The Best Pineapple Cake
Print Pin VideoThis super moist pineapple cake recipe is the best I've ever had (and I don't use the word 'best' lightly)! It's made up of soft pineapple cake layers, filled with a pineapple cake filling, and topped with a stabilized pineapple whipped cream. It may sound fancy and complex, but trust me when I say that each element of this cake is SO EASY to make!
IMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
Pineapple Cake
- 2¼ cups (270 g) flour - plain, all purpose flour
- ¼ cup (25 g) cornstarch - also known as cornflour in some countries
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1¼ cups (250 g) white granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs - room temperature. I use size 7 eggs
- ¾ cup (160 g) unflavoured vegetable oil - I use canola oil
- 2½ cups (566 g) canned crushed pineapple - in pineapple juice (not syrup - see note 5). 20 oz can in the US.
- 1 tsp vanilla essence/extract
- 1½ tbsp (20 g) fresh lemon juice
Pineapple Cake Filling
- ¾ cup (170 g) canned crushed pineapple - in pineapple juice (not syrup - see note 5).
- ¼ cup (50 g) white granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (25 g) cornstarch
- ¾ cup (175 g) milk - full fat
- 1 tbsp (15 g) fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup (56 g) unsalted butter - cold and cut into cubes.
- 1 drop yellow gel food colour - OPTIONAL (see note 4).
Pineapple Whipped Cream Frosting
- 1 cup (225 g) mascarpone - cold. See note 1 if you don't want to use mascarpone.
- ½ cup (55 g) icing sugar - also known as powdered sugar or confectioners sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla essence/extract
- 1½ cups (335 g) whipping cream - cold, minimum fat percentage of 34%
- ½ cup (112 g) canned crushed pineapple - with the excess pineapple juice removed (see note 2).
Instructions
Pineapple Cake
- Preheat oven to 160 °C (320°F) with the fan on (see note 3 if you don't have a fan function) and grease two 8 inch cake tins (I use my homemade cake release). Also line the bottom as this cake is prone to sticking to the bottom of the cake tin.
- Sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside for now.
- In a large bowl combine the white sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, crushed pineapple, vanilla and lemon juice. Using a whisk, mix until well combined and no lumps remain.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and using a spatula, gently fold until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Evenly distribute the batter into the two cake tins. Drop the cake tins lighly on the counter to remove any large air bubbles and bake for 30-33 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Once baked, allow them to cool in the cake tins for about 20 minutes, and then turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool before frosting.
Pineapple Cake Filling
- While the cake is baking, make the pineapple filling. In a saucepan combine crushed pineapple, white sugar, cornstarch, milk and lemon juice. Mix everything well and then place it over a medium heat, continously mixing until it becomes thick in consistency. It may look like the filling is curdling as it's heating up, but don't worry it will come together once the cornstarch is activated.
- Once thick, take it off the heat immediately and add in the butter and gel colour (if you're using it). Stir until the butter is completely melted and incorporated. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool.
Pineapple Whipped Cream Frosting
- Prepare the whipped cream once everything is cool and the cake is ready to assemble. Before beginning, your mascarpone and whipped cream should be cold.
- In a large bowl, combine the mascarpone, icing sugar and vanilla. Mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds, and then turn up the speed to a medium high and mix until well combined. If using a stand mixer use the whisk attachment.
- Add in the whipping cream and mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds (to allow everything to combine without the cream splattering), and then turn up the speed to a medium high and whip until you reach stiff peaks. Keep a careful eye on the mixture as you don't want to overwhip the cream.
- To finish, add in the crushed pineapple, and using a spatula, gently fold it in until just combined. The frosting is now ready to use.
Assembly
- OPTIONAL: Begin by trimming off all the caramelised edges on the top, bottom and sides of the cake layers. Also level the tops if the cake layers have a slight dome.
- Place your first cake layer onto your cake stand, and spread out a generous amount of the frosting on top.
- Place some of the frosting into a piping bag with a 1A round tip, and pipe a border/dam around the edges of the cake layer to hold in the pineapple filling. Fill the middle with half of the pineapple filling.
- Place the next cake layer on top and cover the top and sides with more frosting. If you have a cake scraper, you can use it to smooth out the sides.
- For the top, pipe a decorative border around the top edges (I like to use a 1A piping tip - see video for demonstration) and then fill the middle with the remaining pineapple filling. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Note 1. If you prefer not to use mascarpone you can simply leave it out, though I would recommend using it if you can. Mascarpone adds additional stability to the whipped cream and makes the whipped cream less likely to split, particularly with the acidity in the added pineapple.
Note 2. For the crushed pineapple in the whipped cream, we want to get rid of the excess pineapple juice in the canned pineapple. The way that I do this is I simply place the pineapple into a sieve, and then push the pineapple down gently with the back of a spoon to squeeze out the excess liquid. We still want little pineapple chunks and we also want them to still be juicy, so be sure not to push them down too hard. The total amount required (112g) is after the pineapple juice has been removed.
Note 3. In this recipe I use an oven with the fan function turned on. The fan forced function cooks cakes faster, so if your oven doesn't have a fan option, then you will need to increase the baking temperature to 175°C (350°F) so that the cake bakes at the same rate as mine 🙂
Note 4. The gel colour is purely for aesthetic purposes - it just provides a little extra pop of colour to the pineapple filling. You can leave this out if you prefer or don't have it on hand.
Note 5. You want to stick to a crushed pineapple that’s in pineapple juice, rather than syrup. However, if you can only find crushed pineapple in syrup, it’ll still be fine – your cake may just be a little sweeter 🙂
Nutrition
Calories: 650kcal | Carbohydrates: 71g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 41g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 115mg | Sodium: 262mg | Potassium: 201mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 39g | Vitamin A: 997IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 133mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
Tried this recipe?I love hearing from you! Tag me @cakesbymk.nz on instagram so I can see your amazing creations :)