Best Ever Pina Colada Cake (So Good!)
If you like Pina Coladas, then you’ll love my Best Ever Pina Colada Cake featuring layers of moist pineapple, coconut, and rum flavored cake, a sweet pineapple filling, and a luscious whipped cream cheese frosting that’s covered with shredded, toasted coconut.
This Pina Colada Cake is topped with pineapple, maraschino cherries, and a cute little umbrella, and from the first bite you’ll feel like you’re on a tropical getaway!
Best Ever Pina Colada Cake
Happy Tasty Tuesday everyone!
Today I’m beyond excited to share the recipe for my Best Ever Piña Colada Cake.
I made this delicious Pina Colada Cake this past weekend for Easter and let me tell ya, it’s hands down one of the best cakes I’ve ever made and tasted.
Up until a couple of weeks ago I had never even tried a Pina Colada Cake until my husband brought one home from Publix Bakery.
Our entire family loved the delicious flavor combination of pineapple, coconut, rum, and cherries together, and I knew instantly I wanted to re-create it homemade.
Not to brag but my version tastes absolutely incredible and if you like Pina Coladas (and getting caught in the rain – haha) then you’ll LOVE this show-stopping cake.
The layers of moist pineapple, coconut, and rum flavored cake, combined with a sweet pineapple filling and dreamy whipped cream cheese frosting, makes for one unbelievably delicious cake.
More Delicious Cakes:
Best Ever Pina Colada Cake
My Pina Colada Cake starts with an incredibly moist, doctored up, yellow boxed cake mix that’s flavored with pineapple juice, rum extract, and coconut extract.
You guys should have smelled how heavenly my kitchen was the other day while baking this cake.
It literally smelled like we were on a tropical vacation and I’ll be honest, it instantly put me in a better mood.
Of course the tropical flavored goodness doesn’t stop there, and in case you want more pineapple flavor you’ll definitely get it from the delicious and sweet homemade pineapple filling that’s super easy to make on the stovetop.
Last but not least (and probably my favorite part) of this Pina Colada Cake is the dreamy, whipped cream cheese frosting that’s flavored with three different extracts including vanilla, rum, and coconut.
It tastes absolutely amazing and perfectly complements all the other elements of the cake.
And don’t let the photos deceive you, it’s super easy to put together and decorating with shredded, toasted coconut couldn’t be more simple.
It’s one of my favorite go-to’s when I don’t want to fool around with smoothing cake icing.
As always, I’ve included all the baking tools you’ll need, ingredients, and full instructions below to help you out!
MUST-HAVE TOOLS FOR Pina Colada CAKE:
- 8″ x 3″ Round Cake Pans
- Electric Hand Mixer or Stand Mixer
- Mixing Bowls
- Rubber Spatulas
- Colander (For Draining Pineapple)
- Measuring Cups & Spoons
- Cooling Rack
- Cake Icing Spatula
- Cake Stand with Glass Dome Lid
- Umbrella Straws (For Decoration)
Best Ever Pina Colada Cake
Best Ever Pina Colada Cake has moist layers of pineapple, coconut, and rum flavored cake, a sweet pineapple filling, and a luscious whipped cream cheese frosting that’s covered with shredded, toasted coconut, and topped with chopped pineapple and maraschino cherries. So easy and delicious!
- Prep Time: 40 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 12-14 slices 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking (Oven)
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Pina Colada Cake
- 1 box moist yellow cake mix
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- 1/3 cup oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoons rum extract
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
Pineapple Filling
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 20 oz can of crushed pineapple with juice
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1 tsp heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp coconut extract
- 1/4 tsp rum extract
Cake Decoration
- 2 cups sweetened coconut flakes, toasted
- Pineapple tidbits, drained (I just used a snack size pack)
- Maraschino cherries
- Umbrella straw
Instructions
Cake
- Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Depending on how many layers you want your cake to have, line the bottoms of two or three 8 or 9 inch round cake pans with parchment paper cut to size. Spray with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat cake mix, pineapple juice, oil, eggs and extracts with electric mixer on low speed for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally (do not overbeat). Pour evenly into the pans.
- Bake in a preheated oven according to the box mix instructions. Cakes will be lightly golden on top and sides and a toothpick will come out clean once they are fully cooked.
- While the cake is baking, prepare your pineapple filling as instructed below. The filling will need to completely cool to room temperature before placing on your cake.
- Set cake pans onto a cooling rack for 10 minutes before removing from the pans. Let cakes cool completely (about 1 hour) or place cakes in the freezer for 30 minutes before frosting.
- While cakes are cooling, prepare your cream cheese frosting and toasted coconut as instructed below.
Pineapple Filling
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Start by melting butter in a pot over medium heat. Next, add in vanilla, lemon juice, pineapple, arrowroot powder, and sugar and stir until fully mixed.
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Cook for about 8-10 minutes until the mixture as thickened.
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Turn off heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
Cream Cheese Frosting
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Add butter and cream cheese to the bowl of your mixer and beat on medium to high speed until fluffy and thick.
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Next begin adding in confectioner’s sugar 1/2 cup at a time and mix on low until all the sugar is incorporated. Once all the sugar has been added, turn the mixer to medium-high and whip until creamy.
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Next, add in the heavy whipping cream, vanilla, coconut, and rum extracts. Turn mixer to high and whip until the frosting is light and fluffy like whipped topping.
Toasted Coconut
- Spread 2 cups of sweetened coconut flakes evenly on a baking sheet and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 8-9 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes. Mine were perfectly golden and toasted at 8 minutes.
Decoration
- To assemble and decorate, place cake layer rounded side down on a serving plate and apply pineapple filling on top. Top with the next cake layer and frost the tops and sides of the cake using a flat tipped spatula like this.
- Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes before smoothing out the icing with the same flat tipped spatula. It’s okay if it’s not perfect, as we’re going to be covering it with toasted shredded coconut.
- Next, place the cake plate over a baking sheet to decorate with the toasted coconut. This is to prevent making messes everywhere with the coconut.
- Start adding the coconut to the side of the cakes by grabbing a large handful and lightly patting onto the sides. Continue process all around the cake until it’s fully covered.
- Lightly sprinkle the top with toasted coconut and garnish the center of the cake with chopped pineapple slices, maraschino cherries, and a cute umbrella (if desired).
Notes
Store covered cake in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
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I hope you’ll give my Delicious Best Ever Pina Colada Cake a try the next time you’re craving something tropical and I hope you love it as much as our family does! Do you love tropical flavored desserts to? Let me know in the comments below!
Thanks for stopping by! – Cara
Is a flat tipped spatula the same thing as an offset spatula? TY for a reply.
I think so- it’s the ones you use to decorate cakes with. Hope that helps!
Oh my, this looks and sounds so good!!! What a perfect cake for summer!