I originally published this recipe in 2017 and have since added new photos and a few more success tips.
Here’s Why This Will Be Your Favorite Easter Cake
Easy to make, easy to decorate—if you have young fledglings in your nest, they love to help! You’ll find coconut both inside and on top of this Easter cake—toasting some for topping adds color and texture variation. The cake and frosting aren’t overly sweet (save that for the Easter candy!), with a hint of tartness from lemon and tanginess from cream cheese frosting. Can prep the cake the day before. Decorating takes only about 10 minutes, tops. Makes enough for a crowd of your favorite “peeps.” 😉 Cake with candy. You’re welcome; the end.
Start With the Bundt Cake
Let’s begin by constructing the interior of this nest: the cake. Cradling those precious pastel-hued chocolate eggs is a lightly sweet coconut-flavored cake with a hint of fresh lemon. Today I’m sharing a fun Easter cake dessert, a recipe I have served every Easter holiday since I first published it many years ago. This beautiful birds’ nest cake certainly makes an impression, but the best part is… decorating this Bundt cake couldn’t be easier! Definitely much simpler than a layer cake, though if you’re up for a challenge, my carrot cake and coconut cake recipes also make for a sweet finale to a springtime meal.
Recipe Testing This Coconut Easter Bundt Cake
This Easter cake is not as light and fluffy as this layered coconut cake, because a Bundt cake is always going to be more dense, with a tighter crumb. But that’s ok! The texture is similar to pound cake, and I just love how a Bundt cake gets that chewy golden crust on the exterior. LOVE!
Cake Flour: To keep this coconut Bundt cake soft, and prevent it from being too heavy, cake flour is a must. If you can’t find it, you can make this DIY cake flour substitute. Baking Powder + Baking Soda: Both leaveners lift this cake up as it bakes. Salt: Always needed for flavor. Butter: For that unparalleled buttery cake flavor. You need to cream the butter, so make sure you’re starting with proper room temperature butter (it may be cooler than you think!). Sugar: We’re using granulated sugar to sweeten this Easter cake. Lemons: For the best flavor, use fresh lemons. You’ll use both the zest and the juice; remember to zest first, before slicing and juicing—much easier than trying to zest a squeezed lemon half! Vegetable Oil: Using oil helps keep the cake moist. Eggs: Key for binding the ingredients together, so the cake doesn’t fall apart (see below!). Use whole eggs here, for a denser-style cake. My regular coconut cake uses just egg whites, and is much lighter and fluffier. Vanilla + Coconut Extracts: Flavor and more flavor. Sour Cream + Whole Milk: A careful ratio of these 2 ingredients gives this cake the best balance of structure and moisture. Sweetened Shredded/Flaked Coconut: I recommend using sweetened shredded coconut, sometimes sold as sweetened flaked coconut. It’s moister than unsweetened coconut, and that makes a big difference in the cake’s texture. I reduced the added sugar in the cake batter to make up for the sweetness. A cup goes into the cake batter; save the rest for feathering the nest!
Expect a thick and fluffy batter: After baking, let the cake cool for 2 hours in the pan, then invert it onto a cake stand or serving platter to continue cooling, and eventually decorate.
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
How to Decorate This Easter Cake Like a Nest
Transforming this cake into a bird’s nest is quick and easy. Simply slather on the frosting (I use an icing spatula), then “feather the nest” by gently pressing the sweetened shredded coconut on top, so that it sticks to the frosting. You’ll flavor today’s cream cheese frosting with fresh lemon juice, but feel free to also add 1/2 teaspoon of coconut extract to the frosting if you’d like to amp up the coconut flavor. Finally, lay your eggs—er, I mean, fill the center of the nest with your favorite candy-coated chocolate eggs. Then be prepared to swat away any sneaky little hands this Easter cake will attract! And you know what would launch the cuteness factor into overdrive? Adding marshmallow chick Peeps to your nest!
Optional: How to Toast Coconut for Topping
More Easter Dessert Recipes
Carrot Cake Jelly Bean Sugar Cookies Easter Cookies (so fun to decorate!) Lemon Bars Peanut Butter Easter Eggs Easter Cupcakes
For a contrast of texture and color, I toasted about half of the coconut. You can leave the coconut untoasted or toast it all—the decision is yours. Spread the coconut on an ungreased baking sheet, and toast in a 300°F (150°C) oven for about 6–8 minutes, until it’s golden-brown. Let it cool completely before using. Super easy.
