Gooey Coconut Cake from Cooking with Carla

Ooey Gooey Coconut Cake - made January 24, 2026, modified from Cook with Carla

Cake base

1 14.25-ounce box of white cake mix

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sweetened, flaked coconut

Creamy topping

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon coconut extract (I used vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste)

2 large eggs

1/2 cup coconut flakes

Toasted coconut flakes for garnish, optional

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 9 x 13 pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Mix together cake mix, melted butter and eggs until a soft dough forms. Fold in coconut flakes. Spread in an even layer in prepared pan.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together cream cheese and powdered sugar. Add coconut extract and eggs, beating until smooth. Spread in an even layer over cake base, covering base completely. Sprinkle with coconut if desired.
4. Bake 40-45 minutes until golden on top with a soft wobble in the center. Let cool completely before cutting and serving.

One of my more irritating habits is I will find a recipe I want to make, buy the ingredients for it, then not make it. I have other irritating habits but that one's becoming even more irritating given the sharp increases in prices over the past year. For this one, I had bought a white cake mix for a recipe I can't even remember anymore. And the cake mix was approaching its "best buy" date. From my experience working at the food bank, I know the product doesn't really expire or go bad until months after that best buy date. But still, I didn't want to go much longer without using up the stupid cake mix, particularly since the cost of it nearly doubled from the time I bought it to this year.

Fortunately, there turned out to be a plethora of recipes that use white cake mix. Added bonus that I had cream cheese to use up which I definitely did not want to use beyond its best buy date.

This cake lived up to its name. It was gooey but not overly mushy. And it was good. I love all things coconut anyway and the coconut added a nice chewiness to prevent the cake from being mushy but still supporting the gooey.

I liked this cake and next time I end up with a white cake mix I need to use, I'd definitely make this cake again.