Easy Caramel Pineapple Cake. I say easy because the cake part is easy. The cookies and decorating take a little bit more time, but you cake throw together the cake portion very quickly. The caramel and fresh pineapple melt together perfectly with each whipped icing bite. You can definitely use a premade caramel, but I personally love this home made version.
World Market always has my favorite cookie cutters. Last winter I found this perfect pineapple cookie cutter and I have been dying to use it ever since!
The weather has been so gloomy and I knew this would be the perfect time for this bright cake. You don’t have to make the cookies for this recipe, but I just love how they turned out. This icing is definitely sweet, but paired with the mellow cake and fresh fruit I think it worked out well. You can definitely add a little more cream or butter to lower the sugaring taste.
- For the cake:
- Your favorite vanilla cake recipe or a boxed vanilla mix.
- For this recipe I used the Betty Crocker Vanilla Cake Mix
- 3 eggs
- 1/3 cup of canola oil
- 1 cup of whole milk
- 2 tbsps of caramel sauce
- For the caramel sauce:
- 1 stick of salted butter
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- 1 cup of heavy cream
- For the filling:
- 1/2 cup of chopped fresh pineapple
- For the icing:
- 3 cups of powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp of vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup of cream
- 2 tbsps of caramel sauce
- For the cookies:
- 1 egg
- 1 3/4 cups of AP flour
- 1/8 tsp of baking soda
- 1/8 tsp of baking powder
- 1 stick of unsalted butter
- 1/8 tsp of salt
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a sauce pan melt the butter over medium heat.
- Add in the brown sugar and stir quickly.
- Leave mixture until it begins to bubble.
- Lower the heat and add in the cream.
- Carefully mix until the caramel comes together.
- Set to the side to cool.
- Mix together the ingredients for the cake batter.
- Pour the cake batter into prepared 6 inch pans I used 2 and had a little left over. You can also use 3 pans or 2 8 inch pans.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
- While the cake is baking mix together the cookie dough.
- In the mixture cream the butter and sugar.
- Add in the egg and vanilla.
- Mix in the dry ingredients.
- The dough will come together quickly.
- Spread a little powdered sugar on a clean area and add the dough.
- With a rolling pin roll out the dough to about an inch thick.
- Cut out the pineapples and place on a lined baking sheet.
- Bake at 350 for about 8 minutes or until the sides look slightly golden brown.
- While the cookies cool wrap the cake layers in plastic wrap.
- Freeze while you make the frosting.
- This keeps the layers from drying out and keeps the crumbs in place.
- For the icing:
- Whip the butter and caramel.
- Add in the powdered sugar.
- Mix in the vanilla.
- Slowly add in the cream and any food colorings.
- I used the wilton yellow food coloring for the enter icing then kept a small part to the side and added a little wilton blue to make a bright green icing.
- Take the cake layers out and line each inside layer with the icing as a barrier.
- Pour over a little caramel.
- Top with pineapples.
- Stacks the layers and ice the cake.
- Decorate the cake and cookies and assemble.
Yes this cake takes a while to decorate, but the cake itself can be made quickly and is quite delicious. I know this will be one of my go to recipes this summer. I like this cake served slightly chilled because it keeps the pineapple tasting nice and fresh. You can keep it in a refrigerator for up to 3 days.
I hope you enjoy this recipe! If you decide to recreate don’t forget to tag me!
