A bundt cake covered with coconut with a slice on a plate next to it on a marble surface with a red background.
Photography, Stacey Brandford. Styling, Heather Shaw. Prop styling, Jemima Sutherland.

White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake

Eat like an A-lister with this cake inspired by a famous dessert.

Have you ever wondered how an A-lister rings in the holidays? For Tom Cruise, one of his famous holiday traditions includes gifting a white chocolate coconut bundt cake to his close friends. Those friends are a who’s who of Hollywood’s elite; including Tom Cruise, Angela Bassett and Jimmy Fallon. The exact one they receive (and all love) comes from Doan’s Bakery in California, and costs around $130 USD.

If you don’t live in the area and/or want to spend that much money on one cake, the good news is that you can make it for yourself right at home! Just like the original, it is a moist coconut cake covered in a delicious buttercream frosting and coconut flakes.

Celebrity status aside, this white chocolate coconut Bundt cake is perfect for any gathering, from a casual brunch to a holiday meal to a birthday party. It would also make for a great gift for a dinner party or housewarming. 

Where does Tom Cruise get his white chocolate coconut bundt cake?

Tom Cruise gets his coconut bundt cake from Doan’s Bakery in Woodland Hills, California. The bakery was founded in 1984 by Karen Doan, who still runs the operations with her son, Eric. The white chocolate coconut Bundt cake is also her creation, and has become the most famous treat at Doan’s. It is known as the “Tom Cruise cake.”

A bundt cake covered with coconut with a slice on a plate next to it on a marble surface with a red background.

White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake

Soo Kim
This Bundt cake—inspired by the infamous treat Tom Cruise gifts to his celeb pals—is fit for any gathering, from a casual brunch to a holiday meal to a birthday party.

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter softened
  • tsp all-purpose flour

Cake

  • 1 cup unsweetened medium coconut
  • 1 cup unsalted butter softened
  • cups granulated sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 egg whites
  • tsp vanilla
  • ¾ tsp coconut extract
  • ¾ cup chopped white chocolate melted
  • cups all-purpose flour spooned and levelled
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ¾ tsp kosher salt
  • ¾ cup coconut milk

Cream Cheese Buttercream

  • ½ cup cool unsalted butter softened
  • ½ cup cream cheese softened
  • cups icing sugar sifted
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ¼ tsp coconut extract
  • cups sweetened shredded coconut

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 325°F. Blend butter with flour to form paste; brush all over inside of 10-cup Bundt pan.
  • Toast unsweetened coconut in oven until golden, 3 to 4 minutes; set aside.
  • Using stand mixer on medium, beat butter with sugar until light and creamy, 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in eggs 1 at a time; beat in egg whites, then vanilla and coconut extract. Beat in melted chocolate.
  • In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir into butter mixture alternately with coconut milk, making 3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of coconut milk. Fold in toasted coconut.
  • Scrape into prepared pan, smoothing top. Bake until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Let cool in pan on a rack for 20 minutes. Invert onto rack; remove pan and let cool completely. Transfer cake to cake plate.
  • Using stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and cream cheese on medium until light, about 2 minutes. Scrape bottom and side. With mixer on low, gradually add icing sugar ½ cup at a time. Beat in salt and coconut extract on medium until very light and almost doubled in volume, about 3 minutes.
  • Spread on cooled cake and cover with sweetened coconut.
Keyword Bundt cake, coconut, cream cheese icing, elegant holiday dessert, Holiday Recipes, holiday treats, white chocolate

 

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chocolate bundt cake overhead image

 

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