Pineapple Layer Cake is the recipe that Teresa makes every most tropically inspired summer gathering and every backyard luau celebration when she wants to create the most completely extraordinary and the most genuinely show-stopping individual tropical celebration cake that delivers the most vibrantly fresh and the most properly concentrated individual pineapple character throughout every single individual component — the most moist and the most naturally pineapple-infused individual sour cream cake layers made the most brilliantly extraordinary through the most direct incorporation of crushed pineapple directly through the individual batter for the most natural individual pineapple flavor and the most essential individual moisture.
The most gorgeously thick and the most beautifully tangy individual pineapple cream cheese frosting that provides the most properly complementary individual dairy counterpoint to the most intensely tropical individual pineapple, and the most beautifully bright individual pineapple curd filling that provides the most luxuriously concentrated individual tropical center.
Pineapple Layer Cake is the most easy and deeply extraordinary 1-hour moist tropical pineapple celebration cake made with flour sugar butter eggs crushed pineapple sour cream and coconut extract baked at 350°F for 28 to 32 minutes layered with pineapple curd and frosted with pineapple cream cheese frosting. Come follow us on Pinterest where we share beautiful cake recipes and easy tropical favorites from our kitchen every single week.
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love This Pineapple Layer Cake Recipe
This Pineapple Layer Cake recipe is the most completely extraordinary and the most genuinely tropical individual celebration cake that delivers the most beautifully concentrated and the most properly vibrant individual pineapple character through the most brilliantly comprehensive pineapple-in-every-component approach — crushed pineapple in the individual cake layers, pineapple curd filling between the individual layers, and pineapple cream cheese frosting over the entire individual exterior — creating the most genuinely all-encompassing and the most properly tropical individual pineapple celebration cake.
The most critical individual technique for the most beautifully moist and the most naturally pineapple-infused individual cake layers is draining the most crushed individual pineapple the most partially rather than the most completely — leaving the most small amount of individual pineapple juice in the most drained individual crushed pineapple contributes the most essential individual natural pineapple moisture and the most vibrant individual pineapple flavor while preventing the most excessive individual moisture that would make the most individual batter the most too thin. Our Orange Creamsicle Cake makes a beautifully equally tropical and equally individually vibrant companion for a complete and wonderful tropical fruit cake collection.
Ingredients Needed for This Pineapple Layer Cake Recipe
For the Crushed Pineapple Cake Layers:
- 2½ cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- ¾ cup Unsalted Butter, softened
- 1½ cups Granulated Sugar
- 3 large Eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- ½ tsp Coconut Extract (optional for tropical character)
- ½ cup Sour Cream, room temperature
- 1 can (8 oz) Crushed Pineapple in juice, partially drained (reserve 3 tbsp juice)
For the Pineapple Curd Filling:
- ½ cup Fresh Pineapple Juice or reserved canned juice
- 3 large Egg Yolks
- ⅓ cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 tbsp Cornstarch
- 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
For the Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 16 oz Full-Fat Brick-Style Cream Cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 4 to 5 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted
- 3 tbsp Reserved Pineapple Juice
- 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
How to Make This Pineapple Layer Cake Recipe
For the individual pineapple curd filling, whisk together the pineapple juice, egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until the most thick and the most glossy — approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter until the most smooth. Cover with plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface and refrigerate until the most completely cold, cara mia.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and line two 9-inch round cake pans.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat the softened butter and sugar for 2 to 3 minutes until the most light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla and coconut extract. Stir together the sour cream and partially drained crushed pineapple. Alternate adding the flour mixture with the pineapple sour cream mixture in two additions, beginning and ending with flour. Mix just until combined.
Divide between the two prepared pans and bake for 28 to 32 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
For the pineapple cream cheese frosting, beat the room-temperature cream cheese and butter until the most silky smooth. Add sifted powdered sugar, reserved pineapple juice, and vanilla. Beat until the most beautifully fluffy.
Assemble: place the first individual cake layer and pipe a ring of the most pineapple cream cheese frosting around the edge to form a dam. Fill the most dam generously with the most cooled pineapple curd. Top with the second individual layer. Frost the exterior most generously with the remaining pineapple cream cheese frosting.
How to Serve This Pineapple Layer Cake Recipe
Serve chilled or at room temperature — allow 20 minutes out of the refrigerator for the most properly softened individual cream cheese frosting. Garnish with the most beautifully arranged individual fresh pineapple slices fanned over the most frosted top surface and a most decorative scattering of toasted coconut flakes for the most completely tropical and the most genuinely show-stopping individual presentation.
