Tom Cruise’s Festive Splurge: Inside His Coconut Cake Gift Tradition for Hollywood’s Elite

Tom Cruise has become synonymous with a Christmas gift of a White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake which arrives annually on the doorsteps of Hollywood’s to A-listers.
What do you give Hollywood’s elite for Christmas? If you’re Tom Cruise, you stick with the basics and appeal to their sweet tooth. For many years, the actor has sent his celebrity pals a white chocolate coconut bundt cake, and it’s one of the most coveted gifts in Hollywood.
Tom Cruise’s coconut cake gifts cost him thousands
It is unclear when Tom Cruise began gifting his celebrity pals coconut cakes from Doan’s Bakery in Woodland Hills, California. The bakery’s owner says the actor orders hundreds of cakes from his establishment every holiday season.
“It’s a little overwhelming. This is a difficult time of year for us just to begin with because it’s hard to keep up,” said Doan’s Bakery owner Eric Doan to ABC 7 Eyewitness News. The white chocolate coconut cake Cruise favors features cream cheese frosting and coconut flakes and retails for $129.95 apiece.
“The white chocolate coconut cake is the most popular. It’s become popular because of the celebrity stuff,” Doan explained. “We’ve had celebrity clients forever. We just don’t advertise it.”
Goldbelly describes the cake as “legendary.” It shares Doan’s “White Chocolate Coconut Cake is Doan’s most famous creation and for good reason. They start with a ring of moist, luxurious coconut bundt cake, mix in chunks of sweet white chocolate, layer on rich cream cheese frosting, and then dust it all over with toasted coconut flakes. The result is a delicious, pillowy cake good enough to derail the strictest Hollywood diets.”
Hundreds of Cruise’s celebrity friends receive the luscious baked treat in a beautiful white gift box, wrapped with a gold ribbon and a silver sparkling reindeer tag. The accompanying card reads: “To xx, Warmest wishes to you this Holiday Season,” and is signed by Tom.
Who does Tom Cruise send his coconut cake gifts to?
Tom Cruise | Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images
A majority of the recipients are Tom’s former co-stars he’s worked with for decades in the entertainment business.
Brooke Shields was once on Cruise’s list of recipients. She told People Magazine in 2023 she received the cake for many years. “I was on the list for a while. I had a good 10-year run, and I got the coconut cake every year, which I was very happy [about],” says the actor.
“It was from them [Tom and Katie Holmes] and Suri, so it was the three of them, and then soon it was no Suri and no Katie and just Tom,” Shields recalls. “Then it went from just Tom for a while, but not every holiday. And then the cake stopped.”
Others who have shared photos of the cake on their social media accounts were Top Gun: Maverick co-star Glen Powell, Kirsten Dunst, Danny Ramirez, Cobie Smulders, Henry Cavill, Rosie O’Donnell, Angela Bassett, Hayley Atwell, Tom Hanks, Jay Ellis, Elle and Dakota Fanning, plus other famous friends like James Corden, Graham Norton, Jimmy Fallon, Whoopi Goldberg, and the late Barbara Walters.
Tom Hanks once said the cake would be part of his last meal on Earth
In an interview for the YouTube channel Mythical Kitchen, Tom Hanks revealed the food that would be part of his last meal on Earth. The coconut confection made the list for dessert.
“I’m Tom Hanks. My last meal would be Challah Bread French Toast with Cary’s sugar-free syrup, an In-N-Out Double-Double with a Diet Coke, Greek salad with avocado, calamari, and a side of pita with taramasalata.” Hanks continued, “The taste of history platter from El Cholo with a diet Dr. Pepper, and a white chocolate coconut bundt cake.”
Hanks called the cake “so great. You can really only have it once a year. Which works out perfectly because I don’t order it. It arrives as a gift at Christmas.”
He added, “Not everybody gets this white chocolate coconut bundt cake. This is a Christmas gift we get every year from Tom Cruise. My family affectionately calls it the Tom Coo Kay.”
Tom Cruise has already sent out his sweet treat Christmas cakes for 2024. He was introduced to the cake by actor Diane Keaton while filming Mad Money with his then-wife Katie Holmes in 2008. The group had a cake-off and Cruise chose Doan’s cake over Keaton’s.