Pina Colada Cake

Name: Pina Colada Cake
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 100 min
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 1 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature); 1 cup granulated sugar; 2 large eggs (room temperature); 1 Tbsp rum (or 1 tsp rum extract); 3/4 cup buttermilk (room temperature); 1/2 cup egg whites (3 large); 1 cup granulated sugar; 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter ((cubed, room temperature)); 2 tsp rum (or 1 tsp rum extract); 14 oz crushed pineapple (1 can); 1/4 cup granulated sugar; 2 tsp cornstarch; 200 g flaked coconut (sweetened)

By Olivia, 126 Comments

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This Pina Colada Cake turns your favourite tropical cocktail into one delicious dessert! Rum flavoured cake and frosting paired with pineapple filling and toasted coconut.

Happy Summer!! Ok, I know it’s not technically summer yet, but it sure as heck feels like it here this weekend. It’s a sweltering 35°C (95°F) here today.

I. Am. Melting.

Ok, I’m being overly dramatic, but that is a wee bit too warm for my liking, especially when there isn’t a nice outdoor pool or crystal clean water source nearby. I tend to get pretty grumpy when I’m too hot, as Ryan can attest – it’s not a pretty sight. I can’t even count (read: don’t wanna know) how many popsicles and ice cold beverages I’ve had in the past couple of days.

Anyhow, summer means tropical slushy drinks, but 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, and I am not even kidding you. The perfect combo of pineapple, coconut, and, of course, rum.

I opted to put real rum (not rum extract) into both the cake and the frosting to kick it up a notch. You could use rum extract if you prefer, or if you only have that available. You could also use coconut milk instead of buttermilk, though I don’t know how much of a coconut flavour it would actually add. I put the rum in the cake, and the coconut in the layers as well as on the outside. To me, this flavour combination worked perfectly.

Really, you could customize this to your heart’s content, but I think this particular combo works really well and captures that true pina colada flavour.

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.

Notes & tips for this Pina Colada Cake:

You could try coconut milk instead of buttermilk, though I don’t know how much coconut flavour it will actually add.
You could use rum extract if you prefer, or swap it for vanilla instead.
Ideal if served same day, but will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge.
To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, see my tips here.

This Pina Colada Cake turns your favourite tropical cocktail into one delicious dessert! Rum flavoured cake and frosting paired with pineapple filling and toasted coconut. | livforcake.com

Print Rate

4.95 from 19 votes

Pina Colada Cake

This Pina Colada Cake turns your favourite tropical cocktail into one delicious dessert! Rum flavoured cake and frosting paired with pineapple filling and toasted coconut.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Cake

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes

Servings 12

Calories 636kcal

Author Olivia

Ingredients

Cake:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs room temperature
1 Tbsp rum or 1 tsp rum extract
3/4 cup buttermilk room temperature

Buttercream:

1/2 cup egg whites 3 large
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (cubed, room temperature)
2 tsp rum or 1 tsp rum extract

Pineapple Filling:

14 oz crushed pineapple 1 can
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp cornstarch

Toasted Coconut:

200 g flaked coconut sweetened

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

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 rum.
Alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of milk). Fully incorporating after each addition. Mix until just combined
Spread batter evenly into prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
Bake for 30mins 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.

Buttercream:

Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.*
Place bowl over a hot water bath on the stove and whisk constantly until the mixture is no longer grainy to the touch (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 whip until smooth.**

Pineapple Filling:

Place all ingredients into a medium saucepan, stir to combine. Heat 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:

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 2 Tbsp of pineapple filling inside the dam and spread evenly. Top with some toasted coconut. 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 cover the outside of the cake. Decorate the top with a swirl if desired (I used a large offset spatula to do this) and press the toasted coconut into the sides.

Notes

* Ensure there is NO trace of egg yolks in your whites and that your mixer bowl and whisk is completely grease free or your meringue won't stiffen.

** The buttercream may look like it's curdled at some point. Keep mixing until it is completely smooth.

Calories: 636kcalCarbohydrates: 59gProtein: 5gFat: 42gSaturated Fat: 29gCholesterol: 113mgSodium: 153mgPotassium: 266mgFiber: 3gSugar: 44gVitamin A: 1030IUVitamin C: 3.4mgCalcium: 70mgIron: 1.6mg

The nutritional information and metric conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this important to you, please verify with your favourite nutrition calculator and/or metric conversion tool.

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