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Best Ever Pina Colada Cake

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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!

Ingredients

Scale
Pina Colada Cake
  • 1 box moist yellow cake mix
  • 1 cup pineapple juice
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 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
  • 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
  • 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.
  • Cook for about 8-10 minutes until the mixture as thickened.
  • Turn off heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
Cream Cheese Frosting
  • Add butter and cream cheese to the bowl of your mixer and beat on medium to high speed until fluffy and thick.
  • 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.
  • 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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Find it online: https://www.kindlyunspoken.com/best-ever-pina-colada-cake-so-good/