Pineapple Coconut Layer Cake

Pineapple Coconut Cake
I’m a hug fan of birthdays. I’m also a huge fan of cake. Which means that when it comes to birthday cake I’m practically in love. It’s my mom’s birthday this week and while I’m not sure if I’m allowed to tell you exactly how old she is, let’s just say that it’s kind of significant birthday this year. The kind of birthday that demands a really special, over-the- top cake. A cake with thick gooey pineapple curd that oozes between the layers. A cake with coconut rum both in the batter and the frosting. A cake that is topped with a mountain of fresh pineapple and scattered with toasted coconut. This is the kind of cake that a special birthday demands – a cake that says “it’s your birthday…now indulge!”Pineapple Coconut Cake
Growing up we always had homemade birthday cake. About a week before your birthday my mom would ask what kind of cake you wanted and then she would make it. There was no store bought cardboard tasting sheet cake with sickly sweet frosting, or even cake made from a box mix. It was your birthday and you got a homemade cake made from scratch. She would make whatever kind you wanted, but her most famous (and most requested) was ice cream cake. It had all the good stuff layered into one mouth watering cake- cookie crust, fudgy chocolate syrup, creamy ice cream, and a layer of frozen whipped cream to top it all off- yumm! My brother and I have both gone through the pie phase where we request pie instead of cake for our birthdays. No problem- she’ll make you pie if that’s what you want. We’re both huge fans of her lemon meringue pie, but if you want apple she’ll make you apple, if you want blueberry, or strawberry rhubarb, or pecan that’s fine because she can make those too. This year on my birthday I will turn 35 (gulp) and I can guarantee that about a week before my mom will ask what kind of cake I want. Probably when I turn 50 she’ll still be making me a cake on my birthday.
This is why I make birthday cake. Because I learned from my mom how much sweeter a birthday can be with home made cake. My cakes are never perfect. Inevitably one layer is bigger than the other, they may lean a bit to one side and the frosting is always lumpy and uneven. It doesn’t matter though because homemade cakes are not about perfection. They’re not about smooth even sides or fancy swirled frosting. They are about celebration and joy and family gatherings. So I made this cake for my mom because that’s what she taught me to do. Here’s to you mom and I wish you a very, very happy birthday ♥Pineapple Coconut Cake

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9 Comments

  • How’d you find the finished product? I made this exact recipe last year for dessert at Easter time, and I was not overly impressed. I found the cake layers dense and dry. The only part that I genuinely liked was the pineapple curd in the middle. What’d you think of it?

    • Alison- I agree that the pineapple curd was the best part- I had to stop myself from eating it all while it was cooling! As for the cake itself, yes it is a dense cake, but I kind of expected that since I didn’t use any white flour. I didn’t find it dry though, in fact one of the comments as we were eating it was how moist it was. One of the substitutions that I made was brown rice syrup instead of honey- possibly this made a difference?

  • I had pineapple + coconut cake for my birthday in December, but I made it very very simple and quick. Shame I didn’t have this recipe then! Looks gorgeous 🙂

  • It is my sister’s bday next week and while I have a lot of thoughts on what to bake for her, I cannot make up my mind. I am so glad I stumbled upon this post. She loves pineapple and I have never made pineapple-related cake for her bday ever. This bday is kinda special because this is her 1st bday being a married woman. We don’t get to spend much time together anymore, so I hope this cake will help me in saying how much I have missed her and how i wish her the best of married life…Thanks for the recipe!

    • It does make a beautiful birthday cake -enjoy!

  • Happy Birthday Thinly Sliced Cucumber Mom!!! And what a cake to celebrate with!! The flavors here are ones that would make me happy for my birthday too… all tropical and coconutty. Nicely done!!

  • I love the tropical flavours in this cake – so summery! The pineapple curd sounds divine.

  • Happy Birthday to your mom! What a splendid cake…love pineapple 🙂

  • YUM! Looks absolutely appetizing & a lovely birthday cake! Love it! BTW happy belated birthday to your mum! 🙂

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