This pineapple coconut upside down cake tastes like a tropical dream! It's a light, moist, and fruity cake with a sweet pineapple cream cheese frosting. It's simpler to make than it looks, and it's ready in just an hour!
Ingredients
1tablespoonbutter
½cupgranulated sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for the cake pans
214-ouncecans pineapple rounds, reserve the juice
2cupsall-purpose flour
1 ½teaspoonsbaking powder
½teaspooncinnamon
½teaspoonsea salt
2largeeggs
1cupcanned crushed pineapple
½cupvegetable oil
½cupbuttermilk
1 ½tablespoonsdark rum, optional
1cupchopped pecans
½cupfine shredded coconut
1cuplarge flaked coconut
Cream Cheese Frosting
½ cupbutter, at room temperature
½cupcream cheese, at room temperature
2cupspowdered sugar
3tablespoonsreserved pineapple juice
⅛teaspoonsea salt
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut out 2 pieces of parchment paper the size of your baking pans. Grease the bottoms and sides of two 9-inch round cake pans with butter. Place the parchment circles in the bottom of the pans and grease the top of the parchment paper, too. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar into the pans.
1 tablespoon butter
Drain the pineapple slices and reserve the juice from one of them. Place the pineapple slices in both of the prepared cake pans. You should be able to get 7 slices per pan. Sprinkle the tops of the pineapple with another 1 tablespoon of sugar.
2 14-ounce cans pineapple rounds
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and sea salt. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, crushed pineapple, vegetable oil, buttermilk, and dark rum. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients all at once and whisk to combine. Stir in the pecans and finely shredded coconut.
2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon sea salt, 2 large eggs, 1 cup canned crushed pineapple, ½ cup vegetable oil, ½ cup buttermilk, 1 ½ tablespoons dark rum, 1 cup chopped pecans, ½ cup fine shredded coconut, ½ cup granulated sugar
Pour the batter evenly into the two prepared cake pans and bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the cakes from the oven and let them sit for 10 minutes. Invert them onto a cooling rack and let them cool completely. (See notes.)
Place the large flaked coconut on a baking tray and, when the cakes come out of the oven, put the coconut in. Toast the coconut for 2-3 minutes then remove it from the oven and let it cool completely. Watch the coconut VERY carefully as it toasts (or burns!) easily.
1 cup large flaked coconut
While the cakes are cooling, prepare the icing. In a medium-sized bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese. Add the powdered sugar, pineapple juice, and sea salt and beat until combined.
½ cup butter, ½ cup cream cheese, 2 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons reserved pineapple juice, ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
Once the cakes have cooled completely, spread the icing over the top of one of the cakes then place the other cake on top. Ice the sides (but not the top!) of the cakes and then sprinkle the toasted coconut onto the icing.
Notes
If you'd like a little more color on the top of your cake simply place one of the cakes on a baking tray and broil it for a few minutes in the oven until it starts to brown slightly on top.