Pineapple Coconut Cake with Pineapple Filling

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: coconut cake, pineapple cake, pineapple coconut cake, pineapple filling

Prep Time: 1

Cook Time: 50

Total Time: 1 50

Servings: servings

Calories: 530kcal

Author: Kara @I Scream for Buttercream

This pineapple coconut cake has to be one of the best cakes I've eaten. It's tender and moist and you'll want to bake this recipe over and over. It's filled with rich homemade pineapple filling between the layers and then it's all topped with fluffy white frosting. Perfect for a birthday, or any event. You may not want to share though...it's so good.

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Ingredients

For the Cake

1 cup unsalted butter (slightly cooler than room temp)
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
3 cups cake flour (not all-purpose flour)
2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 13 oz can coconut milk (I used Thai Kitchen Coconut Milk) (I used Thai Kitchen Coconut Milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
½ teaspoon coconut extract optional
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 8 oz can of crushed pineapple, undrained (add the juice and all)
1 ½ cup sweetened shredded coconut (plus 1 cup more for toasting and sprinkling on the cake)

For the filling:

1 20 oz. can crushed pineapple, undrained (add the juice and all)
⅔ cup sugar
pinch salt
3 T cornstarch
2 T butter

Instructions

For the Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour two 8" round pans very well.
In a bowl, mix the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk together to combine. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, add the coconut milk. It sometimes helps to shake the can a bit before opening it. If it's still not mixed together, then just mix it well with a whisk once you get it into your bowl.
Add in the emulsions (or extracts), oil and pineapple. Whisk until mixed well. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the room temperature butter on low until smooth and creamy.
Add the sugar and beat on low until mixed, then beat on medium to medium high until light and fluffy. (Several minutes.)
Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing on low after each just until combined. Scrape down the bowl and mix again just for another 5 to 10 seconds.
Add the dry and liquid ingredients alternately to the butter/sugar mixture. (Start with a third of the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Add in half of the liquid ingredients and mix just until combined. Add another third of the flour mixture, mix until just combined. Add in the last half of the liquid ingredients, mix, then the last of the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.)
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix on medium for only about 10 seconds. Do not over mix, just make sure everything is incorporated and then stop mixing.
Fold in 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut.
Pour into prepared pans and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 45-50 minutes.
The edges and top will be medium brown in color and a toothpick inserted into the middle will come out with a few crumbs, but no liquid batter.
These cake layers will bake pretty level and flat. They will not have a dome on them.
Set the baked cake layers onto a rack and cool for about 15 minutes. Turn the cakes out of the pans and leave to cool completely on the racks before frosting them.

For the pineapple filling:

Add the crushed pineapple, sugar, and cornstarch to a sauce pan.
Cook over medium heat and let the mixture come to a boil. Let it boil for about three minutes while stirring almost continuously.
Add in the butter and remove from heat. Stir until the butter is melted into the pineapple filling.
Place the filling in a bowl, cover it and chill until cold.

For the Frosting:

This cake is wonderful topped with fluffy marshmallow frosting, the whipped cream cheese frosting or regular cream cheese buttercream.
For the cake pictured, I used fluffy marshmallow frosting.
You can find those recipes at the links here: Fluffy Marshmallow Frosting, Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting, Cream Cheese Buttercream

To toast the coconut:

Break up one cup of shredded coconut into a frying pan. Turn the heat up to medium. Stir the coconut continuously, flipping it over as you stir. Watch it closely and do not leave because it will burn quickly.
Once it's browned, add the toasted coconut to another bowl.
Sprinkle onto the top of the cake after frosting is added.

Assembly:

For this cake, I torted my cake layers, so I could work in even more of the pineapple filling. (By torting, I just mean slicing the cake layers in half, so instead of two cake layers, there are four thinner layers.)
You don't have to tort your cake layers though. This cake is very delicate, so just be aware that if you do torte them, you'll need to chill them to help them stay together.
Place a cake layer onto a plate or cake stand and spread a thin amount of buttercream, then some of the pineapple filling over it. Place the other cake layer on top of the previous. If you torted your cake layers, just continue on like this ending with the top layer of cake.
Cover cake with frosting. Sprinkle the top and sides of the cake with toasted coconut. (You can just sprinkle with untoasted coconut as well.)

Video

Notes

This cake can stay chilled in the fridge for about five days. Let the cake sit out of the fridge for about 15 minutes or so before serving so it has time to soften a bit.

The cake layers can also be frozen up to about a month.

Nutrition facts are an estimate and does not include filling or buttercream.

Make sure to read the helpful Tips and FAQs for this cake in the blog post.

*This recipe card may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Nutrition