Coconut Cream Cheese Pound Cake (Moist Southern Pound Cake Recipe)
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This Coconut Cream Cheese Pound Cake is rich, buttery, moist, and packed with sweet coconut flavor in every bite. Made with cream cheese for a soft texture and tender crumb, this homemade pound cake has the classic dense texture people love with a tropical coconut twist.
The combination of butter, cream cheese, and coconut creates a cake that stays moist for days and tastes even better after resting overnight.
Whether served for holidays, brunch, potlucks, Easter, or family gatherings, this Southern-style coconut pound cake is an easy dessert that always impresses.
My classic Southern pound cake recipes are always a hit, whichever one you choose to make.
Why Cream Cheese Makes Pound Cake Better
Many bakers prefer cream cheese pound cake because it stays fresh longer and has a smoother texture.
Cream cheese helps create a rich pound cake with a softer texture and more moisture than traditional pound cakes. Because cream cheese contains fat and moisture, it creates a tender crumb while still keeping the dense texture pound cake is known for.
What Gives Coconut Pound Cake So Much Flavor?
Coconut adds sweetness, texture, and a light tropical flavor that pairs beautifully with buttery pound cake. Shredded coconut helps add texture, while coconut extract can deepen the flavor even more.
Coconut on top adds crunch and extra coconut aroma.
Tips for the Best Coconut Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Perfectly sweet and supremely moist Coconut Cream Cheese Pound Cake starts with a basic Cream Cheese Pound Cake recipe. To this, I added coconut extract, almond extract, and flaked coconut. I didn’t want large pieces of coconut in the cake. Therefore, I pulsed the flaked coconut in a food processor until it was ground fine. (about .5 centimeters in length for lack of a better example)
Use room temperature ingredients
Room temperature butter, eggs, and cream cheese blend more smoothly.
Don’t rush creaming the butter and sugar
Proper creaming helps create better structure and texture.
Avoid overmixing
Overmixing can make pound cake tough instead of tender.
Use full-fat cream cheese
Full-fat cream cheese gives the richest flavor and best texture.
Let the cake cool fully
Pound cake slices more cleanly after cooling completely.
Why Does Pound Cake Crack on Top?
A crack on top is actually normal for old-fashioned pound cake recipes. Thick batters and long baking times naturally create a split as the cake rises in the oven.
Many bakers consider the crack a signature characteristic of homemade pound cake.
What to Serve with Coconut Pound Cake
I sprinkle confectioners’ sugar over the top. I then served the Pound Cake with fresh berries and whipped cream. Southern pound cake pairs well with any of these:
- fresh fruit dessert recipes
- strawberry sauce
- lemon sauce
- blueberry sauce
- whipped cream
- Cream Cheese Glaze
- coffee
- vanilla ice cream
- pineapple topping
- caramel sauce
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Wrap tightly and freeze for up to 3 months.
Store tightly covered at room temperature and avoid overbaking.
Yes. Sweetened shredded coconut works well in pound cake recipes.
Dry pound cake is usually caused by overbaking or too much flour.
No, I didn’t. One important note: traditional pound cakes did not contain baking powder or baking soda. They were leavened simply with eggs. Baking powder and baking soda change the texture (crumb) of cakes and inhibit the formation of that nice crunchy ‘crust’ that is so desirable on pound cakes.
Enjoy more homemade pound cake recipes and easy Southern desserts. Also, I do recommend you read How to Bake the Perfect Pound Cake and How to Calibrate your Oven to get the very best results for your pound cake baking.
Pound Cake Baking Tips
- Brands I recommend: Philadelphia cream cheese, Crisco solid vegetable shortening, and White Lily or Martha White flour. Pans and more recommendations here.
- I have found solid vegetable shortening and sugar instead of flour to be the best for coating the pan to prevent sticking. By using sugar instead of flour, you won’t have white patches on the cake. You can use flour if you prefer.
- If you use a bundt pan instead of a tube pan, make sure it’s a taller bundt, about 5 inches tall.
