Coconut-Buttermilk Pound Cake

Rating: 3.37 stars
482 Ratings
  • 5 star values: 88
  • 4 star values: 119
  • 3 star values: 175
  • 2 star values: 85
  • 1 star values: 15

Tangy buttermilk balances this rich coconut cake. It's also used to make the thick glaze.

Everyday Food, October 2012

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Read the full recipe after the video.

Recipe Summary test

prep:
30 mins
total:
1 hr 30 mins
Servings:
8
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Ingredients

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 4 1/2-by-8 1/2-inch loaf pan. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, using a mixer, beat butter and granulated sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, 8 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed. Add vanilla, then eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down bowl. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with two 1/2-cup additions buttermilk, and beat until combined. With a rubber spatula, fold in 1 1/4 cups coconut.

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  • Transfer batter to pan and bake until a skewer inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 60 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet, 1 hour. Remove cake from pan and let cool completely on rack. (Store at room temperature, wrapped in plastic, up to 4 days.)

  • Whisk together confectioners' sugar and remaining 2 tablespoons buttermilk. Drizzle over cake and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup coconut.

Cook's Notes

Toast coconut in a 350-degree oven for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring often. Watch carefully when toasting; coconut can go from browned to burned before you know it.

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Reviews (13)

482 Ratings
  • 5 star values: 88
  • 4 star values: 119
  • 3 star values: 175
  • 2 star values: 85
  • 1 star values: 15
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: 5 stars
05/02/2019
Everything worked in this recipe. It's delicious...I like the fact that it is easy to make and not a large cake.No fancy frosting either.😍The glaze works well. Toasted coconut lovers unite! I have made it many times, my husband loves it too.
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: 5 stars
01/27/2018
Best pound cake ever!!! Have made it many times, always comes out perfect. Be sure to toast the coconut because it deepens the flavor of the cake and the frosting. Making it again today - yumalicious!!!
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
07/17/2015
Haven't made yet...but wondering if coconut oil can be used as a substitution for half the butter. Also, if coconut flavoring would taste too artificial. Anyone tried that yet?
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Martha Stewart Member
Rating: 5 stars
05/28/2015
Outstanding - my new go-to. In the month since I discovered this recipe in an old issue of Everyday Food, I've made it 3 times! The only modification I make is that I add just a smidge less buttermilk to the glaze. I like it a little thicker so it mostly stays on top and only drizzle partway down the sides. The first time I made it, the glaze was too thin and mostly slid off the cake.
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
11/02/2014
I love the cake. It's delicious. BUT, I had a problem with the volume of batter and the suggested pan size. I made this cake again today so I could attempt to duplicate my results. Sure enough, the volume was too much for a 4.5 by 8.4 inch loaf pan. With the first cake, I stubbornly filled the suggested pan too full & even then ended up putting a bit of batter into a mini-loaf pan. This time I used a 9X5 pan and it fit perfectly and baked perfectly. I followed the recipe exactly (twice).
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
10/30/2014
This cake is so easy to make, plus it is pretty. My family loved it. In fact, my 8 year-old grandson suggested I thank Martha for this recipe. So, thank you!
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Martha Stewart Member
Rating: 1 stars
10/21/2014
Missing nutrition information ... will not use any recipe without this information!
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: 3 stars
08/08/2014
I made this and it came out great! Since I did not have any buttermilk on hand I "made" my own with 1 cup of milk and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. I love tnis cake, but next time, I think I would want to pump up the coconut taste even more, and add Coco Lopez or cream of coconut to substitute some of the wet ingredients.
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
01/15/2014
I used this recipe a half dozen times and it is consistently good. A wonderful cake to have for guests or make for bake sales. ***Jessi is it possible that you used the entire amount of buttermilk in the batter by accident? The batter is so fluffy & on the thick side, but even going up to a 9 x 5 loaf pan makes it come out a little too flat. Just a thought.
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
11/01/2013
Oh no!! I followed this recipe to a T and so much of it is spilling out of the pan. I used the correct size, in spite of my reservations. There seemed to be too much batter for the pan it required but I used it anyway, assuming it was the right thing to do. BOO!! It's also took quite a bit longer to cook obviously because there's so much more batter than should be... This needed to be baked in a larger pan. As for consistency and flavor, it's delightful. Just use a larger loaf pan.
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
04/29/2013
Tried this for the 1st time for a bake sale this weekend and it was the 1st dessert to sell out... someone even asked me for the recipe. Followed recipe as is... sooo yummy.
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
02/04/2013
Made this for superbowl and everyone loved it!!! Really easy recipe too!
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
11/15/2012
I have made this pound cake 3 times since it was in the magazine. I love making it, and everyone loves eating it. I added 1/2 a tsp. of coconut flavoring because I had some on hand. But besides that I keep this recipe just the way it was intended. I think it will become one of my signature baking items I love it so much.
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