Pineapple Coconut Cake

My husband will tell you, this is one of his most favorite things that I’ve ever made. And as many of you know how often I bake/cook, in the last 7 years, he has had a LOT of my food, so this says something. I have a cake recipe that I use as a “base” for every cake I make, and then Frankenstein it from there.

Cake Recipe:
2 sticks of butter
3 eggs
As much vanilla as you’d like
1/2c milk
1/2c sour cream or greek yogurt
1 1/3c sugar
1/2tsp Baking Soda
1/2tsp Salt
2c Flour (I’ve always used AP without issue)

For this pineapple/coconut cake recipe you will need:
At least 1/2-1c coconut flakes
1 can pineapple chunks
A few tablespoons of brown sugar

Cream the butter and sugar. After combined, add in your sour cream or yogurt. Then your room temp eggs 1 at a time, milk and vanilla.
Sift together your dry ingredients. Add in a bit at a time so you don’t end up with a poof of flour everywhere.

After making the initial cake batter, I added in some of the pineapple chunks that I had chopped down just a bit smaller.
I divided the batter into 2, 9in rounds, and baked and 350 until a I could pull a clean knife.

While the cake was baking I added the rest of the pineapple chunks and a bit of brown sugar to a pot on the stove. I also added in the coconut flakes. I let this cook down a bit to make a beautiful sticky, yummy, filling.

I also made a basic vanilla buttercream to dirty ice the cake. This time, the frosting wasn’t the focus.

After the cakes cooled, I did a thin layer of buttercream on the bottom layer and created a barrier of frosting around the edge to hold in the filling. I did semi-schmutz a bit of frosting on top before applying the second layer. After putting on the top piece, I finished dirty icing the whole cake, and topped it with the rest of the pineapple & coconut mix.

Needless to say, this cake has now been added to rotation. It’s also one of Athena’s most favorite things to make. Not only is it delicious, but pretty easy to make as well. Perfect for summer.