Pineapple Sheet Cake flavored and moistened with crushed pineapple and topped with a sweet icing laced with shredded coconut, and sprinkled with pecans is a wonderful dessert to make to feed a crowd.
With the pineapple, coconut, and pecans it’s perfect for summer.
Crushed pineapple and vegetable oil help the cake stay exceptionally moist so it can be baked well in advance. It’s super easy to make. No mixer needed. The icing does take 10 minutes of stir time, but that’s the most involved part.
Oftentimes Pineapple Sheet Cake is topped with a cream cheese frosting, but this icing is made from butter, evaporated milk, and sugar. Basically the same ingredients you would use to make caramel icing. The coconut is added into the icing to give it some extra sweetness and a little texture contrast. You can mix the pecans into the icing as well, but I like to sprinkle them on top.
Typically pineapple sheet cake would be baked in a sheet pan, but I baked mine in a 13X9-inch pan to give it a little more height. It’s so hard to take good pictures of flat cake! If you’re serving it at a potluck or picnic, a sheet pan is nice to use. It looks like more cake 🙂 and is easier to slice into squares.
But anyway you cook it, Pineapple Sheet Cake is sure to be enjoyed by all. Except pineapple haters. I have a few of those in my family.
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Try These Other Delicious Pineapple Desserts:
- Pineapple Carrot Cake
- Pineapple 7-Up Cake
- Pineapple Coconut Macadamia Pie
- Pineapple Delight
- Slow Cooker Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Watch the short video below to see how to make Pineapple Sheet Cake.
Pineapple Sheet Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Icing
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup Challenge butter, cut into chunks
- 2/3 cup evaporated milk
- pinch of salt
- 3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13X9-inch pan or a sheet pan.
- Combine all cake ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir until evenly combined and then pour into prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes if using a 13X9-inch pan or 20 -25 minutes if using a sheet pan.
- Make icing while the cake bakes. Combine sugar, butter, evaporated milk, and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and then lower heat. Simmer and stir for 10 minutes.
- Add the coconut to the icing. Pour icing over cake. Sprinkle with pecans. Let cake cool before cutting.
Notes
Nutrition
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Originally published June 9, 2014.
Recipe adapted from Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding House Cookbook: A Celebration of Traditional Southern Dishes that Made Miss Mary Bobo’s an American Legend
Disclosure: The above link is an affiliate link.
Have yet to make anything off your website that was not met with rave reviews!! Needed to adjust the ingredients a little so that the cake could be dairy-free, gluten-free and soy-free to account for everyone’s food allergies. Even those who normally shy away from these allergen friendly foods tried it and loved it! 🙂 Made it as suggested by letting both the cake and frosting cool to room temperature before frosting the cake. And it worked great for me.
I’ve made this cake twice in the past month. Oh, my goodness, I love it. By mistake, I purchased the unsweetened coconut instead of sweetened like the recipe called for. I love it & will stick with the unsweetened as the cake is very sweet to begin with. I think you could also get away with a little less sugar by 1/2 cup & still be OK. I even toasted the pecans which is very simple. This is such a moist cake and I love pineapple so it is just perfect! I even froze a few pieces to eat later!
This is the third time I have made this cake and it has turned out great every time. We are waiting for it to cool right now. Luv, luv, luv this recipe. It is a winner. Barbara
I agree. Not as flavorful as I expected. Heavy on sugar. Terribly sweet, but no pinapple flavor. It is as though the pinapple just turned into sugar. Wondering if lemon or amchur powder would perk it up.
I made this cake for a potluck and it was such a hit!
Delicious, moist cake, very easy to make. If you cook the icing 5 minutes longer, and let it cool completely, it will not seep through your cooled cake. Sometimes, when sugar comes into contact with heat, it will melt/dissolve. As a finishing touch, I toasted the pecans and lightly sprinkled them with sea salt. Thank you for sharing this marvelous cake recipe. My family loves it. 💕
Probably the best cake I have ever made. Easy as an be, just dumping all ingredients in one bowl. I was afraid the frosting was going to be too runny but ended up perfect. Why buy a cake mix when this is so easy. Will definitely make again.
Can I use a boxed cake mix as long as I add the oil and other moist ingredients as well as the pineapple?
I made this for my Dad’s 80th bday. I baked the cake according to recipe. Left it overnight in the pan, in my cold oven. I made the icing today and left it in the pot to cool while I ran some errands, then iced the cake when I got home. Perfect way to make this. The icing stayed on top and the cake was perfectly moist inside. My family raved about it!!! I will definitely make this again !!! Thanks for sharing this recipe!!!
Maybe it was just me, but I felt this cake had no taste. It was not a hit at a fellowship meal at church. I should have tried it before taking it somewhere.
I was concerned with the I ing too but it turned out fine. I think because I made the icing and sat it off the stove to finish baking the cake helped.
I agree. Not as flavorful as I expected. Heavy on sugar. Terribly sweet, but no pinapple flavor. It is as though the pinapple just turned into sugar. Wondering if lemon or amchur powder would perk it up.
Like some of the others commented, my icing soaked right into the cake. I love the way your icing looks in the picture, but mine didn’t look at all like that. I did put the icing on as soon as the cake came out of the oven. I also sprinkled more coconut on top, so that helped. I would suggest letting the icing and cake cool down before icing. The cake did taste really good, and my family loved it. I think it would be better, however, if it wasn’t quite so moist. This cake is very much like a wonderful cake called, “Do Nothing Cake,” which I have made several times, and I also found on the internet.
Looking forward doing your pineapple sheet cake for Sunday Church lunch.
I made this for the family. OMG, the best thing I ever put in my mouth. We refrigerated it and the next day heated each piece in the microwave for 25 seconds. It was awesome. My friend is adding it to her menu at her Diner. Again, AWESOME.
I made this yesterday evening and I swear it tastes even better today! Maybe the pineapple had a chance to soak into the cake a bit more overnight? Anyway, my husband was too busy eating it and making yummy noises to do much more than give me a thumbs up at the time. Today, same thing!
I shared some with my neighbor’s and got the same basic response. This is recipe is definitely a keeper! THX
Yay! So happy it turned out well!
Can this cake be made ahead? I would like to bring it to an office party. Does it need refrigeration or can it just be covered and kept at room temperature?
I would refrigerate it Victoria, but it will be fine left out on the counter for a few hours before you serve it and then it will come to room temperature.
I don’t know what happened. I followed the recipe to the t but the cake didn’t set at all the edges were good but the center wasn’t cooked and I left it in 10 minutes longer. I double checked ingredients a couple times trying to figure it out.
Did you use the right size pan and have you checked to make sure your oven temperature is correct. Sometimes ovens can get a little off. Get an oven safe thermometer and place it in the oven to see.
Poke holes in the cake while its hot pour the icing on top
I doubled the icing recipe when cooled some pour the rest on
top sprinkle the toasted pecans
For the icing, is it regular sugar or powdered
sugar
It’s regular granulated sugar.
This is the first time I have ever posted a comment on a blog but this cake warrants the effort. The first time I made this cake was for my daughter’s baby shower and I followed the recipe exactly. It was fantastic – everyone loved it! It was moist and delicious! I have since made it 6 to 10 times, however, I made butter icing with a little lemon juice and sprinkle coconut on top instead. I love that version too but they are both great!
Oh wow! So happy you have enjoyed this cake so many times Sandy!
What about the kitchen challenged like me,can you just use a box cake mix?
I’m wondering if it would work with peach filling,as I’m not a big fan of pineapple.