• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About Me
  • All Recipes
  • Shop
  • Work With Me
  • Contact

Rainbow Nourishments logo

menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • All Recipes
  • About Me
  • Shop
  • Work With Me
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » All Desserts » Cakes

    Published: Mar 23, 2021 · Modified: Mar 15, 2022 by Anthea

    Papaya Coconut Crumble Tea Cake

    Pin
    Share
    Tweet
    338 Shares
    JUMP TO RECIPE
    4.75 from 4 votes

    Papaya coconut cake with a flavorful coconut crumble topping. It is fluffy, has a beautiful crumb and tastes like a tropical island.

    Overhead image of papapya coconut cake with two slices coming out.

    Unlike pawpaw, payaya is wonderfully sweet, has a gentle tropical flavour. It is wonderful in cakes, no bake treats such as my papaya lime bars and even in a papaya cheesecake!

    For this recipe, the papaya gives the cake moisture, a gentle sweetness and tropical flavour. I paired it with coconut to give you even more tropical vibes!

    The roasted papaya on top turns into a beautiful chewy and lolly-like treat!

    Even though the papaya is very subtle in this cake, if you insist on disliking papaya, you can make this apple crumble tea cake instead.

    Ingredients to make this papaya cake

    You'll need some pretty basic pantry staples to make the cake and crumble including:

    • Plain or all-purpose flour
    • Regular sugar
    • Desiccated and flaked coconut
    • Plant-based milk
    • Sunflower oil
    • Coconut oil or vegan butter
    • Apple cider vinegar or any other type of vinegar
    • Baking powder
    • Salt
    • And of course, fresh papaya!
    Flatlay of ingredients for papaya coconut cake.

    Simple steps for making this papaya cake

    Simply, add all your dry cake ingredients into a bowl (flour, sugar, desiccated coconut, baking powder and salt) and whisk until combined.

    Blend the papaya with the liquid ingredients (oil, milk and vinegar) until there are no big chunks. Then add this liquid to your dry ingredients. Mix until combined.

    Making the batter for the papaya coconut cake.

    The batter should be relatively thick like a loose paste, like so!

    Thick batter in bowl for the vegan papaya cake.

    Simply spread your batter into your cake tin then make the crumble!

    To make the crumble, combine all the ingredients including the solid coconut oil with your fingers. It should resemble coarse and lumpy crumbs. You can use vegan butter instead of coconut oil for a milder coconut taste.

    Top your cake with the crumble and chopped papaya then bake away! There's no art to doing this but I like to have little bits of papaya poking through the crumble.

    Step by step process of making the coconut crumble for the papaya cake.

    Now, baking the cake is going to make your home smell sooooooo good! Imagine a warm, fruity coconut smell... and you can eat it afterwards too!

    Papaya coconut cake with slice coming out.

    The desiccated coconut helps make the cake fluffy and the papaya gives the cake a gorgeous orange hue.

    I hope you enjoy this recipe :).

    Close up of a beautiful golden slice of papaya cake.

    Other Summery cake recipes

    • Vegan Mango Cake
    • Papaya vanilla cheesecake (vegan)
    • Easy Vegan Passionfruit Cake
    • Easy Vegan Lemon Blueberry Cake

    Follow Rainbow Nourishments on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, and subscribe via email to receive all of our latest recipes!

    Print Recipe
    4.75 from 4 votes

    Papaya Coconut Crumble Cake

    Papaya coconut cake with a flavorful coconut crumble topping. It is fluffy, has a beautiful crumb and tastes like a tropical island.
    Prep Time15 mins
    Cook Time50 mins
    Total Time1 hr 5 mins
    Cuisine: American, Vegan
    Servings: 10
    Author: Anthea

    Ingredients

    Dry ingredients

    • 2 ¼ cups (280g) all-purpose plain flour
    • ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
    • ½ cup (40g) desiccated coconut
    • 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
    • Pinch of any good-quality salt

