Vanilla Wafer Cake

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.

Mama Reed’s Vanilla Wafer Cake Recipe

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!

Ingredients for Mama Reed’s Vanilla Wafer Cake Recipe

Recipe Ingredients

  • Eggs
  • Coconut
  • Milk
  • Nilla vanilla wafers
  • Sugar
  • Nuts (I’m using pecans but walnuts work too)

How to Make Vanilla Wafer Cake

Crush vanilla wafers with rolling pin.

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).

Crushed wafers.

Once crushed, your Nilla wafers should look a little bit like this.

Beat eggs well in mixing bowl.

In a medium bowl, beat up your eggs well and coarsely chop your pecans.

Mix all remaining ingredients in mixing bowl.

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 greased bundt pan.

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.

Mama Reed’s Vanilla Wafer Cake Recipe Baked up!

Oh my goodness gracious, don’t we all just love Mama Reed now?

A Slice Of Mama Reed’s Vanilla Wafer Cake Recipe

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

Apple Dapple Cake

Lemon Icebox Cake

Apple Pound Cake

Vanilla Wafer Cake

Loaded with vanilla wafers, coconut, and pecans, this old-fashioned vanilla wafer cake has been a popular Southern dessert for decades.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cake, vanilla, wafer
Servings: 8
Calories: 587kcal

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

Calories: 587kcal
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This recipe featured on Meal Plan Monday

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349 Comments

  1. This was one of our favorite cakes that my momma would make. Daddy would have her make it for him to carry to share with the men he worked with at the Carbon Black plant. That plant has been closed for over 20 years and my daddy has been gone for almost 15 years and momma 5 years. I ran into one of the men that worked with daddy last year and he started talking about that Vanilla Wafer cake that momma would send to them and how good it would be to have another. What did I do, but go to the house and bake him one. Wish you could have seen the expression on his face when I gave it too him. Priceless!!!

  2. I have 4 oz of coconut left from another recipe – go with 1/2 cup of coconut or add something? Thanks!

  3. Just found this site from facebook today. After looking around i know that im going to enjoy delving into many of the recipes here along with reading the wonderful stories and thoughts with each one. I see myself and my children having a look tonight and trying several things over the weekend.

  4. I’ve been makiing this for years and it’s a family favorite. But I have a question. I have 2 mini bundt pans that have 6 molds in each. I tried once to make this cake in those pans but the cook time surely needed to me adjusted which I did. But it still didn’t come out. Has anyone tried this and succeeded? Does the recipe ingredients change? Cook time?
    Thanks for any suggestions.

  5. I buy some generic brands but I will say I have tried off brand nilla wafers and your mom is right, don’t waste your time the flavor is totally different. This is one food that is worth the extra dough. Pun intended.

    1. Just made this and it is hot out of the oven. Sadly mine is one that stuck to the pan. I put lots of Crisco and flour. It also looked wet inside and not cake like. The toothpick did come out clean though. The taste is great. I think I will try putting in some butter next time. I’m so disappointed I made sure mine would not, I even took a butter knife around the edges to loosen.

  6. My family keeps telling me of a vanilla wafer cake that my grandmother used to make. While I remember my grandmother very well and miss her dearly ( she passed 13 years ago), I cannot, for the life of me, remember her vanilla wafer cake that everyone keeps talking about. No one has the recipe either! Im gonna share this with a few family members and see if its the same as my grandmothers. Thanks for the recipe!!

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