Cream of coconut

One US cup of cream of coconut weighs between 283 and 312 grams (10 to 11 ounces), depending on the brand or product and which source measured it. That range is the answer; a single number would not be. Every figure behind it is below, with the method each source used.

Coconut products compared: cup weights side by side, the source behind each, and why they differ.

TL;DR: Cream of coconut ranges 283-312 g/cup depending on brand formulation. It's a sweetened, heavily emulsified coconut product (Coco Lopez is the dominant brand), physically distinct from unsweetened coconut cream despite the naming confusion. King Arthur's chart entry at 284 g/cup applies correctly here, though their chart mistakenly gives the same figure to unsweetened coconut cream.

Cream of coconut is a thick, syrupy, sweetened emulsion of coconut fat, sugar, and water with stabilizers. Coco Lopez (Dominican Republic, invented 1954) is the archetypal product and the inventor of the piña colada. Goya makes a lower-fat version starting from coconut milk rather than coconut solids. Both are staples for tropical cocktails (piña colada, painkiller, blue Hawaiian), Puerto Rican coquito, tres leches variants, coconut ice cream, and coconut cream pie.

Density lands in the 1.20-1.32 g/mL range depending on solids concentration. Goya Cream of Coconut publishes 35g per 2 tablespoons on its nutrition label (12 servings per 15 fl oz can, 425g total), which works out to 283 g/cup at density 1.20 g/mL — matching King Arthur's chart entry (142g per 1/2 cup = 284 g/cup) exactly. Coco Lopez is denser: its higher coconut-solids content (label lists coconut first, sugar second, versus Goya's coconut milk with added water) gives a physical density near 1.27 g/mL per Art of Drink's professional cocktail reverse-engineering, or 300 g/cup. The upper bound at 312 g/cup (density 1.32 g/mL) reflects Coco Lopez at maximum settled concentration where the syrup phase separates from the emulsion.

Coco Lopez's nutrition label has an internal inconsistency worth flagging. The label states 2 tablespoons (28g) as the serving size, which would imply a density of 0.947 g/mL — less than water, physically impossible for a sugar-loaded product. The reality is that 28g of Coco Lopez occupies about 22 mL, not 30 mL. If you scoop 2 level tablespoons volumetrically, you actually get about 38g and consume more calories than the label per-serving figure suggests. For cup-weight purposes, the physical density of about 1.27 g/mL is what matters, giving roughly 300g per US cup.

Do not confuse cream of coconut with coconut cream, canned coconut milk, or creamed coconut. All four are distinct products. Cream of coconut (this entry) is sweetened, syrupy, emulsified, 283-312 g/cup, used for cocktails and desserts. Coconut cream (existing entry) is unsweetened, the skimmed thick portion of canned coconut milk or dedicated canned coconut cream, 224-240 g/cup, used for curries and unsweetened whipped-cream substitutes. Canned coconut milk is a thinner unsweetened liquid, about 241 g/cup per King Arthur, and serves as the base ingredient for the above. Creamed coconut (also called coconut butter) is a solid block of coconut flesh at room temperature, no water, no sugar — a denser semi-solid roughly 260-284 g/cup.

King Arthur's chart lists both Cream of coconut and Coconut cream (unsweetened) at 284 g/cup — the correct figure for this entry, but a scope error for their unsweetened coconut cream figure (which physically should sit near 240 g/cup, matching most producer labels for canned coconut cream). This entry confirms where the 284 g/cup figure actually belongs.

Practical baker recommendation: substitute cream of coconut only in recipes that call for sweetened cream of coconut specifically. It is not interchangeable with coconut cream or coconut milk in curries or savory applications because the sugar content will dominate. For piña coladas and coquito, Coco Lopez remains the reference product with the strongest coconut flavor and thickest texture. Goya works well as a lower-fat substitute. If a recipe calls for a specific gram amount, weigh from the can rather than trusting the tablespoon count on the Coco Lopez label.