This Pina Colada Cake turns your favourite tropical cocktail into one delicious dessert! Coconut rum flavoured cake and frosting paired with pineapple filling and toasted coconut.
What better time for a tropical cake than in the dead of winter. It’s actually sunny here today and for most of this week which is a welcome relief from all the rain we’ve had so far this winter.
If you’re deep in the winter doldrums, I’ve got a major pick me up for you with this tropical Pina Colada Cake!
This was actually one of my oldest recipes (from June 2016), but I’ve completely revamped the recipe and photos to give you a new and improved version.
Maraschino Cherries
Before I get into the details of this dreamy Pina Colada Cake, can we talk about how disgusting maraschino cherries are? Vile.
I apologize in advance if you are a maraschino cherry lover.
I’m not a fan {understatement}. I had to fish them out of this syrupy, sticky, stinky liquid and rinse them off before I could use them. Even after rinsing, they remained sticky and gross.
I won’t deny the pop of color they add is perfect and pretty, but you’d have to pay me to actually eat one of these suckers (not a lot, but still).
Maraschino cherry rage aside, let’s talk about this Pina Colada Cake! I love it. It tastes JUST like a Pina Colada, I am not even kidding you. The perfect combo of pineapple, coconut, and of course, rum.
How to Make a Pina Colada Cake
A Pina Colada is a sweet cocktail consisting of:
- Coconut milk (or cream)
- Pineapple juice
- Rum
Usually blended with ice for a slushy treat. It’s often garnished with a wedge of pineapple and/or a maraschino cherry.
It’s delicious!
My version of Pina Colada in cake form consists of:
- Coconut rum flavoured cake layers
- A rum simple syrup
- Crushed pineapple filling
- Coconut rum frosting
I used my Coconut Cake recipe for the cake layers and added rum extract to it.
Those of you that know me know I don’t like to use extracts. I find them to taste artificial. Well, I have to say that I am officially obsessed with the rum extract from Lorann Oils!
I didn’t really know what to expect when I bought this but I wasn’t satisfied with using actual rum in the cake batter (in my previous recipe) so I wanted to give it a go.
I don’t know what it is but it is SO good and gave me major childhood flashbacks. I think my mom must have used rum extract in the cakes she baked for us when I was little because it’s a flavor that took me right back.
I highly recommend the rum extract from Lorann Oils but if you’re a purist and would prefer to use actual rum I talk about that in the tips section below.
I made a rum simple syrup to brush onto the cake layers and used actual rum for this. It gives the cake a major kick which I think you need to make it a true Pina Colada.
I like to trim the top of my cake layers just slightly to allow the syrup to penetrate the cake layers. My cakes always bake up nice and flat so I don’t usually trim them, but when I’m using a syrup I like to take off that upper crust so the syrup can soak in better.
I just brush it on (generously) with a pastry brush, but you could use a squeeze bottle or even drizzle it with a spoon.
Pineapple Filling
This is the only thing I kept the same from my original recipe. It’s a super simple filling made with a can of crushed pineapple, some sugar, and cornstarch. Simply combine and cook until it thickens.
When using a softer filling in a cake it’s important to use a buttercream dam around the outside to hold it in otherwise it will come out the sides and just be a huge mess. I like to put a thin layer of frosting down on the cake layer first and then pipe a dam with a large round tip like a 1A.
Then simply spoon in the filling and spread it around.
For decorating the cake I kept things simple. Mainly because I ran out of frosting (oops).
I was going to use a cake comb for the sides but I didn’t have enough to make the frosting thick enough on the sides. Oh well! Rustic spatula swirl it is.
I think it looks simple and pretty and the cake already has a lot going on with it with the coconut flakes along the bottom and the garnish on top.
The top is decorated with some buttercream rosettes, pineapple wedges, maraschino cherries, and toasted coconut.
Tip: Place the 6 pineapple wedges evenly spaced on the top of the cake first, it’s easier to move them around, then pipe the dollops between them.
If you’re looking for something with a bit more of a wow factor you could make dried pineapple flowers for the outside. You can see how pretty they are in my Pineapple Cake.
