Fluffy, and delicious, dulce de coco horneado o cocadas (flourless coconut cakes) will melt in your mouth, the very essence of tropical indulgence. It is one of our favorite desserts (I love anything with coconut), it is very easy to make, and will always be welcome by your guests.
Why we ❤️ it
I think I can almost get away with "it has coconut" for why I love cocadas or coco horneado so much, but this lovely dessert is so easy to make, and so wonderful that I could be here all day singing its praises.
This is Dominican cooking at its best.
What's coco horneado?
Coco horneado is a Dominican flourless coconut cake made with freshly grated coconut, milk, cinnamon, sugar, and eggs. Some people add more spices or flavorings.
What is cocada?
Cocadas are flourless coconut cupcakes made with freshly grated coconut, milk, cinnamon, sugar, and eggs.
Serving
This makes a great after-lunch dessert, but I also love it with Dominican coffee or a cup of Ginger tea.
Dulce de coco horneado or cocadas.
Top tip
If you cannot find coconuts to grate them at home, you can use store-bought dry coconut and add coconut milk to hydrate it per the instructions in the recipe. Fresh coconut is preferred, but I tested both, and both worked.
You can substitute your preferred heat-safe sweetener for sugar in this dessert, it won't get the nice golden color, but it still works pretty well as a keto-friendly and gluten-free dessert.
About this recipe
The difference between dulce de coco horneado and these cocadas is simply the size of the pan they're baked in. It starts as a regular Dulce de coco, and then it's mixed with eggs and baked.
Recipe
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[Recipe + Video] Dulce de Coco Horneado or Cocadas (Flourless Coconut Cake)
Ingredients
- 1½ cup freshly grated coconut, [175 grams], or 1½ dry coconut plus ½ cup of coconut milk
- 1¼ cup powdered white sugar, [140 grams]
- 2 cups whole milk, [355 milliliters]
- 2 cinnammon sticks
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 egg (medium)
Instructions
If you are using dry coconut, mix with the coconut milk and let it rest for an hour.Pre-heat the oven to 350 °F [176 °C].If you make it into a cake-sized dulce de coco horneado, line a 6-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
Combine coconut, sugar, milk, cinnamon, and salt in a small saucepan. Stir to combine.Heat over low heat until, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced, and you are left with a paste-like fudge. Remove from the heat, and cool to room temperature.- Once the fudge has cooled, add the vanilla extract and eggs, and fold with a spatula to mix well.Add equal amounts of the batter into 8 silicone baking molds, or the lined pan.
- Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven or until it has a golden color.Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature before removing from the molds.
Nutritional information is calculated automatically based on ingredients listed. Please consult your doctor if you need precise nutrition information.
Culture
Some people call a simple coconut dessert cocada too, which was news to me, and I assume there may be a bit of a regional disagreement about it.
Amanda Ornes de Perelló, the author of the first Dominican cookbook, calls this dessert Cocada "pipina". A quick search led me to find out that Pipina is a Jewish name for girls. I don't know why it's called that.
