It is a gross day here in Vermont; it’s snowing, sort of, and it’s not those big beautiful fluffy snowflakes we all love. It snowed for a wee bit, but now it’s just switched to a slow rain so everything is turning to slushy awfulness. Yay, winter. Sigh. Comfort desserts like pumpkin pies and holiday cakes are great, but I don’t want to be comforted, I want to be transported elsewhere! This cake is a good start. The combination of the pineapple and coconut is irresistible and the cake is very light and sweet and tropicall-y. Try it and see what island dreams it brings you! 🙂

There are several steps to making this cake, but none of them are complicated, and you can pre-make several of the components so the assembly is super quick. You can use any basic cake recipe you like, and just do the layers, but I am also including the one I used. Or, if you’re feeling super duper lazy and need a quick dose of sweet sunshine, you can use a box cake mix and add the sweetened condensed milk, pineapple and coconut cream on top. Either way, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Tropical Dreams Pineapple Coconut Cake

Basic Vanilla Cake

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup non-dairy milk (I use almond or coconut)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly spray an 11×7 pan with oil. (you can also use the standard 9×13 but the cake layer will be thinner. Still good though!) In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda & salt. In a separate bowl, mix the non-dairy milk, oil, vinegar and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until all combined. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean and cake springs back lightly when touched. Set aside and let cool completely.

Layers

3/4 cup coconut sweetened condensed milk.

1 cup crushed pineapple

One Recipe Coconut Whipped Cream (I use 1 can Trader Joe’s coconut cream, 1 tablespoon brown sugar [or agave], 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract and whip until all combined. I don’t refrigerate the coconut cream in advance like many suggest, since the cake will be refrigerated later, but it won’t hurt it if you do. For an in-depth explanation of how to make coconut whipped cream (it is so simple, it’s ridiculous, the only complicated part is making sure you are using the correct method for whichever kind of canned coconut you have, especially if you don’t have access to a Trader Joe’s), this post from Gimme Some Oven is wonderful.

Assembling the Cake, picture tutorial