Coconut Cake in a Crock-Pot

Coconut cake, the last dish prepared in my original Crock-Pot

Note: Hours after making this cake, my Crock-Pot met with an unfortunate accident and fell off the counter (or was it pushed???). Needless to say, I was devastated by this tragedy. We were just getting so close, and it just isn’t fair, to be cut down in its prime, performing so magnificently just hours before, as evidenced by this amazing cake. This post is specially dedicated to my original Crock-Pot.

I am now being accused of being “obsessed” with my Crock-Pot, and perhaps that is true. I am on my second Crock-Pot recipe in 4 days and the scary part is, I get this rush of endorphins when I put something in the Crock-Pot and think about how delicious it’s going to be. The transformation from raw ingredients to finished meal with very little effort or error, is really amazing, and it’s so easy, I’m finding it hard to stop. So maybe I should call it my “Crack”-Pot.

I blame it all on Stephanie O’Dea from A Year of Slow Cook-Cooking, where I got this recipe, which I made with a few minor variations. I’ve had this old vintage almond-colored Crock-Pot forever; I don’t even remember where I got it, and I used to use it maybe once a year, almost as a novelty, “Oh, I made something in my Crock-Pot” like it was kind of cute and kind of home-makey.

Now, it’s serious. Damn right I made this in a Crock-Pot - got a problem with that??

This cake is delicious; moist and with a mild coconut flavor. Stephanie’s recipe calls for using coconut extract, which I didn’t have and didn’t want to buy just for this. So I added coconut flakes instead, which blended well into the mix. I think it tasted sufficiently coconutty, but you could use coconut extract if you want a more intense flavor.

I experimented with venting this cake for the first two hours and it didn’t seem like it was cooking thoroughly in the middle so I removed the vent. In the end, the middle was sunken in and not cooked as well as the sides. In the future, I will not vent at all. Also in the future I will replace the cake mix with a scratch mix, but I didn’t want to invest too much time until I was more confident of the results. I am pretty sure any standard scratch cake mix will work fine, but not positive.

Ingredients

• Yellow cake mix - 1
• Eggs - Use amount from cake mix recipe
• Oil - Use amount from cake mix recipe
• Coconut Milk - Use this instead of water, following cake mix recipe (make sure you shake the can well before pouring, and save leftover liquid)
• Coconut Flakes - 1/2 cup plus more for sprinkling on top.
• Powdered Sugar - 6 Tblsp.

Directions

1. In a large bowl, prepare the cake mix as directed, but substitute coconut milk where it calls for water (or milk).
2. Add the coconut flakes and blend in well.
3. Spray or rub the Crock-Pot with oil. (I used an older, round 4 quart Crock-Pot)
4. Pour the cake mix in the Crock-Pot and cover. Turn on low.
5. Cook for 4 hours and check for done-ness with a knife in the center, which should come out fairly dry. Also, the sides of the cake should be separating from the sides of the pot. If not, let it cook for another half an hour and check again. The first Crock-Pot cake you make will require a bit of checking but once you have determined the timing on one cake, future cakes will be more predictable and easier (see below for more information on how to tell if your cake is done.)
6. While the cake is cooking, you can make the frosting by mixing a half a cup of the remaining coconut milk with 6 Tblsp. of powdered sugar. This is a simple, thin, drizzly frosting - you can make it thicker with more sugar, or not frost it at all.
7. Cool for at least a half an hour or more. The cake stays warm for a long time.
8. Slide a dinner knife around the edge to separate the cake from the pot.
9. Center a serving plate on top of the pot and flip it over so that the cake falls onto the plate. You may need to jiggle it a bit, and when it has come out, slowly lift up the Crock-Pot.
10. For frosting, poke thin holes in the top with a skewer, and spoon the mixture over the cake and spread it around on top, and pouring some down the sides. Then sprinkle with coconut.

About determining if your cake is done: Crock-Pots are inherently moist cookers and so the top will always be much moister that a typical oven-baked cake. But, the top will be the bottom once you flip it, so it doesn’t have to look perfect. And, the knife will probably never come out bone-dry, because Crock-Pot cakes are very moist.  It’s important to make sure the sides don’t overcook, so doneness will be a combination of the middle being fairly dry and the side being well done but not over-cooked. Even if your cake is a little messy in the middle, it will still be delicious. Also, I’ve noticed that the sides are much more well-done than oven-baked cakes, i.e., the brownness is thicker, giving the cake almost a crust. I like this a lot, and I think the drizzly frosting helps moisten it - yum!

Other Crock-Pot Cakes and Bread you might like to try:

• Double Vanilla Mess Cake in a Crock-Pot
• Pumpkin Walnut Bread in a Crock-Pot
• Triple Chocolate Mess Cake

Slice of Crock-Pot Coconut cake with my original Crock-Pot standing proudly behind it; this is the last known photograph of this Crock-Pot before its tragic and untimely demise.

Tags: cake, coconut, crockpot