Many people have tried this now and no one thinks of it as a gluten free cake. It’s just a delicious cake! Love the coconut + lemon + almond meal combination, and the springy, moist crumb. BONUS: Just about the fastest, easiest cake recipe I know.
Lemon coconut almond cake
This is a cake that is as delightfully easy to make as it is delicious to eat. Just put everything in a bowl and mix! There’s no need to whip softened butter or pull out your electric beater.
It’s been likened to the fan favourite orange cake in texture – springy yet with an appealing moistness about it. And the flavour! Adore, adore, adore the coconut lemon combination. Idea swiped from my local coffee shop where I’ve been eyeing lemon coconut cake bars for years. This is my copycat.
I don’t actually know if theirs is gluten-free. Mine is, because I’ve never come across a flour-based cake recipe with a crumb as moist as you can make using almond meal.
What you need for this lemon coconut almond cake
Here’s what you need to make this lovely cake:
Almond meal (aka ground almonds) – This is raw almonds that are blitzed into a fine powder. Easily found nowadays, sold in the dried fruit & nut section and health food section of grocery stores. Or make your own by blitzing raw, unpeeled, unsalted almonds in a powerful blender (I use a Vitamix) until it becomes a fine powder.
Almond flour can also be used (not as common here in Australia). It’s finer so gives the cake a slightly fluffier texture and less almond flavour. Hazelnut meal can also be substituted though you’ll have lovely hazelnut flavour instead of almond.
Butter – The fat in this recipe, gives it a beautiful buttery flavour.
Baking powder – This is what makes the cake rise.
Eggs – Make sure they are at room temperature so they incorporate more easily into the batter.
Coconut – Desiccated coconut which is finely shredded, unsweetened coconut. Standard shredded coconut (which is like fine strands) will work but you’ll get more coconut texture in the cake. I don’t think coconut flakes (shavings) will work in this cake, it’s not absorbent enough.
Sugar – Use caster / superfine sugar if you can because it is finer so it will dissolve easier. Otherwise, regular / granulated sugar can be used.
Vanilla extract – For flavour. Not to be confused with artificial vanilla essence which is…well, artificial. So not as nice!
Lemon – We are only using the zest in this cake, for beautiful lemon flavour. Because the zest is where all the lemon flavour is – the juice is mostly just sour.
Flaked almonds – for sprinkling on the surface. Adds lovely texture to the cake, looks good and protects the surface from browning too much. But you can skip it you don’t have it!
Salt – Standard inclusion in most of my sweet recipes these days. Just a touch, to bring out the flavours in this cake. Doesn’t make it salty!
How to make lemon coconut cake
Put everything in a bowl and MIX! How good would life be if all baking recipes were this easy??? (Though, my waistline begs to differ).
Melt the butter in a bowl using your microwave.
Wet ingredients – Whisk in all the other wet ingredients (eggs, vanilla, sugar – yes, sugar is considered a wet ingredient in baking because it liquifies when mixed with other wet ingredients).
Dry ingredients – Whisk in the almond meal, coconut, baking powder, salt and zest.
Pour it into a 20cm/8″ lined round cake pan. DO NOT skip lining the pan! Even greasing very generously is not enough to stop it from sticking to the pan, no matter how non-stick you think your pan is. (As you might have guessed, I’m speaking from first hand experience here).
Bake 40 minutes – Sprinkle the surface with almonds then bake for 40 minutes at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan) or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Cool for 1 hour before cutting to serve. I was a bit impatient in early versions and found that because the cake is quite moist, it can appear undercooked if you cut it while still warm. (But it’s not undercooked, it just looks that way if you cut while still hot!).
Serve it plain!
While some cakes I recommend serving with a dollop of cream, ice cream or other such accompaniment, this is a cake that definitely stands on its own two feet. Great flavour (lemon + coconut with a hint of almond) with a very moist crumb which is virtually impossible to replicate with flour-based cakes.
So it’s a great cake for taking places – such as for a work morning tea, book club, school bake sale. Just cut and serve. And those who are gluten-intolerant can enjoy it too. Though honestly, don’t just make this because you need a gluten-free cake. Make it because it’s just a really great cake that happens to be just about one of the easiest, quickest cake recipes I know. – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Easy Lemon Coconut Almond Cake
Ingredients
- 150g / 10 tbsp unsalted butter
- 4 large eggs (55-60g/2oz each), at room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup caster sugar (superfine sugar, Note 2)
- 1 1/2 cups almond meal (ground almond, Note 1)
- 1/4 tsp cooking/kosher salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 cup desiccated coconut (US: finely shredded unsweetened coconut)
- 1 1/2 tsp lemon zest (1 large lemon)
- 1/4 cup flaked almonds , optional (Note 3)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan). Grease a 20cm/8” round cake pan (or springform pan) with butter then line with paper.
