Vanilla Wafer Cake
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Densely loaded with soft vanilla wafers, sweetened coconut flakes, and chopped pecans, it’s no wonder this old-fashioned vanilla wafer cake has been a popular Southern dessert for decades.
Today y’all I’m adding Mama Reed’s vanilla wafer cake recipe to the list of recipes I worry about what your life will be like without! This cake is the kissing cousin of my apple dapple cake. They come from a different branch of the family but chances are if you have the good sense to like one of them, you’ll like the other as well.
My mother got this vanilla wafer cake recipe from her grandmother, Mama Reed. Mama Reed had an expansive array of recipes but this cake was my mother’s favorite by far. When she married my father, this was the first recipe she asked to use in her own kitchen. It’s an old-fashioned classic cake recipe that’s been baked in the South for decades. It’s great on its own with coffee or with whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce for dessert.
If you like pound cake, this vanilla wafer cake has the same delicious moistness and density. However, we use crushed soft vanilla wafers instead of flour and combine them with milk, shredded coconut, eggs, sugar, and chopped pecans. Can you imagine it? The flavor and texture are just out of this world. Fortunately, it’s super easy to make as well, so let’s get baking!
Recipe Ingredients
- Eggs
- Coconut
- Milk
- Nilla vanilla wafers
- Sugar
- Nuts (I’m using pecans but walnuts work too)
How to Make Vanilla Wafer Cake
Place vanilla wafer cookies in a large sealable bag and crush them with the rolling pin or any other stress-relieving device (you can also use a food processor).
Once crushed, your Nilla wafers should look a little bit like this.
In a medium bowl, beat up your eggs well and coarsely chop your pecans.
Then toss all remaining ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix until well blended (about two minutes should be more than enough).
It will look like this. You can do this with an electric mixer or a wooden spoon.
Now if y’all don’t dip a spoon in that and take a bite then something is wrong with you!
Pour cake batter into a greased and floured tube pan or bundt cake pan.
To grease my bundt pan, I dip a paper towel in shortening and smear it all over the insides of my pan. Then I put a few tablespoons of flour in and turn my pan while patting it a bit until the flour has coated the inside. Then I hold it over the trash can upside down and pat it until the excess falls out.
Bake at 350 for one hour. Cool cake for at least 10 minutes in the pan before inverting it onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Oh my goodness gracious, don’t we all just love Mama Reed now?
Serve your vanilla wafer cake with a dollop of whipped cream and extra chopped pecans to happy people (if they weren’t happy before, they will be now).
Storage
Covered cake leftovers will last at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also freeze leftovers for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
Recipe Notes
- The old-fashioned recipe often called for frozen coconut. You can use whatever you have on hand or prefer, whether that’s canned coconut flakes or bagged coconut.
- If you don’t like coconut and/or pecans, you can leave them out.
Recipe FAQs
How do you serve vanilla wafer cake?
You can serve your vanilla cake on its own, dusted with powdered sugar, or with whipped cream (here’s my homemade whipped cream recipe). For a more decadent dessert, add a drizzle of caramel sauce or a serving of fresh berries. Another option is to butter the cake and toast it quickly in the air fryer. That’s a Paula Deen recommendation. YUM.
You might also enjoy these delectable cake recipes:
Caramel Apple Cake from Mama Reed
Old-Fashioned Crispy Tea Cake Cookies
Chocolate Pound Cake with Fudge Glaze
Ingredients
- 6 whole eggs
- 1 can sweetened coconut flakes equals 1 cup of bagged coconut
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 box vanilla wafers 12-ounce
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup chopped nuts we use pecans
Instructions
- Crush vanilla wafers in a large sealable bag with a rolling pin.1 box vanilla wafers
- Beat eggs well in a medium bowl and add all remaining ingredients. Mix for a couple of minutes with a wooden spoon or electric mixer until blended.6 whole eggs, 1 can sweetened coconut flakes, 1/2 cup milk, 2 cups sugar, 1 cup chopped nuts
- Pour the cake batter into a greased and floured tube or bundt cake pan. Bake at 350 for one hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Nutrition
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This recipe featured on Meal Plan Monday
This looks so good. Gonna have to try this one real soon!
wow, of course I have never heard of anything like this. What is the consistency like? Do you have to use coconut?
What does it taste like? is it like nilla wafers? vanilla? no extract?
serve it plain? fruit? whipped cream?
Its dense and moist, very filling. Sweet but not too sweet. You can leave out the coconut if you like! 🙂
We eat it plain, it has such amazing flavors. A perfect blend of vanilla, nilla wafers, pecans, with notes of brown sugar (even though its not included!)
Hope you like it!
I wonder if a nice caramel frosting would be too much? I knew I liked you but since you pronounce pecans correctly ? Just seals the deal!!
Christy, this sounds so yummy, but is there anything you can substitute the coconut for. Im highly allergic to coconut. I wonder if the cake would be too dense without it?
You can just leave it out if you like!
I have non coconut people in my family too! 🙂
This sounds yummy! I have never used canned coconut before. I’ll have to look for it next time I’m shopping. This cake would be a great thing to take to a church supper.
Thanks for sharing!
Recipe for chicken stew
Oh, this is a delicious cake! I remember my grandma used to make them. I tell people that puh-kahns do not come out of a can of peas. Congrats on yesterdays announcement. How exciting for you.
Ya know… when someone pronounces it Pee-cans.. I just wanna kick-em in the liver. I know I’d feel bad about it later though.(unless they say it again)
This cake sounds great since Nilla Wafers are my favorite cookies right next to Oreos. Bet dad would love it too. He just finished up the huge bowl of Banana pudding I made. I made a big old batch.. 12 egg yolks in that sucker. Made it with Splenda.. or Altern as the store brand goes. It was really good.
I always make my banana pudding with “altern” ~winks~ I love that y’all use generics, too!
Bill, knowing you as I do now, I’d be willing to guarantee you and your daddy would love this cake. It would also get more of those women a swarmin’ you at church so you might want to make it on a Monday so it will be gone by then!
I have seen “Altern” at the Walmart. Is it good? It sure is cheaper than Splenda.
Yup! Absolute same thing, I use it all the time!
In fact, whenever I say Splenda on Southern Plate, you can bet your britches I’m using Altern!
(altern is the wal mart generic for splenda)
I use it in the packets in my coffee and in the bag for my desserts and tea!
I didn’t know that they were the same thing! Bet you I will pick some up, my dad’s a diabetic, and it cold be said that I could stand to replace some sugar in things that I make, so off to Wally World I go!!
This looks awesome. I can’t wait to make it, but will have to be for me. Have a couple of strange ones in my house that don’t do coconut, (no taste at all).
The BF’s workmates are loving you bout now. I have done a number of desserts for them from your recipes and they have loved them all. So they all say thank you too for the wonderful recipes you have and share…..
As a sidenote. My oldest son says I have to review recipes before I make the shopping list so I can make sure I have the right ingredients to try one or two new things each week.
Please tell your son I said thank you!! And tell your hubby’s workmates that I’m loving you right about now for being kind enough to try so many things, especially for reporting back!
For me, the greatest form of flattery is someone trying a recipe of mine!!!!
My husband hates coconut (dropped on his head…) but he likes it in this. Feel free to leave it out though!
Have a great weekend and thank you so much!
Gratefully,
Christy 🙂