Pan Information
I bake my pound cakes on a cookie sheet. Setting the pan on a cookie sheet may affect the baking time. Also, using a light versus a dark tube pan will affect baking times. For the record, I bake my pound cakes in a dark-colored
Your
I’m not a fan of using a non-stick spray for pound cakes. Some of the sides always stick pulling off that crust that I worked so hard to create. Instead, I like to use solid vegetable shortening and follow that with a dusting of granulated sugar. (Yes, sugar. Sugar doesn’t leave any white areas on the cake.) Alternately, I like the Wilton cake release. (When I started this pound cake series, I did use non-stick spray. However, after making so many and trying other methods, I do not use non-stick spray for cakes now. I have tried to go back and update those posts, but may have missed some.)
Coconut Cream Cheese Pound Cake
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter room temperature, salted or unsalted, your preference
- ½ cup Crisco shortening
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 3 cups all-purpose flour sifted and measured correctly
- 1, 8 ounce package cream cheese (low or fat-free not recommended)
- 1 tablespoon coconut extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 6 extra large eggs or 7 large eggs
- 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes sweetened, pulsed 4 to 5 times in a food processor
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease a (10-inch, 12 cup) bundt or tube pan with solid vegetable shortening and sprinkle with sugar (or you can use flour). Alternatively, you can use Wilton Cake Release.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer beat butter, shortening, and sugar together. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides. Next, add the cream cheese and blend until fluffy. Again stop the mixer and scrape down the sides.
- Add eggs alternately with flour, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape down the sides.
- Blend in the coconut and almond extracts.
- Stir in coconut.
- Pour into prepared baking pan.
- Place pan on a baking sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 85 to 90 minutes. Test cake with a wooden pick or skewer. Cake is done when dry crumbs or no crumbs come out on pick when inserted into the thickest part of the cake.
- Cool on a wire rack 20 minutes before inverting on serving tray.
- Frost, if desired, and serve.*See posts for details
Notes
Nutrition
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Would you be able to publish your measurements in grams? I find I have more success measuring flour especially by weight, and it’s less clean up afterwards! Thank you
Best pound cake I’ve ever made. Everyone want the recipe
This is my go to dessert and everyone loves it. It is a moist pound cake with lots of flavour.
I love coconut anything! I had a can of coconut cream in the pantry that I wanted to use so was looking up recipes online trying to find a recipe other than coconut cream poke cake ( which is delicious, by the way, but I have made it several times and wanted something different!) I came across this recipe and decided to try it even though it did not call for the coconut cream. I had all the ingredients except the coconut extract which I had to run to the store and get! OMG! How I love this pound cake! I made it to bring to a family gathering for Memorial Day and served it with cool whip and fresh strawberries and blueberries, but it tastes awesome without the toppings as well. Those crispy edges are addictive! Everyone kept picking at the crusts even though we were so full we barely had room for desert. Big chunks of it were cut to bring home to enjoy again later. I will definitely be making this again! It made a good sized Bundt cake so there was plenty to go around.
Thanks for commenting!! I’m so happy you all like this cake.
As i taste the batter, very sweet, fluffy, rich. My search started with a coconut dessert on Pinterest. Saw your title – “cream cheese” & was sold at your photo of dense pound cake. Thanks! Happy Memorial Day.
This is a good recipe. I messed up the first time and only used one stick of butter, but with added fruit topping it was fine with moisture. Eating by itself you would for sure want to add 2 sticks. Thanks for sharing this good recipe.
Can you use coconut oil instead of shortening?
You can, but there’s a slight difference in taste and texture with coconut oil.
Do I sift the flour then measure it?
Or, do I measure the flour then sift it?
Always sift first, then measure the flour.
Measure first
Sift second
No… Sift first, then measure
If I decide not use shortening, how much butter should I use. Alo can I do unsalted and salted butter?
You would replace the butter in an equal amount of shortening. Professional bakers say to use unsalted butter when baking, I prefer to use salted. It acts/reacts the same so use what you like or have on hand.