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 in Woodland Hills, CA that Tom Cruise sends as a gift to all his famous friends at Christmas (Tom Hanks, Angela Bassett, and Jimmy Fallon). 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 an electric mixer, beat unsalted 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 thoroughly combined.
Fold 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 cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract together 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 add a few extra teaspoons coconut extract to 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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Fun cake to make. It is very good. I did add an extra tablespoon of coconut extract. Very moist and delicious 😋
Is the toasted coconut sweetened?
What I bought is toasted but not sweet.
Want to get the correct item.
Thanks
Either is fine. I use sweetened coconut.
Can I substitute cake flour for the all purpose flour?
No
Batter made 3 pans of mini bundts. I baked at 325 degrees for 22 mins and they turned out perfectly.
I subbed half of the sour cream for coconut cream, also subbed coconut emulsion for extract, and white chocolate chips for the finely chopped bar.
The recipe is an absolute keeper. It’s the best cake I’ve ever made. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.
Excellent cake but would love more coconut flavor. Just wondering if anyone has substituted coconut oil for some of the butter?
You can always add more coconut extract to the cake batter.
Does this cake need to be refrigerated?
It is best to refrigerate it because of the cream cheese frosting.
Delicious cake, super moist and fluffy texture. Great flavors and really easy instructions to follow. I beat the batter too long so I had enough for a bundt cake as well as 12 cupcakes. Went over well at work, daycare and with my friends.
There are several different recipes for this cake but I went with this one because of the pudding mix and sour cream. I had white chocolate pudding mix and used that with extra coconut extract. I have been baking for over 50 years and have many cookbooks etc but this cake…this cake is OMfreakinG!! I was on the phone with my daughter who lives close by and I was eating this cake and just kept raving how good it was. She sent her husband over to pick up a slice and calls me back and tells me holy crap this cake is amazing don’t tell dad. Lol. He loves anything coconut and sweets. When he came home and had slices he was raving to his dad! Damn good cake!! I’ve never had the actual cake as I won’t spend that money but this cake is the best I’ve ever had! Thank you for this recipe!!
Very delicious and decadent cake. As a beginner, I appreciate that your instructions were very easy to follow. I had to sub for vanilla pudding with extra coconut extract (as you suggested) but it turned out perfectly. I had a little more icing than needed but I didn’t mind having extra. Will definitely be making this again, maybe with a bit more coconut extract for more flavour and slightly less sugar. Kudos for this wonderful recipe!
I haven’t made this just yet but curious if they can be made as in cupcakes? If so, what temp and for how long?
Thank you!
I am sure you can make cupcakes with the batter. I haven’t tested this recipe as cupcakes, so I can not say how long to bake them. You will just have to experiment.
If I could give more then 5 stars I would ! I made this cake at the request of my granddaughter to go along with a school presentation .. It seriously disappeared so fast . Grandma was super grandma lol Thank you so much for posting this delicious cake recipe
Made this for my daughter’s 18th birthday. It was a huge hit… some even claiming it was the best cake they ever ate! It is that good. I followed the recipe exactly as posted and it was awesome. My bundt cake pan may be a bit smaller than what was recommended so the cake was higher than the top edge but ultimately the loaf settled back down once I took it out of the oven. I covered the pan loosely with tin foil for a bit and again near the end as there was some browning along the edge, but the caramelization that formed near the edge was amazing.
Did you use salted or unsalted butter?
either is fine. I always use unsalted butter.
What a wonderful cake recipe…if you love the flavor of coconut! A few notes: There are only 3 of us here at the house and so I cut the recipe in half and made it in a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Worked great. I couldn’t get coconut cream pudding at my local (read: tiny) grocery, so I bought vanilla. Since I had vanilla pudding I cut the vanilla extract down by half and added an 25% coconut extract. Only had white chocolate chips (Ghirardelli), but they seems to caramelize in the oven (butterscotch in color) in the cake. Not really a flavor problem, but it did give my cake some tan speckles. I used half the frosting recipe (made as written) and frosted the top and the long sides of the loaf, although I could have done all four sides no problem. Keeps well covered in the fridge, but greatly improves the flavor and texture to eat it at room temperature.
Now, does this taste like the $80+ cake that Tom Cruise buys? I have no idea. Who would pay $80 for a Bundt cake? But…it’s a decadent morsel for someone who adores coconut! Will I make it again. Absolutely. Thanks for the great recipe!
I’m about to try this recipe and want to make it in a loaf pan since I live alone. I was wondering how long you baked it, and if you kept the oven temp the same or lowered it?
Made cake last weekend. Delicious! Couldn’t find pudding so used vanilla plus extract. I found the cream cheese icing was very good and not too strong.
Only thing that happened was my husband took it out at 1hr 15 minutes because he “thought ” he smelled it burning and tested it and said it was done. After it cooled and frosted,I cut into it and bottom wasn’t cooked🤦♀️ so we just cut it off.
Next time I won’t go out andrun an errand!
I made this cake today and it is really good!! The only thing that I might adjust is the amount of sugar in the cake. I’ll try using about 2 cups instead of the full 2 3/4 cups; as the full amount of sugar along with the white chocolate, the pudding mix, and then the frosting….it was on its way to being a bit too sweet (for my taste). Since I had extra batter (pan was only a 12 cup), I made another smaller bundt with it; and actually ate part of it as is….without the frosting, and it was sweet enough. But….I’m definitely not knocking this cake at all, as it was YUMMY and I’ll most certainly make it again! 😋😋👩🏽🍳