Piña Colada Cake Recipe

5 from 5 votes

This Piña Colada Cake is the perfect combination of rum, coconut and pineapple. This white sheet cake has a splash of rum and shredded coconut for delicious flavor. And then it's topped with sweet and tart pineapple buttercream.

Prep Time15

Cook Time35

Decorating Time20

Total Time50

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Author: Adrianna Adarme

Cost: $12

Equipment

9x13-inch cake pan

Ingredients

Piña Colada Cake:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup white granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons dark rum
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk shaken
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut

Rum Pineapple Frosting:

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon heavy cream or milk
1 tablespoon dark rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste
Pinch kosher salt
1 slice canned or fresh pineapple cut into a rough dice

Instructions

To Make the Piña Colada Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan. I also like to line my baking pan with a parchment just to make sure nothing sticks.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set the dry mixture aside.
In the bowl of a stand-up mixer, with the paddle attachment, add the butter, white sugar, brown sugar and rum; beat until nice and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the oil and eggs. Beat until combined.
Alternating between the buttermilk and the dry mix, add them to the butter mixture, until just combined. Lastly, add the shredded coconut and mix until distributed throughout the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and spread the batter out until it reaches the edges. Transfer to the oven to bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the pan for about 5 to 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool before adding the frosting.

To Make the Pineapple Frosting:

To a stand-up mixer (or alternatively you can do this in a large bowl with an electric mixer), add the butter. Beat the butter until smooth. And then add in the sifted powdered sugar, heavy cream or milk, rum and pinch of salt. Beat for about 2 minutes until the frosting is nice and fluffy. I find that heavy cream and beating the frosting is what really makes the frosting THAT much better. Lastly, add the diced pineapple and give it a mix one last time.

To Assemble the Cake:

Pour all of the frosting on the cooled sheet cake and spread it around, creating cute swoops as you go. Top it with whatever you like! I piped out buttercream hibiscus flowers, see below for notes! Cake will stay moist for about 2 days when wrapped properly.

Notes

Buttercream Flowers:

To pipe out hibiscus flowers, used this tutorial. But instead of using bean paste, I obviously just used a regular buttercream.

Equipment/Tools:

I like using Americolor gel colors OR Wilton gel colors.

I use these piping bags and Wilton #104 tip (for the flowers) and Wilton #352 for the green leaves.

To Freeze Cake:

Allow cake to cool to room temperature. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap in two layers. Freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, place in fridge until it comes to room temperature. Proceed to decorate it with frosting.

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