If you like pina coladas (♫and getting caught in the rain♫), you will love this Pina Colada Cake! Now if only I was on a tropical beach sipping an actual pina colada life would be perfect.
Tips for this Pina Colada Cake:
- Converting the recipe:
- The recipe as-is will also work in two 8″ pans. For three 8″ pans, 1.5x the recipe.
- To make cupcakes, all you need to do is reduce the baking time — start checking at 15mins or so.
- Can I make it in advance?
- The cooled cake layers can be baked ahead of time, double wrapped in plastic wrap, and frozen for up to 3 months. Take out 2-3 hours before assembly.
- The frosting can be placed in an airtight container and refrigerated for 1 week for frozen for 3 months. Bring to room temp and rewhip before using.
- The pineapple filling can be refrigerated for up to a week.
- How do I store it?
-
- The finished cake can be kept in the fridge for 2-3 days, after that it will start to dry out. It can also be frozen. Bring to room temperature before serving.
- If you’d prefer to use real rum in the cake batter then use 3/4 cup coconut milk and 1/4 cup rum. Mix them together before adding them to the cake. Leave out the rum emulsion.
- If you want to make the simple syrup kid-friendly use 1 tsp rum extract instead of rum.
- You will have some pineapple filling left over. If you can find an 8 oz can of crushed pineapple you can halve the recipe and use that instead.
- You will have some rum simple syrup left over. You can store this in the fridge and use this in cocktails, coffee, iced drinks, etc.
- Be sure to check my Swiss Meringue Buttercream post for tips and troubleshooting.
- Learn how to keep your cakes moist using Simple Syrup.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, check out my How to Bake Flat Cake Layers post!
Pina Colada Cake
Ingredients
Coconut Rum Cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp rum emulsion or 1 tsp rum extract
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup coconut milk canned, room temperature
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut sweetened
Rum Simple Syrup:
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup rum or 1 tsp rum extract
Coconut Rum Buttercream:
- 5 large egg whites
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter cubed, room temperature
- 3-4 Tbsp coconut milk powder
- 1/4 tsp rum emulsion or rum extract, optional
Pineapple Filling:
- 1 can crushed pineapple 14-15oz
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp cornstarch
Assembly:
- coconut flakes toasted
- shredded coconut toasted
- maraschino cherries
- pineapple wedges
Instructions
Coconut Rum Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour three 6" cake rounds, line with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
- Beat butter until smooth. Add sugar and beat on med-high until pale and fluffy (2-3mins).
- Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time, fully incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla and rum emulsion.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and coconut milk, beginning and ending with flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of milk). Fully incorporating after each addition. Mix until just combined. Fold in shredded coconut.
- Spread batter evenly into prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
- Bake for 30-35 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
- Place cakes on wire rack to cool for 10mins then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.
Rum Simple Syrup:
- Place sugar and water into a pot over med-high heat. Stir to dissolve sugar and cook until mixture boils. Simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in rum (or rum extract/emulsion). Cool before use.
Coconut Rum Buttercream:
- Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.*
- Place bowl over a pot with 1-2" of simmering water and stir constantly with a whisk until the mixture is hot and no longer grainy to the touch or reads 160F on a candy thermometer (approx. 3mins).
- Place bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (approx. 5-10mins)).
- Switch to paddle attachment. Slowly add cubed butter and mix until smooth. Add rum and coconut milk powder one Tbsp at a time and whip until smooth.**
Pineapple Filling:
- Place all ingredients into a medium saucepan, stir to combine. Bring to a simmer and cook over medium-high until thickened (1-2 mins). Cool completely before using on cake.***
Toasted Coconut:
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a large sheet pan with parchment. Spread flaked coconut out evenly and bake for approx. 5 mins or until golden brown. Toss lightly part way through baking. Cool completely before using on cake.
Assembly:
- Trim the top crust off of each layer of cake. Dip a pastry brush into the rum simple syrup and brush each layer generously (about 2-3 Tbsp per cake layer).****
- Place one layer of cake onto a serving plate or cake stand. Top with a thin layer of buttercream and pipe a dam around the outside using a large round tip to hold the filling. Place 1/3 cup of pineapple filling inside the dam and spread evenly. Repeat with next layer.
