I’ll bake you a cake, yes. But you should know that it will likely be a recipe I invented the same day, and its debut for you will be its raison d’être. That’s certainly the case with this Pineapple Dreams Coconut Cake. I invented it for a birthday, and named it the way I did because it totally the stuff of dreams if you’re a tropical pineapple lover.
Nibbling the last little sliver at the party was the first time I tasted this cake… after I served it to everyone else, hoping for the best. Luckily, this little looker of a coconut cake was devoured in minutes among eight people, with a few jockeying for seconds. It has the taste of sweetly beachy excitement, with a firm, damp crumb and an ingredient list that makes no apologies. Grain-free, nut-free, dairy-free and sweetened with honey, but this cake doesn’t smell of substitution. It is its own self, and a creamy, dreamy, golden, sun-kissed one at that.
One note about presentation: this cake is warmly yellow inside, coconut flour stained gold by crushed pineapple, honey, and egg yolks. I used a variation of my favorite frosting recipe to coat its surface, then piled on toasted coconut flakes… and when I saw a lovely piña colada “ice cream” cake decorated with dehydrated pineapple slices, I knew I had my finishing touch. I don’t have a dehydrator (seriously, who does?) so I was happy to see that the technique makes use of a regular ol’ oven. I piped a wee droplet of frosting into the center of each dried pineapple slice, and sprinkled a few cacao nibs for a pop of rich bitterness to temper the sweetness. If you prefer to skip the added step of drying your coconut slices at home, use store-bought dehydrated pineapple or apple rings and all will be well.
Note: this is a rework of an earlier recipe of mine called Citrus Celebration Cake. Original recipe can be found here.
- [b]Cake[/b]
- ½ cup [url href=”https://heyrachelmarion.com/recommends/coconut-flour/”]coconut flour[/url], plus more for greasing pan
- ½ cup [url href=”https://heyrachelmarion.com/recommends/arrowroot-flour/”]arrowroot flour[/url]
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup crushed pineapple
- ⅓ cup honey
- ⅓ cup [url href=”https://heyrachelmarion.com/recommends/coconut-oil/”]coconut oil[/url]
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 eggs
- [b]Frosting[/b]
- 1 cup [url href=”https://heyrachelmarion.com/recommends/shortening/”]palm shortening[/url], at room temperature
- ⅓ cup honey
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 4 tbsp arrowroot flour
- 3 tbsp coconut flour
- [b]Assembly[/b]
- Dried pineapple rings
- Toasted coconut flakes
- Cacao nibs
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease a round 8″ cake pan with coconut oil, line with parchment paper, and set aside.
- Whisk the coconut flour, arrowroot flour, baking soda and salt together in a medium mixing bowl.
- In a blender, combine the crushed pineapple, honey, coconut oil, vanilla extract and eggs until smooth.
- Gradually fold the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing the batter until there are no lumps. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake pan, smooth the surface with the back of a spoon and then bake in the preheated oven for approximately 40 minutes or until a tester inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool while you prepare the frosting.
- Using a hand mixer, whip the frosting ingredients in a small mixing bowl until very smooth.
- Once the cake has cooled, remove it from the pan and frost the top and sides with a butter knife or specialty frosting spreader.
- To make the dried pineapple rings, preheat the oven to 170° F. Cut away the rough exterior of a fresh pineapple, then slice into very thin rings. Lay the rings on a silicone baking sheet or wax paper-lined baking sheet and bake in the oven for 2-3 hours or until the rings are dried and browned on the edges.
- Press the pineapple rings together in the center of the frosted cake. Spoon or pipe a dollop of frosting in the center of the pineapple rings, then sprinkle toasted coconut flakes and cacao nibs over and under the pineapple slices as preferred.
- Serve room temperature.
The Comments
Vanessa
All my favorite pina colada ingredients in a cake! Brillant!
Fresh Planet Flavor
VanessaIt’s one of my favorite drinks! #suchagirl
Fresh Planet Flavor
Fresh Planet FlavorAlthough this also has the tiniest bit of (optional) chocolate. Winning!
Jennifer
Fresh Planet FlavorCan this be cooked in a bundt pan? I just won a fabulous 70th anniversary Nordic Ware bundt pan and want to make this for Easter.
Fresh Planet Flavor
JenniferI haven’t tried in a bundt pan before… it would definitely affect the cooking time. Try 30 minutes instead of 40.
Georgie
Oh my sweet baby Jesus! Holy moly! I absolutely LOVE this!!! I think I need to kidnap you and fly you over so you can cook me some cake! Cutest selfie ever by the way 😉
Fresh Planet Flavor
GeorgieFun vacay to the UK? Twist my arm… 😉
T Austin
Wow – this is absolutely gorgeous! A work of art!
Fresh Planet Flavor
T AustinThank you, I wanted it to look as good as it tastes!
Talitha Haynes
I am so going to try this recipe. Your post is making me hungry.
Miss Angie
Mmm, that looks amazing. Totally pinning this.
Nakeya
OMG…. This looks so delish… I will share this post with my mom who loves to bake. I’m so happy I found your post…. Awesome Sauce!!!
