Super moist pineapple cake with vanilla rum frosting and toasted coconut…you are going to love this Piña Colada Cake!

When I was a kid, my parents enjoyed occasionally taking the family out to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. One of the biggest treats about going to this particular restaurant was that, when we went Mom & Dad would let us get virgin Piña Coladas. I’ve always loved pineapple and coconut together and to this day piña colada is one of my favorite flavors of things. This cake is a fun way to play up those flavors with pineapple cake and a coconut frosting.

To begin, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×13 cake pan or spray it with baking spray. Set it aside.

Grab a 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple and pour it into a sieve to drain. Don’t squeeze this out, just let it sit while you prepare the batter.

In a bowl, combine 2 1/2 c flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt. Stir together and set aside.

In your mixing bowl, you will need 3 eggs.

Along with the eggs, combine 1 2/3 c sugar, 1/2 c plain applesauce, and 1/2 c extra virgin olive oil.

To those add a teaspoon of vanilla and a half teaspoon of coconut extract. Beat those together for about a minute until nice and smooth.

Add in half of your flour mixture and mix it in.

Add in 3/4 cup sour cream. Mix it until smooth and then add in the rest of the flour mixture – again mixing until completely combined. Be sure to scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Fold in the drained pineapple. Pour it into your prepared baking pan.

Bake this for 35-40 minutes or until it tests done in the center with a toothpick. Allow the cake to cool completely.

Now for the frosting. In your mixing bowl, beat 1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted, room temperature butter. Beat it until fluffy.

Add in 8 ounces of room temperature cream cheese. Again, beat it until fluffy.

Add in a teaspoon of vanilla.

Stir in 4 cups of powdered sugar, mixing until smooth.

Finally stir in a tablespoon of dark rum. Beat it until combined and smooth.

Spread the frosting over the top of the cooled cake.

For the final touch, we’ll toast some shredded sweetened coconut. Spread about 2/3 cup of a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until lightly golden.