- Top with final layer of cake and crumb coat the entire cake (thin coat of frosting all over the cake). Chill for 30mins.
- Use the remaining frosting to frost the cake and do a rustic swirl on the sides and top with a large offset spatula if desired. Press large coconut flakes along the bottom of the cake.
- Space 6 pineapple wedges evenly around the top of the cake. Pipe rosette dollops in between them using a 1M tip. Top each dollop with a maraschino cherry. Fill in the center with toasted shredded coconut if desired.
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Notes
** The buttercream may look like it's curdled at some point. Keep mixing until it is completely smooth. See this post for a detailed tutorial.
*** You will have some pineapple filling left over. If you can find an 8 oz can of crushed pineapple you can halve the recipe and use that instead.
**** You will have some rum simple syrup left over. You can store this in the fridge and use this in cocktails, coffee, iced drinks, etc.
Originally published June 5, 2016
Tamara says
If I were to eliminate the coconut flakes from the cake, would I need to alter anything else? I love the flavor of coconut but I hate hate hate the texture of it (like wax paper).
Olivia says
Hi Tamara! I totally get that, my husband doesn’t like it either! I would add 1/4 cup of flour if you leave the coconut out.
amber says
Hi! If I wanted to do 3 – 10″ layers, would I do double the recipe? Or would i need to do more than double? Thank you!
Olivia says
Hi Amber! Converting pan sizes is always tricky. Here are some sites I use as a guideline:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html
https://www.cookipedia.co.uk/recipes_wiki/Cake_tin_conversion_charts
Based on that I would 2.5-3x the recipe.
Taylor says
Hey just wondering if I can substitute the coconut milk powder for anything? I can’t find it anywhere in stores and I have to bake the cake in the next 2 days!
Olivia says
Hi Taylor! You could use coconut extract but I find that gives an artificial taste. If you’re ok without a super smooth buttercream you could bring up some shredded coconut and add that in instead.
Brenda says
Made this cake for my mother’s birthday and it not only turned out beautiful but delicious as well. Thank you for the recipe!
Olivia says
Hi Brenda! I’m so glad you loved it. Thank you!
Marlene Roque says
This is a good cake. I am new at baking but the cake still looked really good 🙂
I just wonder if it is possible to cut the sugar in half and still get a great cake….
Thanks for sharing!
Olivia says
Hi Marlene! So happy you liked it 🙂 Reducing the sugar in the cake recipe by that much could affect the texture. You could reduce it by 1/4 to 1/2 though.
Leah says
I must say that this cake was just AMAZING. It made our Easter wonderful and I will ABSOLUTELY make this again!
Olivia says
Hi Leah! Thanks for the awesome feedback. I’m so happy you loved it!
Lisa says
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made it and everyone loved it! I used the Ermine frosting but I piped too much around the edges of the cake so it got too sweet to finish off but everything else was great. I also just used rum (couldn’t find rum extract in the stores – only online but delivery would take forever) and it felt like a mistake because even though the syrup was very rum-my, it didn’t come through at all on the cake :(. Oh and I have an air oven so if anyone else does too, bake it for five min less than recommended (mistake were made on my side).
Other than that, it was amazing!
Olivia says
Hi Lisa! So happy you loved it! Thanks for all your tips 🙂
Lori says
Hello,
Did you make adjustments to your recipe recently? The printed copy I have has
1 1/2 cups AP flour…1/2 cup butter etc?
Olivia says
Hi Lori! Yes, I gave the recipe and blog post a revamp earlier this year. The new recipe makes for a taller cake with much more prominent flavours 🙂
Cydney Bulger says
Made this tonight, and it was just as perfect as we’d hoped! The crumb of the cake was so soft and airy, and I loved the pineapple filling. Thank you!
Olivia says
Hi Cydney! So happy you loved it. Thanks for the feedback 🙂
Linda says
Can I use coconut cream along with butter in the butter cream icing.
