Tom Cruise Cake Recipe – Copycat Doan’s Bakery White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake. Tom Cruise sends this cake to all of his A-List celebrity friends for Christmas. I can see why – it is AMAZING! Moist coconut pound cake with chunks of sweet white chocolate topped with homemade cream cheese frosting and toasted coconut. One bite and you will be blown away. A must for your next celebration or get-together!
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Pin This RecipeWhite Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake
Have you heard of the Tom Cruise Cake? It is a White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake from Doan’s Bakery that Tom Cruise sends as a gift to all his famous friends at Christmas. The cake is a moist coconut bundt cake with chunks of sweet white chocolate topped with a rich cream cheese frosting and toasted coconut flakes. I’ve been reading about this cake for years and finally decided to make a version at home. OMG! Let me tell you, this is the best coconut cake I’ve ever eaten! This is a super moist cake and is packed full of amazing coconut flavor! This cake is a must for coconut fans!
How to Make Tom Cruise’s Favorite Cake
This cake is very easy to make with only a few ingredients. Grease and flour a 15-cup bundt cake pan. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter, sugar, coconut extract, and vanilla extract. Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs to the mixer one at a time. Reduce the speed and add coconut cream pudding. Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream to the mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until fully combined. Stir in the finely chopped white chocolate. Spoon cake batter into the prepared pan and bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes back clean. Remove from oven and let cool in pan on a cooling rack for 15 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.
Place shredded coconut on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for a few minutes, until it starts to turn golden brown. In a large bowl, beat together cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract with a hand mixer until light and fluffy. Spread the frosting over the top of the cake. Press toasted coconut into the frosting.
Tips & Frequently Asked Questions
- Do not make the pudding. You are only going to use the dry mix.
- I buy the coconut cream pudding at Walmart.
- If you can’t find coconut cream pudding, you can substitute white chocolate pudding or vanilla pudding and increase the coconut extract in the batter.
- I used a 15-cup Bundt cake pan. If you do not have the larger bundt cake pan, you can make this cake in a tube pan.
- If you make this in a 12-cup bundt pan, make sure to not overfill the pan. Leave at least 1½ to 2-inches unfilled. You may have leftover batter.
- I use a white chocolate bar. You can substitute an equal amount of white chocolate chips.
- One cup of flour weighs 4.25-ounces or 120 grams. To properly measure flour, give the flour a stir to loosen it up in the container. Use a spoon and lightly spoon the flour into your measuring cup. Use a flat straight edge (like the straight back of a knife) to level off the top of the flour in the measuring cup. Do NOT compact the flour in the measuring cup.
- I use Bakers Joy or Pam Baking Spray to grease and flour the tube pan. Either works great. You can also use Crisco or butter and dust the pan with flour.
- Can pound cake be made in advance? Yes! You can make the cake ahead of time and store it in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days. The cake will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Can pound cake be frozen? Yes! You can freeze the baked cake. Wrap the cooled cake in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. The cake will keep for up to 6 months in the freezer.
Delicious Coconut Bundt Cake Recipe Scratch
This cake has quickly become one of our favorite desserts. It is a coconut lovers dream! I took this delicious cake to a potluck and it received rave reviews. This cake is the perfect addition to any cookout, dinner party, or holiday meal. You must make this decadent cake ASAP!
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Tom Cruise Cake (White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake)
Ingredients:
Cake
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 (3.4-oz) package instant coconut cream pudding
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1½ cups butter, room temperature (3 sticks)
- 2¾ cup sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp coconut extract
- 1 (8-oz) container sour cream
- 1 (4-oz) white chocolate bar, finely chopped
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 (8-oz) package cream cheese
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 (7-oz) package shredded coconut, toasted
Instructions:
Cake
- Preheat oven to 325ºF. Butter and flour a 15-cup Bundt pan. Set aside.
- Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
- Cream together butter, sugar, vanilla, and coconut extract. Beat for 2 to 3 minutes, or until light and pale yellow in color. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, stopping and scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add pudding mix to the batter and mix.
