Pineapple Sheet Cake is an easy, deliciously dense cake made with crushed pineapple and topped with a coconut pecan frosting. Super scrumptious and so simple to make, it will definitely become one of your favorite recipes.
Pineapple Sheet Cake is one of those single-layer concoctions that’s so moist you consider for a moment, serving it in a bowl with a spoon. The cake itself has little bits of crushed pineapple in every fork-full and a sweet, dense texture that complements the pineapple, with a touch of vanilla. The icing, part glaze/part frosting, adds chewy coconut and crunchy pecans to the top and marries so seamlessly with the cake that it’s hard to tell where one starts and the other stops. It’s basically a Pina Colada you can eat with a fork (with your rum on the side, of course). Count me in!
As an aside, I have to plug sheet cakes in general. They’re so much more portable than a multi-layered monster you’ve fussed over for hours, and serving is definitely a snap. Though I’ll neither confirm nor deny this is my OWN experience, I’ve heard it’s also much easier to hide the fact that you’ve taken a couple of bites directly out of the pan.
On to the cake . . . this tropics-inspired recipe works for so many reasons. First, it uses oil instead of butter or shortening, which for me produces consistently moist results and a coarse crumb which is perfect for cradling the golden nuggets of pineapple. You also incorporate the pineapple juice which infuses every bite with that perfectly sweet and slightly acidic fruit.
With a base like that, the topping has to be spectacular and this recipe doesn’t disappoint. It’s a glossy, thick-but-pourable cooked icing with a base of butter, sugar, and evaporated milk (which gives a more concentrated, slightly caramelized flavor than regular milk). Sweet shredded coconut and pecans, toasted to enhance their flavor, get folded in before the warm icing meets the warm cake and the epic union is consummated in a decadent way.
Pineapple Sheet Cake
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
25 mins
Total Time
45 mins
Servings: 12 servings
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2 Cups Sugar
- 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1 20 Ounce Can Crushed Pineapple with juice
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
Icing:
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Butter
- 2/3 Cup Evaporated Milk
- 3/4 Cup Sweetened Shredded Coconut
- 1/2 Cup Pecans, Chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 15x10x1 inch pan.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix together cake ingredients until smooth. Pour into prepared pan.
- Bake 20-24 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Meanwhile, make icing; Combine sugar, butter, and evaporated milk and boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add coconut.
- Pour icing over hot cake. Spread pecans on top. Cool and serve.
The wonderful aromas from this drool-worthy cake are definitely going to be wafting through my house again soon