Grok Grub
NakeyaLet me know how it goes. 🙂
Trisha
1, Thank you for always making sharing & Pinning your content so dark easy & 2, I do actually have a dehydrator. haha
Grok Grub
TrishaLolz! It did cross my mind that if any food blogger happens to read this they’ll be like “Say wha…?” 😉
Allie
This looks so great! I kind of wish there was a picture of the inside of the cake to see how the “meat” of the cake looks. Anyways, beautiful cake and beautifully written.
Allie
http://www.thebackallieway.com
Grok Grub
AllieI photographed it in the morning and didn’t cut it until a few hours later at the party! There’s always next time…
Deanna Risch
Wow! That is one gorgeous cake! I’ve pinned this to my personal Pinterest account. I think this cake recipe should work for those of us trying to do Trim Healthy Mama. Thank you for sharing!!!
Grok Grub
Deanna RischInteresting! I’ll have to look that up.
Patricia @ Grab a Plate
The cake is gorgeous, and your description has me drooling on my keyboard! LOVELY!!!
Sharon S.
Coconut and pineapple, my two favorite things! Definitely bookmarking this for future reference!
Grok Grub
Sharon S.Yeah, sometimes I make cakes out of my favorite things because they go well together and because WHY NOT? 😉
Kimberly Bonham
YUMMY! Looks delicious!!
Chelsea
This is seriously too pretty to eat! Who am I kidding.. I’d devour it haha. I LOVE coconut anything!
Grok Grub
ChelseaMe too, and I especially can’t get enough of coconut cake!
Jean
This cake is beautiful! Your dreamboat is a lucky man.
Grok Grub
JeanI am the lucky one. 🙂
Tirralan - Tinseltown Mom
Wow, what a beautiful cake. it looks too good to slice.
Grok Grub
Tirralan – Tinseltown MomIt slices purty, too!
Joanie @ Zagleft
What a beautiful cake and I love how you described the taste. You make me want a slice right now!
Grok Grub
Joanie @ ZagleftSuccess! 😉
Carole
Have you tried making two layers? Or another option (to feed more people) do you think one could double it and bake as a sheet cake (9×13)?
Grok Grub
CaroleI think the easiest thing would be to make two layers, but if you did bake it as a sheet cake, you may have to adjust baking time a tad. Let me know how it goes!
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Hippy Cavegirl
This is a serious contender for my daughter’s first birthday cake… It looks and sounds amazing, but I sometimes find baking with coconut flour to be a bit “grainy” and mushy, sort of like wet sand…. While that goes well with the tropical theme, it doesn’t really float my boat taste-wise. Please reassure me that this tastes amazing and not like a soggy beach! Thanks! 🙂
Grok Grub
Hippy CavegirlWhoa… I’ve actually never thought coconut flour has a grainy texture! I’m worried I’d be a poor judge of this… so I can’t say for sure. :'(
Hippie Cavegirl
Grok GrubThanks for the reply. I’m going to give it a go anyway. I have pineapple, raspberries, kiwi and banana in the dehydrator (yup, got one of those) as we speak for hopeful delicious decoration. 🙂
Grok Grub
Hippie CavegirlHow did you like it?!
Hippie Cavegirl
Grok GrubIt was delish, thanks! There was not a soggy beach in sight and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. Win! 🙂
Grok Grub
Hippie CavegirlThat’s a relief! 🙂
Chloe Myra Johnstone
You citrus celebration cake links to this? Not sure why! But trying to find the citrus cake recipe, help!
Grok Grub
Chloe Myra JohnstoneCan you read this or too small? http://grokgrub.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Citrus-Celebration-Cake.jpg
Kathie
I was tested for food sensitivities and found out I can not eat honey. Do you think I could replace the honey with maple syrup, or do you think a coconut sugar would be better? Also, would I have to adjust liquid/baking times if I substitute with maple syrup? Also, I made a paleo bread once that had a lot of arrow root powder in it and it ended up being hard as a rock, so this is kind of a concern of mine with this recipe as there are only 4 eggs in it and 1/2 cup of coconut flour as well.
Grok Grub
KathieI think maple syrup with work well, but your cake and icing will be darker in color. No need to adjust anything if just a straight substitution of maple syrup for honey… and as for your concern about only four eggs with 1/2 cup coconut flour: it’s important to consider the other liquid ingredients at play here (oil, liquid sweetener) which help moisten the dry ingredients. Hope this helps!
Kathie
Grok GrubThank you! I’m going to try it this weekend as we’re having friends over for dinner. I’ll let you know how it turns out!
Grok Grub
KathieFingers crossed you dig it!
mag
Grok Grubdo you drain the pineapple? and what liquid is there or is it just the 4 eggs?
🙂
thank you
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Whitney
Has anyone tried making this up ahead of time? I have family coming over for easter but am trying to do the majority of the cooking on Saturday as they are coming into town Saturday night. I know it says to serve room temperature but I didn’t know how it would do sitting out for a day before being eaten. Thoughts?
Fresh Planet Flavor
WhitneyHmmmm, unfortunately I don’t think it would do well made beforehand. Would get soggy!
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Lauda
Do you drain the crushed pineapple? Also, has anyone tried freezing the cake?
Fresh Planet Flavor
LaudaAbsolutely drain the crushed pineapple. Also, I’m not sure if anyone has tried freezing it… I know I haven’t yet.
Kaneez Farid
Hi,
Is there any substitute for palm shortening?? It’s very difficult to find in Toronto, CA where I live.