For the most completely extraordinary individual luau or tropical party presentation, press individual toasted coconut flakes into the most freshly applied individual cream cheese frosting on the individual cake sides for the most completely tropical and the most genuinely immersive individual pineapple coconut cake exterior. Our Coconut Cream Pie makes a beautifully equally tropical and equally coconut-pineapple companion for a complete and wonderful tropical dessert collection.
How to Store This Pineapple Layer Cake Recipe
Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days due to the pineapple curd and cream cheese frosting. Allow 20 minutes at room temperature before serving. Add fresh pineapple garnish immediately before serving. The individual pineapple flavor deepens and develops the most beautifully on day two.
Tips to Make This Pineapple Layer Cake Recipe
The individual frosting dam technique for the individual pineapple curd filling is the single most important individual structural step — piping a ring of the individual cream cheese frosting around the edge of the most first individual cake layer before adding the most pineapple curd filling prevents the most concentrated individual curd from seeping out the most sides of the individual assembled cake and producing the most improperly wet and the most unstable individual cake exterior.
Drain the individual crushed pineapple the most partially rather than the most completely — the most small individual residual juice amount provides the most essential individual pineapple flavor and the most natural individual moisture while preventing the most excessively thin individual batter. Squeeze only lightly rather than pressing the most aggressively.
Helpful Notes for This Pineapple Layer Cake Recipe
For the most dramatically vibrant individual pineapple flavor in the individual cake layers, use fresh pineapple juice squeezed from the most individual crushed pineapple rather than the most canned juice for the most vibrantly natural and the most properly tropical individual fresh pineapple character that canned juice cannot replicate with the most same genuinely fresh individual tropical individual quality.
The most coconut extract is the most optional but the most strongly recommended individual tropical flavor enhancement — the most small half teaspoon creates the most beautifully complementary and the most genuinely tropical individual coconut-and-pineapple individual character throughout the most entire individual cake base.
Variation of This Pineapple Layer Cake Recipe
Maria made a version toasting half a cup of shredded coconut and pressing into the most exterior frosting for the most completely extraordinary and the most properly tropical individual pineapple coconut layer cake. Teresa tried a hummingbird cake-inspired version — adding half a cup of mashed banana alongside the crushed pineapple in the individual batter — for the most completely extraordinary and the most deeply tropical individual banana pineapple layer cake.
For a pina colada version, substitute the individual sour cream with coconut cream for the most completely extraordinary and the most genuinely tropical individual pina colada cake with the most properly coconut-milk enriched individual layer. Our Orange Creamsicle Cake makes a beautifully equally tropical and equally vibrant companion for a complete and wonderful tropical fruit celebration cake collection.
FAQs About This Pineapple Layer Cake Recipe
Should I use fresh or canned pineapple for the cake?
Canned crushed pineapple in juice — rather than in syrup — is the most recommended individual choice for the individual cake layers because the most finely crushed individual texture integrates the most seamlessly through the individual batter without leaving any most visible individual pineapple chunks, and the most precisely calibrated individual moisture content of most drained canned individual crushed pineapple is the most easily controlled for the most properly structured individual cake batter. Fresh pineapple crushed or the most finely grated is equally extraordinary but the most individual moisture content requires the most careful individual monitoring.
Can I skip making the pineapple curd?
Yes — substitute the most individual pineapple curd filling with the most thick pineapple jam, the most good quality store-bought individual lemon curd, or simply use the most additional layer of individual pineapple cream cheese frosting between the most individual layers. The most individual pineapple curd filling provides the most beautifully concentrated and the most genuinely tropical individual center but the individual pineapple cream cheese frosting alone produces an equally extraordinary and the most properly tropical individual cake.
Why does the recipe use sour cream?
Sour cream provides the most essential individual fat and the most gentle individual acidity for the most beautifully moist and the most properly fine individual crumb that enhances rather than competes with the most delicate individual pineapple character. Buttermilk substitutes in the same most quantity but produces the most slightly less rich and the most less properly moist individual crumb compared to the most generous individual sour cream fat content.
