yum! This reminds me of a Pina Colada oatmeal recipe I made up that allowed me to have these gorgeous tropical flavours for breakfast! I haven’t been to Hawaii but this recipe reminds me of home (the Cayman Islands) – though I have a Hawaiian friend and she is always telling me about the pineapple plantations there, so I MUST visit!
This sounds amazing, I cant wait to try it out!
HOLY HECK YES!
I just made this and it is incredible!!! I know you said it gets sweeter, but I don’t even think the loaf will last until tomorrow to see if you’re right. This is delicious!
I just made one small change and that was to crush the pineapple chunks I had (I didn’t have crushed) in a blender with the other liquid ingredients. Otherwise I made it exactly as written, and it is awesome!
Haha, the title actually scared me haha
I really want to go to Hawaii! Wear a flower in my hair and dance In a Short beach skirt lol
YUM coconut cake! I definitely want to try this. I’m going through a major <3 affair with coconut right now.
Last year I took a vacation to Mexico but that was my only trip anywhere tropical. Never been to Hawaii but I'm jealous you went so much as a kid!
cake… for breakfast…that is guilt free? sign me up! i love coconut, too. thanks for sharing, Katie!
Coconut is the best springtime flavor!
How many slices did you get out of the cake to get the 60 cals per slice?
FYI, it says in the nutrition link.
Looks delicous! How many servings?
It makes one regular-sized loaf.
Katie, Love your recipes. I like to print them out to use in the kitchen. Is there a way to print just the recipe without the comments? I do this from my iPad and when I later go to the printer to retrieve the recipe, I have one page of recipe and sometimes 20 pages of comments! Any way to prevent this?
What I do with recipes is I copy and paste just the recipe into a word document (highlight the recipe and press “control c” then click in the word document and press “control v”)
That way you can fit a lot on one page, and you can even reduce the font size so you save paper ;).
In some browsers you can highlight just the recipe part, and then press Print, and in your options check the box that says “Print selection only”. I use Chrome and this works perfectly for me!
I LOVE coconut, and love all your recipes! they are so straight-forward that, even if I have no experience as a cook, I am not able to mess them up! I am trying to stay sugar-free and don’t like artificial sweeteners: do you think I could subsitute mashed bananas or pureed dates/prunes/raisins for the sugar?
Xylitol is sugar free.
But not calorie free
I never said it was.
Unfortunately I have never been able to find it where I live, and also I don’t think it would be as cheap as using bananas or other friuts as sweeteners… Thank you for the sugestion, though!
Sorry, I can’t vouch for any substitutions because I haven’t tried them.
I like to use coconut palm crystals or sometimes maple sugar (made from pure maple syrup). Both have the same amount of calories as real sugar but no icky after taste and its not artificial. You should try to Google those. You could also look into date sugar (made from dates). I mainly use coconut palm because price wise I get more. Maple and date sugar is pricey for a small amount!
Also you can wean yourself down on the amount of sweetness. In most recipes I can cut it in half, sometimes just a few tablespoons depending on the recipe.
This recipe makes a pretty moist bread already, adding pureed fruit might make it not turn out very well.
This cake look delicious! And so moist!! How fun that you got to celebrate Easter twice! I love Hawaii! It’s so beautiful!
I read a lot of blogs, but this is the only website where I want to make EVERY SINGLE recipe you post. Seriously, you need to slow down because my recipe files can’t keep up! 😉
I made your coconut macaroons again last night, and they were as delicious as always!
My fav tropical location…..Zanzibar!
Coconut and pineapple, you said the magic words! I really wish I had canned pineapple in my pantry, because I want to make this bread right now! I’ll have to wait until I can get to the grocery store, but then I’m making it for sure!
P.S. I love the photos!
The title of this post spoke to me in a way that nothing has been able to speak to me in a LONG time, lol. 🙂 Coconut is my favorite food, I will be trying this shortly! Thanks!
I assumed you called for canned pineapple. Fresh would work too, right?! I happened to have some fresh pineapple at home. I love pineapple, and coconut (oh those easter macaroons…).
As for tropics, I’ve been to Costa Rica, and I lived in Kenya. Well, I don’t know if Kenya would be considered tropical, but they certainly have tropical fruits, the baby bananas were my favorite, and the mangos…
Yes, definitely! Just make sure to crush it small. One reader said she just blended it with the other liquid ingredients.
