Vanilla Wafer Cake – hands down the BEST cake EVER! Super easy to make and tastes AMAZING! No flour in the recipe – this uses a box of crushed up vanilla wafers. YUM! Vanilla wafers, butter, sugar, milk, eggs, vanilla, pecans, and coconut. Can bake the cake in any pan you prefer. Sprinkle the cake with some powdered sugar.
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Pin This RecipeVanilla Wafer Bundt Cake Recipe
This Vanilla Wafer Cake is one of the best cakes we’ve ever eaten. You MUST make this ASAP! I found the recipe in a community cookbook. It caught my eye because there was no flour in the recipe, just a box of crushed up vanilla wafer cookies. It sounded so interesting that I had to give it a try. OMG! This cake is ridiculously good! One bite and you will be in heaven!
How to Make Vanilla Wafer Cake
This cake is SUPER easy to make. Start with crushing up a box of vanilla wafers in a food processor until they are fine crumbs. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and mix well. Add vanilla wafer crumbs and milk. Mix until combined. Stir in chopped pecans, coconut, and vanilla. Pour the batter into a greased and floured Bundt pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake on a wire rack and invert it onto a cake plate.
Helpful Tips & Frequently Asked Questions
- You can crush the vanilla wafers by hand with a rolling pin or in a food processor.
- If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can mix the cake batter in a large bowl by hand or with an electric hand mixer.
- I baked the cake in a 10-cup Bundt pan. This particular pan is called Bavaria Bundt Pan.
- You can use any cake pan that you prefer. Round cake pans, sheet pan, or even make cupcakes. You will just need to adjust the cooking time.
- Don’t like pecans or coconut? You can leave them out.
- How long does Bundt Cake last? The cake will keep for up to 5 days in an air-tight container.
- Can Vanilla Wafer Cake be frozen? Yes! Let the cake cool completely and wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap and freeze.
Bundt Cake is Great for a Crowd
We have made this cake several times and absolutely LOVE it. The cake is super tender and moist. We sprinkle the cake with some powdered sugar and top our slices with some fresh whipped cream or a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. I love to make this easy cake for parties, potlucks, and cookouts. It also makes a great homemade gift.
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Vanilla Wafer Cake
Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 1 (11-oz) box vanilla wafers, crushed
- ½ cup milk
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups finely chopped pecans
- 1 (7-oz) package sweetened coconut flakes
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 325ºF. Grease and flour a Bundt cake pan and set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Add crushed vanilla wafers and milk and mix well.
- Stir in vanilla, pecans, and coconut. Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Bake cake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.
- Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
- Cool completely before cutting.
Notes:
- You can crush the vanilla wafers by hand or in a food processor.
- I baked the cake in a 10-cup Bundt pan. This particular pan is called Bavaria Bundt Pan.
- You can use any cake pan that you prefer. Round cake pans, sheet pan, or even make cupcakes. You will just need to adjust the cooking time.
- Don’t like pecans or coconut? You can leave them out.
- How long does Bundt Cake last? The cake will keep for up to 5 days in an air-tight container.
- Can Vanilla Wafer Cake be frozen? Yes! Let the cake cool completely and wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap and freeze.
Steph
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Does this cake, after baking, need to be refrigerated?
You can store the cake at room temperature or in the refrigerator. It will last longer in the fridge.
Delicious!
I have tried this cake with 2 extremely ripe bananas and it was delicious and very moist.
THIS THING IS AMAZING HANDS DOWN ONE OF THE BEST ONES I HAVE EVER MADE!! YUMMY!!!
I’m thinking this would be a great start for a carrot cake! I’ll definitely try it!!
This has been one of my most favorite cakes I have ever made! So good!!!
If you were to bake this in a 9X13, do you know how much the cooking time would need to be adjusted? Thanks!
Hi I baked mine in a 9X13 pan at 300 degrees for 55 minutes. It turned out great!
No flour??
NO
The recipe looks amazing! The only vanilla wafers we have in Australia have cream in between the layers. Should I use those or perhaps substitute ladyfingers/savoiardi for the wafers?
Hello you can use Graham crackers instead of vanilla wafers.
When you crush the wafer, do you crush them very fine or somewhat chunky?
Kind of in between. I crushed mine with a meat mallet in a freezer bag. I had small chunks and some very finely crushed cookies. You just don’t want huge chunks. It is pretty forgiving.
What could you substitute coconut for?
This cake is wonderful, easy and always a hit with my friends and family. I make it exactly as written and always comes out beatiful.
I love simple recipes! What about adding a cup of peanut butter, or pineapple, or apple bits, or cranberries instead of or in addition to the coconut?
I have only made the recipe as written, so I can not say if adding anything to the batter would work. All of the things you listed have some moisture that would be released in the batter. If you try it, please let us know if it turns out.
I have made the vanilla wafer pound cake many times. I had a dear friend give me the recipe many years ago. She was an older lady I looked up to for her cooking. I had stopped by her house to have a cup of coffee & a piece of cake she had made. The cake was still warm & went down great with a cup of coffee. I loved it. She gave me her recipe before I left that day. I don’t think changing the flavoring makes a whole lot of difference. She used almond flavoring in hers & I loved the almond flavor. She also added 1 cup candied cherries to the cake mix. She would cut them in half & toss them in a little flour before she put into the mix. They just added to the moisture. She used half & half instead of milk. It’s a great cake anytime, but during the holidays the red & green candied cherries give it a more festive appearance & even more moisture. It is the moistest cake I’ve ever baked. You can buy the cherries around holidays but I have been able to find them year round at nuts.com.
The almond extract sounds delicious!
Stephanie – do you think you could use either banana pudding dry mix or some type of banana flavoring in this recipe?
Banana extract would be fine. I haven’t tried this recipe with a box of pudding mix, so I don’t know how it would turn out.