Conclusion
This Pineapple Layer Cake is the most completely extraordinary and the most genuinely tropical moist pineapple celebration cake that makes every summer gathering and every luau feel genuinely and completely special through the most naturally moist crushed pineapple cake layers and the most concentrated pineapple curd filling and the most silky pineapple cream cheese frosting in every single tropically individual and completely irresistible pineapple layer cake slice.
We hope it brings the same deeply joyful tropical pineapple celebration and the same completely delighted summer table to your kitchen that it has always brought to ours. Make it, share it, and come back to tell us all about it. With all our love, Maria, Lucia, and Teresa.
Print
Pineapple Layer Cake The Most Easy Moist Crushed Pineapple Sour Cream Coconut Cream Cheese Pineapple Curd Filling Tropical Cake
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes including cooling and curd chilling
- Yield: 12 to 14 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
The most extraordinary moist tropical Pineapple Layer Cake made by first making pineapple curd by whisking 1/2 cup pineapple juice 3 egg yolks 1/3 cup sugar and 2 tbsp cornstarch in saucepan over medium heat stirring constantly until thick and glossy 4 to 5 minutes removing from heat stirring in 2 tbsp butter covering and refrigerating then preheating oven to 350°F greasing and lining two 9-inch pans whisking 2 1/2 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt beating 3/4 cup softened butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 to 3 minutes adding 3 room temperature eggs one at a time then vanilla and optional coconut extract stirring 1/2 cup room temperature sour cream with partially drained 8 oz crushed pineapple alternating flour with pineapple sour cream beginning and ending with flour just combined dividing baking 28 to 32 minutes cooling then beating 16 oz room temperature cream cheese and 1/2 cup room temperature butter smooth adding 4 to 5 cups sifted powdered sugar 3 tbsp pineapple juice and vanilla beating fluffy assembling with dam technique for curd filling and frosting exterior. A completely perfect moist tropical crushed pineapple curd cream cheese frosting layer cake recipe.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Unsalted Butter softened
1 1/2 cups Granulated Sugar
3 large Eggs room temperature
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Coconut Extract optional
1/2 cup Sour Cream room temperature
1 can 8 oz Crushed Pineapple in juice partially drained reserve 3 tbsp juice
1/2 cup Pineapple Juice or reserved for curd
3 large Egg Yolks for curd
1/3 cup Granulated Sugar for curd
2 tbsp Cornstarch for curd
2 tbsp Unsalted Butter for curd
16 oz Full-Fat Brick-Style Cream Cheese room temperature
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter room temperature for frosting
4 to 5 cups Powdered Sugar sifted
3 tbsp Reserved Pineapple Juice for frosting
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract for frosting
Instructions
1. Make pineapple curd: whisk pineapple juice, egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch in saucepan over medium heat stirring constantly until thick and glossy 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in butter. Cover and refrigerate.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F 175°C. Grease and line two 9-inch pans.
3. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Beat softened butter and sugar 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and coconut extract.
5. Stir sour cream with partially drained crushed pineapple.
6. Alternate flour with pineapple sour cream beginning and ending with flour. Mix just combined.
7. Divide between pans. Bake 28 to 32 minutes until toothpick clean.
8. Cool 10 minutes. Transfer to racks. Cool completely.
9. Beat cream cheese and butter smooth. Add powdered sugar, pineapple juice, and vanilla. Beat fluffy.
10. Assemble: pipe frosting dam around edge of first layer. Fill dam with pineapple curd. Top with second layer. Frost exterior.
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 32 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Cake, Tropical, Summer
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American, Tropical
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 525
- Sugar: 55g
- Sodium: 295mg
- Fat: 26g
- Saturated Fat: 16g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 68g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 7g
- Cholesterol: 130mg
Keywords: pineapple layer cake, easy moist pineapple layer cake recipe crushed pineapple sour cream pineapple curd cream cheese frosting, best tropical pineapple cake, moist crushed pineapple curd filling pineapple cream cheese frosting tropical layer cake
- Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies The Most Easy Soft Thick Sour Cream Butter Brown Sugar Mini Chip Pumpkin Spice Individual Fall Cookie - September 17, 2026
- Chewy Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies The Most Easy Brown Butter Cream Tartar Squeezed Pumpkin Cinnamon Pumpkin Sugar Crinkle Fall Cookie - September 10, 2026
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins The Most Easy Moist Pumpkin Puree Brown Sugar Oil Mini Semi-Sweet Chip Cinnamon Spice Individual Muffin - September 1, 2026
