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Louisiana Crunch Cake is a southern classic! The buttery yellow cake is baked over sugar and flaked coconut that creates that signature ‘crunch’. Sweet and slightly tangy icing on top ties the whole thing together.
Louisiana Crunch Cakes are my childhood.
Growing up in Illinois we use to live dangerously close to an Entenmann’s Bakery warehouse. Which meant, my parents often stopped by to grabbed those decadent chocolate glazed donuts, which my brother always requested, and for me? It was always a Entenmann’s Louisiana Crunch Cake.
What makes Louisiana Crunch Cake unique is that the buttery yellow cake batter goes on top of the sugary sweetened coconut flakes base. And once the cake bakes and is slightly cooled we’ll pour the glaze on top of that sugar and coconut layer. This creates which a brittle and crunchy coating on the outside.
Yes, please.
The cake it incredibly easy to make. It starts with a layer of sugar and coconut flakes at the bottom of the pan that create that signature crunch. Then we top it with a buttermilk yellow cake mix that’s somewhat reminiscent of a lightly tangy pound cake.
And I can promise you this much – whether you serve it with a cup of coffee or a side of berries, you are going to get rave reviews!
Ingredients for Louisiana crunch cake recipe
- Granulated sugar: I use cane sugar for most of my recipes, but granulated sugar works just fine too.
- Shredded coconut flakes: I prefer unsweetened coconut flakes to keep the cake. Since I use unsweetened coconut for the garnish on top, it makes sense to just use that in the cake too instead of having to purchase sweetened coconut as well.
- Cake flour: You can use all purpose flour for this recipe as well, just swap ⅓ cup of it for cornstarch. So you’ll need 2 ⅔ cup all purpose flour and ⅓ cup cornstarch.
- Baking powder: this is the leavening agent.
- Baking soda: another leavening agent that reacts with the lemon juice and buttermilk and helps the cake rise.
- Kosher Salt: balances the sweetness in the recipe.
- Salted Butter: I typically keep only salted butter on hand so that’s what I used. Feel free to swap this for unsalted butter.
- Eggs: you’ll need 4 large eggs for this recipe.
- Sour Cream: you can also use greek yogurt instead of the sour cream if you’d like.
- Vanilla Extract: I like to use a good quality vanilla extract to give this a delicious vanilla flavor. This is the one I recommend.
- Buttermilk: you can use a homemade version of buttermilk for this recipe if you’d like.
- Lemon Juice: adds a hint of tang that cuts through some of the sweetness and richness of the dessert. It pairs beautifully when you serve this Louisiana Crunch Cake with some berries on the side.
- Powdered Sugar: for the glaze.
- Evaporated Milk: helps bring the glaze to a drizzling consistency.
Helpful Tips for Baking
- Use room temperature ingredients. grab the butter, eggs, buttermilk, and sour scream and let them sit at room temperature for at least 3-5 hours (depending on the kitchen temperature) before baking the cake.
- Real butter works best. for the best tasting cake, skip the margarine and opt for real butter.
- grease the pan, and don’t skip this. yes, even though you’re using a nonstick angel food cake or bundt pan, it’s essential that you grease it anyway. I use butter for this particular recipes as you can taste it on the crust of the cake, but cooking spray will also work.
- Take your time creaming the butter. this incorporates plenty of air into the butter and creates pale and fluffy base for the remaining ingredients. The air pockets create a gentle rise in the cake once baked.
- Don’t freak out if the batter looks like it split. with the acidic ingredients in this recipe, you might notice that the batter looks like it split once you add the sour cream or when you get to the buttermilk. However, it will come together once you add the last addition of flour. So don’t worry!
- Leave the cake alone. once in the oven, do not open the door for any reason for at least the first 30 minutes, if you need to turn the baking pan (if your oven cooks unevenly) do this after the first 30 minutes.
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Louisiana Crunch Cake
Louisiana Crunch Cake is a southern classic! The buttery yellow cake is baked over sugar and flaked coconut that creates that signature ‘crunch’. Sweet and slightly tangy icing on top ties the whole thing together.