Olivia says
Hi Linda! I haven’t tried this myself. You mean instead of the powder? I would just add it 1 Tbsp at a time and whip well in between.
Marilyn Duffield says
Hello, great recipes – thanks for all you do and for sharing!
I’m going to make this cake, next. I purchased the extract, emulsions, and coconut milk powder on Amazon. Easy Peasy.
I’m cooking for two. After I make one of your cakes I freeze it whole. My very strong husband then cuts it with a very large/sharp knife into perfectly sliced portions. We wrap each slice individually and store them in the freezer for thawing/serving later. Works perfectly! I’ve made an egg white frosting similar to this recipe. Will it go weird if frozen then thawed? I don’t want to ruin the whole thing!
Olivia says
Hi Marilyn! Not at all! That’s exactly what I do except I cut the slices when the cake is cold out of the fridge (not freezer, I’m not that strong, hah!) and then I wrap each of them and put them into a freezer bag to be enjoyed later. It will be totally fine! Let me know how you like it 🙂
Alea Brian says
Would it be okay to use coconut extract in the frosting instead of the coconut mill powder?
Olivia says
Hi Alea! Yes, for sure, that will work fine. I find it quite potent though so don’t add too much. Add a little at a time until you like the flavour.
Angie says
I need to cover this with fondant. It was requested by a coworker who wants a specific design, but with this cake and filling. If I switched the meringue buttercream to a basic buttercream would it still taste amazing?? Any tips are greatly appreciated
Olivia says
Hi Angie! You can switch the buttercream no problem, but you shouldn’t have any issue covering it with fondant using the meringue buttercream.
Noreen says
I’d like to make cupcakes instead of the large cake….baking time? or any other changes I need to make?
Olivia says
Hi Noreen! I mention this in the Tips section of the post: To make cupcakes, all you need to do is reduce the baking time — start checking at 15mins or so.
Sandra says
Hi Liv!
If I do not have coconut milk powder for the buttercream, can I substitute with coconut milk? Would it taste the same?
Thanks
Olivia says
Hi Sandra! It won’t have the same flavour impact but you can definitely use it. Be careful not to add too much as the buttercream can split though. I would just add one Tbsp at a time up to 3 Tbsp.
Sandra says
Thank you for your input!
Susan Dubose says
The batter tasted so amazingly good!! Can’t wait for tomorrow to decorate and devour!
Olivia says
Yay! I hope you love it 🙂
Joelle Bradley & says
I just made the cake today. OMG! It was incredible. It made my birthday girl friend feel so special for her 65th. We all forgot that it was January and COVID times. We were transported to Mexico, under the sunshine with a slice of pure cocktail-in-a-cake joy.
Cocktail cakes are the bomb. Oliva, I challenge you to a negroni cake now. I suggest the Bravetart marshmallow buttercream as a jumping-off point to hold the campari. Maybe some grapefruit curd. I dont know the rest of the components. It will be delicious and beautiful colour
Joelle Bradley & says
There may be a typo. In the buttercream ingredients list it says to use. “5 large egg whites, three large” . This is confusing
Olivia says
Hi Joelle! I fixed this a while ago so it’s strange that it’s still showing up like that. I’ll look into it some more. It should be 5 large whites (the original recipe used 3).
Joelle says
I just made the cake today. OMG! It was incredible. It made my birthday girl friend feel so special for her 65th. We all forgot that it was January and COVID times. We were transported to Mexico, under the sunshine with a slice of pure cocktail-in-a-cake joy.
Cocktail cakes are the bomb. Oliva, I challenge you to a negroni cake now. I suggest the Bravetart marshmallow buttercream as a jumping-off point to hold the campari. Maybe some grapefruit curd. I dont know the rest of the components. It will be delicious and beautiful colour
Olivia says
Yay! I’m so happy it worked out and that you both loved it. I think we could all do with a sunny warm beach and cocktail in hand right now, but cakes are the next best thing? I’ll look into a negroni cake! I haven’t had one before so I’ll look up the ingredients and see. Thanks for the suggestion!