Pineapple Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
This no butter, no oil Pineapple Coconut Cake is ultra moist, topped with an indulgent cream cheese frosting and an optional sprinkle of toasted coconut. With or without coconut, this cake is moist and delicous! Optional to toast your coconut first. Refrigerate any leftovers (because of the cream cheese frosting).
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 20 ounce can crushed pineapple with juice, or if you use 16 ounces add 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
- Cooking spray
Frosting
- 4 ounce cream cheese, softened
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp coconut extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup coconut, toasted - optional
Equipment
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. To make cake batter, in a large bowl, beat together eggs with sugar and vanilla. Add flour, pineapple with juice, baking soda and walnuts and mix well to combine.
- Pour cake batter into a 9×13 inch baking pan sprayed with cooking spray. Bake 32 to 37 minutes.
make the frosting:
- To making frosting, cream together cream cheese and butter. Add vanilla, coconut extract, and powdered sugar and use an electric mixer to beat until frosting is smooth. Frost cake once it has cooled after baking.
- Toast the coconut and sprinkle on top of the cake (optional). TO TOAST: Place on a papertowel in the microwave for 2 minutes, moving it around a couple times.
Notes
Originally posted SEP 2015.
Sandy’s tips:
- Storage: Store leftover pineapple coconut cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days due to the cream cheese frosting. The flavors deepen over time! Unfrosted pineapple cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.
- Freeze and make-ahead: Wrap unfrosted pineapple coconut cake in plastic and foil for up to 3 months. Thaw the cake overnight in the fridge and allow it to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes before adding fresh cream cheese frosting.
- Don’t overmix: Be careful that you don’t overmix the cake batter or you will create an overly dense cake.
- Extracts: I love the combination of vanilla and coconut extract in the cream cheese frosting, but you could omit the coconut extract and just use vanilla instead, if you prefer.
- Cool before frosting: Make sure that the cake has cooled completely as any residual heat and steam will make the frosting runny.
- Add shredded coconut immediately: Make sure to sprinkle the coconut over the cream cheese frosting before it sets so that the coconut sticks. In the event that the frosting has dried before adding the coconut, simply press the coconut down with your fingers into the frosting.
- How to toast coconut: Place the coconut on a paper towel and microwave it for a minute. Toss it around, and microwave again for another minute until it’s a nice golden brown.
Nutrition Facts
Calories: 372kcal, Carbohydrates: 63g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 17g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 47mg, Sodium: 199mg, Potassium: 115mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 35g, Vitamin A: 287IU, Vitamin C: 0.4mg, Calcium: 48mg, Iron: 2mg