- Reduce the speed of the mixer and add the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the sour cream. Mix until fully combined. Stir in the finely chopped white chocolate by hand.
- Spoon batter into prepared pan and place in the oven.
- Bake, placing a piece of aluminum foil on top to prevent over browning, if needed, for 1 hour 30 minutes to 1 hour 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes back clean.
- Remove from oven and let cool in pan on a cooling rack for 15 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool completely.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a large bowl, beat together cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract with a hand mixer until light and fluffy.
- Spread the frosting over the top of the cake. Press toasted coconut into the frosting.
Notes:
- Do not make the pudding. You are only going to use the dry mix.
- I buy the coconut cream pudding at Walmart.
- If you can’t find coconut cream pudding, you can substitute white chocolate pudding or vanilla pudding and increase the coconut extract in the batter.
- I used a 15-cup Bundt cake pan. If you do not have the larger bundt cake pan, you can make this cake in a tube pan.
- If you make this in a 12-cup bundt pan, make sure to not overfill the pan. Leave at least 1½ to 2-inches unfilled. You may have leftover batter.
- I use a white chocolate bar. You can substitute an equal amount of white chocolate chips.
- One cup of flour weighs 4.25-ounces or 120 grams. To properly measure flour, give the flour a stir to loosen it up in the container. Use a spoon and lightly spoon the flour into your measuring cup. Use a flat straight edge (like the straight back of a knife) to level off the top of the flour in the measuring cup. Do NOT compact the flour in the measuring cup.
- I use Bakers Joy or Pam Baking Spray to grease and flour the tube pan. Either works great. You can also use Crisco or butter and dust the pan with flour.
- Can pound cake be made in advance? Yes! You can make the cake ahead of time and store it in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days. The cake will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Can pound cake be frozen? Yes! You can freeze the baked cake. Wrap the cooled cake in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. The cake will keep for up to 6 months in the freezer.
Steph
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I made this cake for my daughter’s Rehearsal Dinner dessert, and it was such a hit, I’ve shared the recipe a few times already. Today I tried it as cupcakes! Made 36, and had to watch, estimating the baking time. I ended up with a total of 34 minutes, so I would recommend baking for 20. rotating, and bake another 13-15, testing for doneness. I did not use Convect, but will try that next time, as I’m sure I will be making this again. We love it, and anyone who tries it says it’s the best thing they’ve ever eaten! As a caveat, I didn’t use all the icing, made about half, and it was plenty, as a bundt cake doesn’t need to be totally covered. Used half of the coconut, too, and did toast it. I used my 12 cup Pampered Chef Stoneware bundt pan, and it worked fine.
My husband loves white chocolate and coconut. He “states” he is not particularly fond of cream cheese frosting, but here in Arkansas “cream cheese” frosting from the store is usually not great. I decided a couple months ago to make this recipe for his super soft birthday celebration. I made the cake last Saturday. Hands down, the best cake we have ever eaten. Husband said the cream cheese frosting on this worked and he is rethinking his thoughts on cream cheese frosting.
Followed the recipe exactly for the cake, did need to sub vanilla pudding and add 1 T of coconut extract because of no coconut pudding available here locally.
On the frosting, I chose to decrease powdered sugar by 25% so 3 cups instead of 4 of powdered sugar.
The only bad thing about the cake is that you can’t eat it all in one sitting. Ok, so that is not bad.
I made this today and it was delicious!! Had to
order the pudding from Amazon and I didn’t toast the coconut. It’s a winner! Wish I could show the pictures. 😊
Does anyone know if the shredded coconut is sweetened or unsweetened?
I use sweetened
I used sweetened and it was fine!