Ingredients
Pan Prep:
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup shredded coconut flakes preferably unsweetened
Cake:
- 3 cups cake flour see notes
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter softened to room temp
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs room temp
- ¼ cup sour cream or greek yogurt, room temp
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 cup buttermilk room temp
Glaze and Topping
- 2 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 4 tablespoons butter melted
- 3 tablespoons evaporated milk or half and half
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 cup toasted coconut for topping optional
Instructions
- PREP: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- PAN PREP: Spray or butter a nonstick angel food cake or bundt cake pan. Sprinkle the sugar in the pan and shift the pan around to distribute the sugar only. Sprinkle the coconut flakes to cover the bottom of the pan and set aside.¼ cup sugar, ¼ cup shredded coconut flakes
- DRY INGREDIENTS: Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt in a bowl and set aside.3 cups cake flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- CREAM: In the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter for 5 minutes. Once light and fluffy in color, add the sugar and continue to mix for another 2 minutes.1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, 2 cups sugar
- WET INGREDIENTS: Stop and scrape the mixer down. Add the eggs one at a time waiting until each is incorporated before adding the next. Add the sour cream next and once mixed, add lemon juice and vanilla extract.4 large eggs, ¼ cup sour cream, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ALTERNATE: Add the flour in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Start with the flour then the buttermilk, and end with the flour. Do not mover mix. Stop before all the flour is combined and finish mixing with a rubber spatula.1 cup buttermilk
- POUR: the batter into the prepared cake pan. Spread out the top in an even layer and bake for 40-60 minutes. Angel food cake pans take about 40-50 minutes whereas a bundt cake pan will take between 50-60 minutes.
- COOL: Remove the cake from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes. Run a butter knife along the edges to help loosen the cake. Turn it out on a wire rack and let cool for another 10 minutes while you prepare the icing.
- ICING: Combine the powdered sugar, melted butter, evaporated milk, vanilla, and lemon juice in a bowl. The icing will seem thick but once poured on a warm cake it will loosen a bit more. You can think it a bit further if you prefer a very thin glaze on your cake.2 cups powdered sugar, 4 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons evaporated milk, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- GLAZE: Pour over the warm cake and spread using an offset spatula or butter knife. Immediately sprinkle with toasted coconut flakes (if using) and allow to cool for another 10 minutes before slicing and serving.1 cup toasted coconut for topping
Notes
- Cake Flour: if you don’t keep cake flour on hand you can make a homemade version with 2 ⅔ cup all purpose flour and ⅓ cup cornstarch. Just be sure to sift the ingredients so they are well combined.
- Buttermilk: feel free to make a homemade version. Pour 1 tablespoon of white vinegar into a 1-cup measuring cup and then add enough milk to make a full cup. Let stand 5-7 minutes before using.
- Butter: you can swap the salted butter with unsalted butter in this recipe without having to change anything.
- Coconut: the extra coconut on top is optional. I use 1 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut. Place it on a quarter sheet pan and place in a 350ºF preheated oven for 5-7 minutes, giving it a good toss around the halfway mark to keep it from browning too much on one side. I don’t suggest sweetened coconut as it will burn pretty quickly!
Nutrition
Calories: 531kcal | Carbohydrates: 73g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 25g | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 52g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
I’m looking for a great recipe for fourth of July and my hubby’s birthday (same day celebration). I’ve read the recipe several times and it appears that the coconut is put in the cake pan, batter poured over and baked. The picture shows toasted coconut on top but there are no instructions on that part. It’s easy enough to figure out how to toast coconut…. Have I missed somethin? Is the icing suppose to melt down over the baked on coconut? or did you put additional coconut on top after icing? Your recipes are always amazing and I want to get this right. Thanks so much!!
My husband loves Entenmann’s Louisiana Crunch Cake. I can’t find them anywhere. So, I decided I’d make him one from scratch. Your recipe was SPOT ON! He loved it and said it fulfilled his craving. I look forward to making it again with Angel food cake pan. All I had today was a Bundt pan. The cake was moist, crumbly, and delicious! Thank you!
What if you don’t have Greek yogurt? Substitutions or leave out?
This looks super delicious! I’m a big fan of coconut!
it looks delicious!
What a pretty cake and I’ve heard about these cakes but have never tried one! Sounds awesome – pinned! And great tips for cake baking, i.e.cooling time, not overmixing, etc. So helpful for people so they get the best results!
This looks perfect. Love coconut. What an awesome dessert.
Pinning!
Have a marvelous day!
Thanks for pinning Melanie!