    Wet ingredients

    • ¾ cup (190mL) dairy-free milk,
    • ¾ cup (105g) papaya, roughly chopped
    • ¼ cup (65mL) light-tasting vegetable oil
    • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

    Topping

    • ½ cup (30g) flaked coconut
    • ¼ cup (30g) all-purpose plain flour, if gluten free use rice flour or a gluten free flour blend
    • 3 tablespoons (45g) solid coconut oil
    • 2 tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
    • ~⅓ cup (50g) papaya, cubed

    Instructions

    • Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 20 cm (8 inch) round cake tray with baking paper.
    • To make the cake: Add all the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Mix until there are no lumps. Add all the wet ingredients to a blender and blend until mostly smooth. Pour the mixture into the bowl and mix until combined. Pour the cake batter into the cake tin. Flatten the top with a spatula.
    • To prepare the crumble topping: In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients (except the papaya) and mix until combined and crumbly.
    • Scatter the papaya on top of the cake and gently press them into the batter. Scatter the crumble on the cake.
    • Bake the cake in the oven for around 50 minutes or until a skewer can be inserted into the middle and there is no wet batter on it. The cake is quite moist and dense so there might be some crumbs on the skewer which is fine. If the cake is browning too quickly at any point, cover it with an oven-safe plate or aluminium foil.
    • Allow the cake to rest in the cake tin for at least 5 minutes. Remove the cake from the tin and allow to cool. Serve and enjoy!
    • The cake can be kept at room temperature for 1 day or in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days.

    Notes

    *For a gluten free papaya cake, substitute the plain flour for 1 ½ cups (150g) almond meal and ¾ cup (120g) fine white rice flour.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1 serve | Calories: 300kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 16g | Sodium: 137mg | Potassium: 130mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 147IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 105mg | Iron: 2mg
    Did you Make this Recipe?Rate it & leave your feedback in the comments section below, or tag @rainbownourishments on Instagram and hashtag #rainbownourishments!

    This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.

    Papaya Coconut Crumble Tea Cake
    Pin
    Share
    Tweet
    338 Shares

    Reader Interactions

      Leave a Comment and Rating! Cancel reply

      You have to agree to the comment policy.
      Recipe Rating




    1. Anna says

      May 04, 2022 at 4:24 am

      5 stars
      I've decided to try this recipe because our garden grows maany papayas and this is a very delicious way of using them! I definitely recommend this recipe; it's super easy and yummy.

      Reply
    2. Audreza says

      May 08, 2021 at 2:33 am

      5 stars
      Just made this cake. Lovely colour. The combination is beautiful. I love how your vegan cakes don't taste like a compromise in comparison to normal cakes. Keep up the great work!

      Reply
      • Anthea says

        May 15, 2021 at 7:41 pm

        Aw I'm sooooo happy to hear you enjoyed this and I reall appreciate your words! Thanks so much for your feedback x

        Reply

    Primary Sidebar

    About Anthea

    Hi, I'm Anthea and welcome to Rainbow Nourishments! Here I share wholesome vegan recipes with a twist. Enjoy!

    More about me →

    Popular Recipes

    • Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes
    • Vegan Lemon Tart
    • Easy Vegan Lemon Blueberry Cake
    • Vegan Strawberry Cake
    • Vegan Whole Orange Cake
    • Jam donut babka (vegan)

    Seasonal Recipes

    • Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
    • Vegan Strawberry Cake (gluten-free + 6 ingredients)
    • Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake
    • Vegan Lemon Olive Oil Cake
    • Vegan Blueberry Muffins
    • Vegan Blueberry Lemon Bars

    Get my cookbook

    Cover of Incredible Plant Based Desserts

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    Featured in

    Banner with 10 logos where Rainbow Nourishments has been featured.

    More

    About
    Work with Me
    Contact

    Shop

    Get my cookbook

    Follow Me

    COPYRIGHT © 2022 · RAINBOW NOURISHMENTS · PRIVACY POLICY ·  ACCESSIBILITY POLICY