- Melt butter – Place the butter in a large microwavable bowl and melt in the microwave. Let cool for a couple of minutes.
- Wet ingredients – Add egg, vanilla and sugar and whisk until combined.
- Dry ingredients – Add almond meal, salt, baking powder, coconut and lemon zest. Whisk until combined.
- Bake 40 minutes – Pour into pan. Sprinkle over almonds. Bake 40 minutes. Cool 15 minutes in pan then carefully turn out onto cooling rack.
- Cool at least 1 hour before cutting slices to serve. Moist enough to serve plain – doesn't need cream or anything!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Eyeing end of day remnants in a glass cabinet like it’s a big juicy steak.
Oh my goodness, Nagi, this cake was perfect! Super easy, delightfully quick and absolutely delicious. I arranged sliced nectarine over the top in a flower pattern and sprinkled it with a tiny bit of caster sugar – it looked absolutely divine. Perfect for work morning tea! Thank you for an amazing recipe!
Absolutely loved this recipe, Nagi! Thanks so much! I get what you mean about the texture of the shredded coconut. Very satisfying. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Was thinking of adding dried cranberries to it the next time around. Do you think that would have an adverse affect?
This is a very forgiving recipe. I adapted it to my 9–inch springform pan by adding approximately 1/4 more of each ingredient, eyeballing as I went along, and it still came out great. I will add extra lemon zest and a bit of lemon juice next time, as others have advised. The cake was good the first day, great by the second day and amazing by the third (after which, it disappeared). .
This was great. I used monkfruit sweetener and 1/2’cup oat flour with the almond flour as I did not have the full amount. Very forgiving recipe. Delicious
Another 10/10, perfect, hit-it-out-of-the-park recipe. I made it for my family exactly as written with no modifications and everyone loved it.
I baked this cake in two 6inch cake pans for 35 minutes. I filled the layers with a plumb jam and buttercream. It was hit at the family lunch. Everyone said the cake was nice and moist.
AMAZING! and so easy! most time consuming part was getting the parchment paper organized! and I used plain sugar and almond flour. Turned out SO DELICIOUS!
I don’t often write reviews but had to this time. I loved this cake and so did my friends and family. I did use less sugar (2/3 cup) and less butter (120g). I also used more Lemon rind and a small amount of lemon juice. I love the look of it when it was finished as suggested put the flaked almonds on top which made it look extra special. And importantly the taste!! Yummo. It definitely needs more Lemon rind then listed in my opinion anyway just to give it that mild lemon flavour. Next time I am going to try making it with natural sweetener instead of sugar.
This was the easiest cake to make. It turned out beautifully and tasted moist and light. I didn’t put the flaked almonds on the top and it was still perfect. It didn’t need any cream at all, but it would have also tasted amazing with cream on the side. I’m already planning on making it again this week!!!
Hello,
I was wondering if/how I cam make this cake nut free? Thanks 😊
Excellent recipe. I cut back on sugar and added sesame on top with the sliced almonds. Perfect for any occasion!
OMG this cake is the bomb! I made it for my work-mate’s birthday and it went down a treat. Everyone wanted to recipe. It was very easy to make. I had most ingredients at home, just had to buy the almond meal and the sliced almonds. Will definitely be making this again and again! 🙂
Love the cake recipe….but could your instructions have the amounts together with the ingredient please? – so frustrating to scroll up for weights/volumes with ingredient rich fingers, then back to the instructions, then back…….
Just a thought.
Gordon
Hello Nagi… Thank you so much for the lovely lovely recipe 😘 God bless you.
Please tell me if i can substitute dessicated coconut with almond flour or just skip dessicated coconut.
Thank you 😊 💓
Easiest cake ever to make, and super delicious! Reduced butter & sugar by a third each time out of preference and also cooks perfectly in a muffin tin (160 degrees fan forced, approx. 25 min)
I subbed in 1 cup of almond flakes and 1/4 cup extra almondmeal due to coconut allery. Tastes divine
This is my “go to” cake. So easy and above all it’s delicious
Banger! Gluten free crowd pleaser.
Thanks Nagi! Cooking far more gluten free recipes lately and this was just perfect.
I made this easy cake (with oranges) for my birthday recently and served it with thick cream and an orange syrup. It was moist and delicious. Perfect to serve to my coeliac family!
A delicious and easy cake and GF too. Yum