How to Make Jamaican Coconut Cake (You'll Love)

How many of us love coconut-flavored ANYTHING? I’m definitely a huge fan! One thing I love about Jamaican cuisine is the use of coconut. In this post, we will be talking about the famous, and super, super DELICIOUS Jamaican coconut cake, also known as toto.

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Coconuts in Jamaica

Let’s begin by talking about coconuts in Jamaica.

As you may already know, coconuts are very prevalent in Jamaican cuisine.

However, contrary to popular belief, coconuts are NOT native to Jamaica.

The fact is, coconuts were imported from Spanish settlers around the middle of the 16th century.

Around the 19th century, coconuts became an important component of economic development in products that use coconut oil such as soaps and cosmetics.

Today, coconut production is still happening in Jamaica as well as other tropical Caribbean countries. More specifically, coconuts are being cultivated more and more for many kinds of industrial products such as charcoal and jewelry.

Other popular coconut by-products include:

Coconut milk powder
Coconut palm sugar
Coconut flour
Coconut chips

If you’re interested in learning more about this, you can read about it in the Jamaican Observer newspaper.

What Is Jamaican Coconut Cake (Toto)?

If you’re not already aware of this, Jamaican coconut cake, or Jamaican toto cake, is a spiced coconut cake that’s very popular in Jamaica.

To be honest with you, it kind of reminds me of a spiced American coffee cake. However, I don’t know if it’s because the one I made was homemade, but I feel like Jamaican coconut cake is SO much tastier than coffee cake.

Also, I am NOT a baker and I normally have a hard time baking baked goods. However, this was a very easy Jamaican cake recipe to follow and I LOVED IT!!!

Here’s an interesting fact for you…

In Jamaica, many people enjoy making this Jamaican toto cake from the coconut they previously grated to use for recipes such as rice and peas or Jamaican chicken curry.

That’s a convenient way to use up your leftover scraps, right?

Ingredients for Jamaican Coconut Cake

These are some of the most basic ingredients that many Jamaican coconut toto cake recipes require:

Grated coconut
Coconut milk
Eggs
Butter
All-purpose flour
Baking powder
Brown sugar
Vanilla extract
Salt
Nutmeg
Cinnamon
Allspice
Rum (optional)
Raisins (optional)

How to Make Jamaican Coconut Cake

These are the basic steps for making this amazing Jamaican coconut cake dessert:

Mix all the dry ingredients together.
Next, in a separate bowl, mix melted butter and brown sugar together.
Then, add eggs, vanilla extract, and coconut milk to the butter and sugar mixture.
Mix.
Next, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
Mix together.
Then, add grated coconut and mix it together with the other ingredients.
Next, pour the mixture into a baking dish.
Bake.
Once 45 minutes have passed, insert a toothpick into the middle to check that it’s done (it will come out dry). If it’s not done yet, leave it in a little longer and check again in a few minutes.
Let the cake cool, then cut, then serve, and eat!

BUT FIRST…

I would HIGHLY recommend that you take a look at the video below by Loving Ja Food before you begin to bake your coconut cake.

This video gives a GREAT explanation of what is Jamaican coconut cake and the significance of the spices that you use in this very easy Jamaican coconut cake recipe.

(Plus, they even show you how to crack open a coconut shell and how to ground nutmeg if you want to use the freshest ingredients).

Another Jamaican Toto Coconut Cake Recipe To Try

I’m being serious when I say you’ll love how easy it is to make this coconut dessert cake from Jamaica.

Please, take a look at the recipe below by How we Rowes cook to see what I mean:

So, if you’re interested in making this coconut cake from Jamaica recipe, these are the listed ingredients on How we Rowes cook’s YouTube page above:

All-purpose flour
Sugar
Baking powder
Baking soda
Salt
Cinnamon powder
Nutmeg
Allspice
Grated ginger
Melted butter
Eggs
Coconut flakes
Coconut milk (or 3 cups of coconut milk and omit the whole milk)
Whole milk

Written Recipe to Try

So, even though the recipes in the videos above are GREAT, some of you may prefer to view and print out a recipe.

I totally get it because I prefer following written instructions, too.

If this is you, then I SERIOUSLY, SERIOUSLY recommend you try this recipe by A Younique Journey.

(It’s the recipe I used to make my Jamaican toto cake and it came out PERFECTLY!)

SO delicious!!!

BTW, is it bad that I had two slices in one day? I totally could have eaten them both in one sitting, but I was trying so hard to be good haha.

What To Serve With Jamaican Coconut Toto Cake

Jamaican Toto cake goes well after eating the following foods (or with the drink listed at the bottom of the list):

- Jamaican beef patty
- Fried plantains
- Breadfruit
- Milo drink

Jamaican Coconut Cake FAQs

How long Toto takes to bake?

Most recipes say that Jamaican Toto cake takes anywhere between 30 to 60 minutes to bake.

To check for doneness, insert a wooden toothpick into the middle of the cake and check that the toothpick comes out dry. That’s how you know the cake is done.

How to store Toto?

You can store toto in an airtight container for up to one week in the refrigerator or up to two months in the freezer.

Is coconut cake healthy?

No, coconut cake is not healthy considering the large amount of added sugars and saturated fats that you normally have to include in these cakes.

Final Thoughts On Jamaican Coconut Cake

I seriously hope you consider baking this AMAZING Jamaican coconut dessert cake. It’s seriously something you MUST try sometime in your life.

Have you ever had this kind of coconut cake from Jamaica? Please let me know in the comments below!