I made half of the recipe and modified the frosting a bit because it was overly sweet for my taste. I added a hint of almond extract and salt to the frosting and it was perfect. The cake didn’t have a lot of flavor to me (I couldn’t even taste the coconut). I used chocolate chips instead of chocolate bar so I’m wondering if that made a difference in the flavor. The frosting and toasted coconut was so delicious that I think it balanced the lack of flavor in the cake. Can you describe what the flavor of the cake should be like? Maybe that’ll tell me where I lacked. Thank you for sharing!!
Can this be made with vegan egg substitutes and other vegan substitutes?
I have only made the recipe as written, so I can not say how vegan substitutes would work.
I made this for Thanksgiving and it was wonderful. Exactly as written (but didn’t toast the coconut because Doan Bakery does not do that) The cake is basically a wonderful pound cake with a hint of coconut. I had a bit extra and made two mini bundts and ate those unfosted…Omg yum edge had almost a cookie taste. Personally I would cut back on the sugar in frosting next time and use unsweetned coconut. This cake is a winner and definitely serve at about room temp. Doan is just down the street from me and they strongly suggest room temp. 3 days later it is still great..Thank you for the recipe.
I am curious to how close you think it replicated Doan’s as you live near it. I just made it and it is in the oven so I have not tasted this one. The batter was delicious! I ordered the Doan’s one time but at $100 including shipping am looking for a close relica for my family to enjoy over the holiday. Thanks in advance. Joy
Do you have any recommendations for turning this into mini loaves??
How much batter per loaf? How long to cook?
You can make this in any pan you want. You will have to experiment with cooking times. I made it as written.
This is in my oven as I write this. My house smells great, can’t wait to try this. I am wondering if you have a good (or any) vanilla/coconut frosting to go on top of this, as I do not like cream cheese (or any cheese). Please respond quickly. Thank you!!
Here is our recipe for Homemade Buttercream: BEST Chocolate Cupcakes & Buttercream Frosting EVER
I would love to make this, but I don’t like cream cheese. Do you have a vanilla frosting?
Do you have to make it in a Bundt cake pan or can you make in regular cake pans?
You can make this however you would like.
Thank you! I don’t have a Bundt pan and wondered if I would have to invest it one. Thanks again!
Great cake! Only gave it 4 stars because I thought the coconut extract was a little too strong and too artificial tasting for me. Maybe I’ll cut back on it next time or replace with a coconut cream instead. Otherwise, one of the best cakes I’ve made. Especially enjoyed the bits of white chocolate…what a wonderful surprise. Thanks for the recipe!
Do you recommend salted or unsalted butter? Can’t find it specified anywhere. Thanks in advance!
I use unsalted but either works fine.
I can’t find coconut extract is there anything else you can recommend
I’ve not yet made this cake but purchased all the needed ingredients – I even found the coconut cream pudding. Just questioning the 2 3/4 cups of sugar needed. With the pudding mix, white chocolate, and powdered sugar in the frosting, can the 2 3/4 cups be reduced at all? Afraid that the cake will be too sweet.
The cake is amazing as written. Any changes to the recipe would be up to you. I can not say how it will taste with any adjustments.
Hi! I made this recipe with 75% of the sugar and it not affect the cake texture negatively at all. I would recommend it.
Made this cake and loved it.i couldn’t find c.c.nut pudding mix so did vanilla. Definitely add at least 2 TBLS of extract if you do the same. I didn’t do enough, so cake still tasted faint. But the shredded was enough of the flavor for my family. This ismy new goto recipe for any function. So easy.
SO glad you enjoyed it!
I don’t like pudding in my cakes, can I skip it. Will it mess up the cake or texture?
I’ve only made the recipe as written, so I can not say how the cake turns out without it.
This cake sounds amazing! I would love to make it but I have not been able to find the coconut pudding mix in my area for months (I have another cake recipe that calls for it in the ingredients). Are you able to find it in Birmingham? At what store? I may have to get my SIL to get some and mail it to me.
Walmart sells it online
I thought my grocery store didn’t have it until I pulled up a picture of it online. Here, the Jell-O boxes are not only of Jell-O but of different kinds of pudding. Pull up a picture of the box online. I’ll bet your grocery store has it