I didn’t know that you had a coconut tab!!! I’m in love with this!
What flour would you recommend to make this gluten free? Coconut flour? And would I need to add any xantham gum? Sounds delicious!!!!
Sorry, I’ve only tried it as written. I have no clue how it’d go with other flours.
Coconut and pineapple are one of my favourite combinations! I’m getting bored of my current breakfast, this loaf looks like it would be the perfect thing to switch it up!
YUM! YUM! YUM! I adore coconut so much, I could bathe in it on a daily basis. Seriously. I’d straight up soak in it all day if I could afford it. The hubs and I went to Hawaii for our honeymoon. It was two weeks of pure pineapple and coconut encrusted bliss! We spent a week on Oahu two blocks from Waikiki and then another week on Maui in a super luxe resort with an incredible ocean view room. It really was magical. I sobbed like a little girl who had lost her kitten when we had to leave. We might get to go again this year! *fingers crossed*
I went to Hawaii years and years ago and it was the best family vacation we ever had. Loved it!! I would go back in a heartbeat (if I had the money). This cake looks good, but I’m not a big fan of coconut. Also, what is Ener-G?
I think you can just say “house-mate” when talking about your friend Emily.
Ener-g Egg Replacer. It is amazing stuff! Just a mix of tapioca starch and potato flour, or something like that… I love it because it’s economical (a big box can last for years!) and easy to use. Plus, no need to refrigerate ;).
http://www.ener-g.com/faq-egg-replacer
(I ignore their advice to mix with water. I just use the powder as a dry ingredient.)
I use it the same way and have never had a problem. Part of me would love to try the flax or chia replacement options but Ener-g is easy and lasts forever.
how about this I found when I googled: 1. Mix 1 dessertspoon of chia seeds with a quarter cup of water to make an egg substitute for baking cakes and cookies. should work, right? I have chia seeds (or eggs) never heard of Energ-Y before… also wondering… have pineapple juice on hand and coconut flakes… wonder if I can switch them around…
mmmm that looks so good! We baked coconut cupcakes on Friday (for my birthday!), and these pictures are reminding me of them. Looks delicious, Katie!
The cake looks so good! 50 calories is really low for a slice…is the serving size really small? I read that there are 14 servings. Not knowing, I would think you would get a really tiny slice. Please let me know! Thanks!
As I wrote in the post, it makes one normal-sized loaf. Obviously you can eat more than one slice (especially with the calories being so low for a slice). I don’t mean to insinuate that one slice is the suggested serving for a meal; I always calculate my recipes for one (as opposed to two slices, two cookies, two of anything else) because I don’t want people to get confused and think the stats are for one when really they’re for, say, three slices ;).
I’ll have to make this! Sounds wonderful! 🙂
This cake looks so good. SO GOOD! Coconut just screams summer for me … I think I need to make this, and then eat it outside. Immediately 🙂
I have been to Hawaii for my honeymoon! Now, …in June, we’ll be going to Thailand for our 10 yr anniversary!! I am very excited for the trip, and of course now it seems like Thailand is coming up all the time! Now I can look forward to the coconut, among the many exciting parts of the trip…snorkeling, being away from kids for 10 days, being with my man for 10 days, the awesome new resort we’re staying at, …with awesome breakfasts every morning!!! Thanks for letting me be excited some more!!! Have a great night!!!
Thailand is one of my favorite places in the world. Eat some extra coconut curry for me! 🙂
And enjoy the hopefully-beautiful weather!
I adore coconut – it’s one of my favorite flavors in the whole world! I’ve been making coconut cake protein smoothies all week!
I’ve been to Hawaii twice, and I hope to go back one day! My favorite breakfast in Hawaii was macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup and fresh fruit. Amazing.
Cake for breakfast is always a good idea! Yum!
I used to live in HI! And I adore the sound of this cake. I can’t do bananas at the moment, so pineapple/coco sounds fantastic.
I think it would be very easy to make gf also–I’ll let you know if I do it.
Quick question–do you use the ener-G dry, or do you mix with water first?
thanks,
Ela
Dry :).
And if you do a gf version, I would LOVE to know the results. I think a lot of other people would love to hear your results as well!
