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Coquito Cake

By Adrianna Adarme

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Nov 17, 2023, Updated Dec 17, 2023

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Our favorite drink during the holiday is Coquito. A Puerto Rican rum-based drink and all its flavors are in this Coquito Cake. It’s moist, with a tender crumb and a rum-syrup poured on top. Garnish it with Jordan almonds for a fun festive twinkling lights effect.

I love this Coquito Cake so much!

Let’s start with the basics:

What is Coquito?

Coquito is often described as a Puerto Rican eggnog but I’ve always felt like that comparison doesn’t do it justice. First of all, it’s MUCH better than eggnog. And secondly, it usually doesn’t have egg in it (some families’ recipes do use egg, but most don’t).

Coquito is a coconut-based drink that usually has sweetened condensed milk, regular milk, lots of rum and a hint of spices like cinnamon and cloves.

Coquito vs. Eggnog

My family is not Puerto Rican so I didn’t have it until I was a teenager, living in South Florida. I remember someone handing it to me at a party and I was like, DANG WHAT IS THIS?!?!

It’s way better than eggnog in my opinion. The texture and weight is way lighter than eggnog (my usual issue with drinking it), which I love. The combination of rum and coconut is just the best, especially with the spices added in.

Now, Let’s Incorporate Coquito Flavors Into a Cake!

I took those flavors and implemented them into this cake! I thought of doing a tres leches but I’ve made a lot of tres leches cakes in the past so I was looking to do something a lil’ different.

• It’s a Soaking Cake – This cake is kind of like a soaking cake (another favorite soaking cake of mine is this Sticky Toffee Persimmon Pudding) because of the rum syrup that is brushed it on top. When we were developing this cake, we sort of asked ourselves, How do we put the rum into it? We thought about a lot of options but none of them sounded all that great. Soaking it in a rum syrup sounded like the absolute best way. The butter in the rum syrup, adds a nice gentle richness. It’s like a buttered rum…but not.
• The flavors of the actual cake – The sheet cake itself is a nice fluffy coconut cake that uses coconut cream (a must in coquito). I used the brand Coco Lopez but if you can’t find it, search for Goya. This can is usually sold at liquor stores (a lot of mixed drinks use cream of coconut) or you can check any grocery store in the Hispanic Section.
• Coconut extract is needed – I also used coconut extract because it really packs that coconut flavor punch that we love so much. (I tested it without the coconut extract and the flavor didn’t come through enough; you really need that!)

How to Make this Coquito Cake

1. Start with making the rum syrup: Combine the rum, sugar and cinnamon together. Warm it and let it steep while you make the cake.
2. Prepare and grease a 9×13 baking pan. Combine all the dry ingredients.
3. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
4. Then add in the milk, egg whites, cream of coconut and coconut extract.
5. Pour in the dry ingredients.
6. Add the batter to the pan and bake it up!
7. Make the frosting by adding all of the ingredients to a bowl and beat it until fluffy and smooth.
8. When the cake is cool, add the frosting on top in one even layer. You can decorate it how you like.
9. I decorated it by adding some of the frosting and dying it dark green. And then I created a light effect. I added the Jordan almonds along the piped frosting.

Tips and Tricks

• Make this Coquito Cake ahead by making the cake, letting it cool completely and wrapping it tightly in plastic wrap. Keep it in the fridge for up to two days and then decorate and serve. Just be sure to allow it to come up to room temperature before serving.
• You can often times find Jordan almonds in this color arrangement at grocery stores during the holidays. I found mine at Sprouts Market.

Looking for more Holiday inspiration!

Here are some recipes that are similar!

• Cozy Gingerbread House
• Brown Butter Pecan Sheet Cake 
• Horchata Tres Leches 
• Fluffy Gingerbread Rolls
• Homemade Irish Cream

If you tried this Coquito Cake Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!

5 from 5 votes

Coquito Cake Recipe

By Adrianna Adarme

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 25 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Servings: 12

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Coquito is a Puerto Rican rum coconut drink. This sheet cake tastes just like coquito! Decorate with Jordan almonds for a "light" effect.

Equipment

• 1 (9×13) baking cake pan

Ingredients 

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Rum Syrup:

• ▢ 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ▢ 1/2 cup sugar
• ▢ 1/4 cup water
• ▢ 1/2 cup white rum or dark rum, I used white rum but if dark is all you have, use it!
• ▢ 1 cinnamon stick

Coconut Sheet Cake:

• ▢ 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ▢ 1 1/4 cups white granulated sugar
• ▢ 3/4 cup milk
• ▢ 6 large egg whites
• ▢ 1/2 cup cream of coconut, from brands like Coco Lopez or Goya
• ▢ 1 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract

Coconut Buttercream Frosting:

• ▢ 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ▢ 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• ▢ Pinch of salt
• ▢ 3 tablespoons cream of coconut, we’re using it in the cake and buttercream
• ▢ 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract

For Decorating:

• ▢ Green and black food coloring gel, we’re going for dark green
• ▢ Jordan Chocolate-Covered Almonds, you could also use chocolate covered sunflower seeds that are in various colors

Instructions 

To Make the Rum Syrup:

• To a saucepan, set over medium heat, add the butter and when melted, add the sugar, water, rum and cinnamon stick. Bring the mixture to a simmer and then immediately turn to low heat. Cook for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to steep while you make the cake.

To Make the Coconut Sheet Cake:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking pan with cooking spray (or rub with butter) and line with a sheet of parchment. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, add the all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk until combined.
• To the bowl of a stand-up mixer with the paddle attachment (or you can use a large bowl with an electric mixer), add the butter and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. In a measuring cup, pour in the milk, egg whites, cream of coconut and coconut extract; whisk until combined.
• Turn the mixer to low speed and, alternating between the dry ingredients and the liquid ingredients (the egg white mixture), add to the butter/sugar mixture until the batter is relatively smooth.
• Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and transfer to the oven to bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes. And then brush with the rum syrup. I like to do it when it’s warm so the cake absorbs the rum syrup. Allow to cool in the pan and then transfer to any serving tray you like.

To Make the Frosting:

• To the bowl of a stand-up mixer with the paddle attachment (or in a medium bowl with an electric hand-mixer), add the butter and sifted powdered sugar. Beat on low, until smooth, about 1 minute. Next, add the cream of coconut, coconut extract and heavy cream. Beat on medium speed for a full 2 minutes; this will result in super fluffy frosting.

To Decorate the Cake:

• Set aside about 1/4 cup of buttercream and place it in a bowl. Using black and green food coloring gel, add food gel until it turns a dark green color (we’re going for the color of Christmas tree lights—we’re artists!).
• Add the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a #5 round tip. And add swirls in different directions, mimicking the cord of the lights. Arrange the almonds on the “cord” to replicate as “lights.” Slice and serve.

Notes

Equipment: 

9×13 cake pan | KitchenAid Mixer | Piping Tips | Americolor Food Coloring Gels

Nutrition

Calories: 230kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 115mg | Potassium: 133mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 1047IU | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Carribean, Christmas, Holiday, Puerto Rican

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