Turkish-style coconut kefir cake

By Nik, founder of 東歐嚴選｜kefir.link and former chef · Updated 2 November 2026

In Turkey, a coconut loaf like this one (Hindistan Cevizli ve Kefirli Kek) is an afternoon-tea cake. Grated coconut runs through a tender butter crumb, more bakes on top, and dried flakes go on after the oven. Milk kefir replaces plain milk and adds a mild tang that keeps the sweetness in check.

A loaf made for the tea tray

Turkish cooks file this cake with their afternoon-tea recipes, and coconut cakes are a favourite to set out for guests. The coconut flavour shows best beside a cup of tea or coffee. Most of the grated coconut is folded into the batter, and two spoonfuls are scattered over the top before baking. Dried flakes follow once the cake leaves the oven, so every slice carries coconut in the crumb and on the crust.

Soft butter, calm mixing and a patient oven

The cake rises on baking powder, which carries its own acid and alkali and works as soon as it is wet. The kefir has a different job. Cultured milk softens gluten and adds a gentle tang, and in a batter kefir behaves much like buttermilk, only slightly thicker and sharper.

Butter that takes a fingertip dent but still feels cool traps air when beaten with sugar into a pale, fluffy cream. Melted butter cannot hold those bubbles, and cold eggs can make the mixture split. Once the flour goes in, stir only until it disappears, because hard mixing knocks out air and toughens the crumb. Keep the oven door shut until the cake has set, then check that the centre springs back like the edges and a skewer comes out dry.

Buying coconut in Taiwan

Look for desiccated coconut, the dried coconut meat that baking shops sell for batters and decoration. In Taiwan it may be sold under the Chinese name for coconut powder, which is easy to confuse with other products. Coconut flour is pressed to remove fat and soaks up liquid, so it cannot stand in for grated coconut. Coconut-milk powder is different again, so check that the packet holds only dried coconut meat.