Thanks! Sure, I’ll definitely let you know _when_ I try it –swamped right now, but maybe sometime in the later end of next week…
I just got back from Kaua’i! Most incredible vacation of my life!! The pineapple here is incomparable to the fresh, deliciousness of the pineapple there! Thanks for this recipe, I absolutely adore your blog 🙂
Aw thank you, Kelly!
Haha I got the WORST cold sore ever from pineapple in Hawaii… it was so good I couldn’t stop eating it, and I paid the price the next day!
A coldsore? As in the horrible little scab on your lip? If so, you can’t get a coldsore from eating a pineapple. A coldsore is caused by a virus.
Looks so moist!! I need a big slice pronto Katie
Can’t make this. Would eat the whole loaf…
Yum! Check out my website, I will be making that pretty soon!
I love the taste of coconut
Sounds like a slice of Hawaii, which no, I haven’t been to, sadly. And I like your sugar-free powdered sugar idea; does xylitol have a… uh, negative effect on you at all? My husband had too much of it once and banned it from the house thereafter, LOL.
I haven’t noticed anything weird. But I don’t really eat a lot of it!
Love this! I went to Hawaii when I was in 7th grade, and I LOVED it! I would love to go back. It was so gorgeous and the weather was amazing … warm but with no humidity!
This looks fantastic!
I’ve never been to Hawaii but I have been to Fiji! It was gorgeous and I had a grand old time drinking coconut milk straight from the coconut.
This looks awesome! I love pineapple anything- especially freshly cut pineapple. And (virgin!) pina coladas!
I just took mine out of the oven, and it exceeded my expectations, which were pretty high to begin with! 🙂
I love how moist it is from the pineapple, and the coconut flavor is not too strong but delicious nonetheless. I had a slice, and then I had to come tell you how good it was. But now I must leave because I want another slice :).
Oh, and I too love that you have a coconut tab!
My husband and I were in Hawaii last month and absolutely loved it! He wants to move there now, as in, he is actually applying for jobs (haha). As soon as I saw this recipe I went and made it, it’s in the oven now… smells amazing 🙂 This is one of my favourite flavour combinations, its a close second to the all-time amazing peanut butter and chocolate combo. I love “healthy” desserts! 🙂
Yum!! This looks so so good!
This cake looks amazing! Can’t wait to get to the store to buy coconut milk! Can it be made into cupcakes? I love Chocolate Covered Katie! 🙂
I don’t know… but now I’m curious too! If you try it before me, please let me know how it goes!
Mmmm reminds me of all the coconut and pineapple I ate in Puerto Vallarta over spring break… Take me back please!!!! :p
I do have one question however. I am semi-new to stevia, so I’ve never heard of “uncut” stevia. What do you mean by “uncut”?
Can’t wait to try your recipe as always!
If you’re using pure stevia extract (without ANY other ingredients listed) it’s 1/8 tsp. But the packets, such as NuNaturals or Truvia, are cut with things like maltodextrin or erythritol to make them easier to measure.
I love that you have a whole tab devoted to coconut recipes! I always knew you were my kind of girl 🙂
Love the sound of this!
Oh. My. God.
This sounds so,so good. I NEED to try this as soon as possible… Seriously,I do.
I have to admit that I’m one of those persons who are afraid of coconut milk because of its saturated fat,but I don’t think you could call this a coconut cake if you don’t have anything coconutty in the batter! Therefore,I see this recipe as a good way to conquer my (stupid) ED related fears! 🙂
mmmm yummy!!!!I love doing breakfast with a slice of cake!!
Yesterday I went to ours natural grocery store (We don’t have whole food and neither trader’s joe… :'( ) and I bought coconut milk, but there wasn’t any specification if it was canned or carton coconut milk…what’s the difference???
thanks,
attars
mmmmm yummy!!I love doing breakfast with cake’s slice!!
I yesterday went to ours “natural” grocery store (we don’t have “Whole food” neither “Trader’s Joe”… :'( ) and I bought coconut milk, but there wasn’t any specification if it was canned or carton coconut milk, what’s the difference??
thanks,
attars
If you bought it in a can, it’s canned. If you bought it in anything else, it isn’t. LOL 🙂
Thanks, I didn’t know the meaning of the word “can”, now I understood!!! LOL!!