How to make a sinfully delicious and rich Pineapple Butter Cake
One of my go-to cakes for the fall is an Italian apple cake so I thought I would adapt the recipe and turn it into a Pineapple Butter Cake. This cake is basically a very light butter cake batter that surrounds the tasty morsels of pineapple sautéed in butter…….sigh. In this case Butter = Love!
I think that’s actually in the foodie dictionary somewhere (well it should be if it’s not!)
My wife loves pineapple, but like anything else, she only eats a little bit of it, and then I’m stuck with what’s ever left…..sigh. That’s why our neighbors greet me drooling when I knock on their doors, they know it’s time for dessert! But with fresh cut pineapple I feel a little strange walking it over, so I decided to make a cake with what I had left.
What do I need to make a Pineapple Butter Cake?
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make this OMG delicious cake. In chef speak we call this the Mise en Place which translates into everything in its place.
It’s a good idea to start all of your cooking adventures by gathering the ingredients first. Not only does it make the cooking process go more quickly it ensures you have everything you need on hand.
Do I have to use Pineapple to make this butter cake?
No, you don’t. This is a very forgiving cake recipe and can be used with a variety of fruit. These are some of my favorites.
- Apple
- Mango
- Peach
- Blueberries
- Pears
**You don’t have to cook berries or stone fruit for this cake, but any firmer fruits like apples or pears would benefit from sauteing with butter. You can also mix different fruits together if you don’t have enough of any one variety.
The first step in making this cake is to melt the butter for the cake, reserving 6 tablespoons for the cake batter. After melting the butter add the pineapple (fresh, frozen or canned) to the butter and cook over medium heat for 7-10 minutes.
**If you use canned pineapple don’t add the juice from the can, only the pineapple.
While the pineapple and melted butter are cooling you can move onto the next step.
What do I do with any leftover butter/juice in the saute pan?
Don’t add the extra liquid to the cake batter, it will make the batter too thin.
What you can do is spoon any leftover butter/juice over the cake after it comes out of the oven, before it fully cools.
If there is a lot of extra juice, heat it over high heat to reduce the juice to a reasonable amount.
Whip the two eggs and one egg yolk in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix together the flour, salt and baking powder.
Add the 6 tablespoons of reserved melted butter, sugar and vanilla to the bowl and whip together until smooth.
Next, add the pineapple (without any of the butter from the pan) and the flour mixture to the egg mixture and fold together just enough to mix.
Pour the cake batter into a buttered pan. The batter may seem a little loose but trust me as long as you followed my recipe it will turn out great.
Chef Dennis Tip**
Use parchment in the pan before you add the batter. It will be much easier to remove the finished cake from the pan.
Don’t expect this cake to rise very much. There isn’t enough flour vs butter in the cake to get much of a rise. I use standard 9-inch baking pans. An 8-inch cake pan will give you a taller cake.
This cake is easy to make and is sure to please your family or guests if my wife liked coconut I may have added some a little coconut (½ cup) to the batter! Can anyone say Pina Colada? Tropical beaches, boat drinks, a little Jimmy Buffet on the radio….sigh, it just doesn’t get better than that!!! But there I go again getting off topic…….let’s get back to the pineapple cake. I hope you enjoy it.
My preferred cake pan for all my baking is the 9-inch Chicago Metallic Professional Grade Cake Pan.
An Off-set Spatula is also one of my favorite kitchen tools for baking. You’ll thank me every time you use it!
More Cake Recipes You’ll Love!
Pineapple Butter Cake
Ingredients
- 4 ounces unsalted butter 1 stick
- 2 cups pineapple chopped
- ⅔ cup all purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 large whole eggs plus 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ tsp lemon zest grated
- Confectioners sugar to dust
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Butter a 9” round cake pan (use parchment in the bottom of the pan for easy removal after baking)
- In a large frying pan over medium heat, melt the butter, reserve 6 tbs for later. Add the pineapple and cook for about 10 minutes. **do not use any of the juice from the pan only the pineapple
- In a small bowl mix together flour, salt and baking powder.
- In a large bowl beat the whole eggs and egg yolks until blended.
- Add the reserved melted butter, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest.
- Stir in flour and pineapple.
- Spoon into prepared pan, smoothing the top.
- Bake until cake is browned, 30-35 minutes.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Invert cake onto plate to remove the pan and then invert again and return to rack to cool completely.
- Before serving
- Dust with confectioners sugar
Lynzey
I have made this cake twice in two weeks. The first cake barely lasted 24hours as we ate every crumb. Pineapples are not in season so I have been using canned and I skipped the sautéing of the pineapple out of pure laziness (still so delicious).
It has a moist, delicate crumb and it goes down swimmingly with a cup of tea.
Synnove
Hubby loves this cake. He has a medical condition causing him to be gluten free and this cake works great with gluten free ingredients.
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m happy to hear you’ve been enjoying my pineapple butter cake! I thought it would adapt well to GF since there is so little flour in the batter but hadn’t had a chance to test it out. Thanks for confirming it works!
Cindy R Hicks
Can I freeze this wonderful cake ?
Chef Dennis Littley
Yes, you can. But it’s a very moist cake so it’s going to be even moister when it defrosts. So make sure you have unwrapped and on a serving platter to thaw.
Mo
This cake is so delicious, thank you for sharing the recipe! Would cake flour instead of all purpose flour work?
Chef Dennis Littley
with the small amount of flour used it shouldn’t make much of a difference.
Amy
I made this cake, but when I pulled it out of the oven it was not completely done I put it back in for 10 minutes, I was thinking I messed it up somehow and it wouldn’t be very good since I messed up but this is the best cake ever! I absolutely love this. And I am keeping this recipe. Thank you thank you
Chef Dennis Littley
it is a very moist cake but almost too good! It never lasts long in our house
Sue
Can this be done as cupcakes and what adjustment would I need to do? Thanks.
Chef Dennis Littley
This cake is very moist and does not rise very much. I don’t think you’d be happy with the resulting cupcakes
Luce
I liked the idea of a piña colada cake so I added 1/4 cup of dessicated coconut that I macerated in 2 tsp of rum and I used lime zest instead of lemon zest. It was delicious. Thank you for this recipe!
Susan
This cake has become
My most favorite cake. I just made with pineapple and strawberries. Delish.
Michelle
I was hoping to use a 10-inch (10 cup capacity) Heritage Bundt pan instead of a 9-inch round. Would that be possible? If so, how would it affect the baking temperature/time? Thank you!
Chef Dennis Littley
that pan is going to be way too big. This is a single layer low rising cake.
Karen Brekke
I forgot to add baking powder and the salt. Is all lost??
Chef Dennis Littley
the cake doesn’t rise much and not adding the baking powder is going to kill the little rise it has. The flavor should be good but the texture, not so much
SD
I’ve made this cake several times now and it’s always been great, but the first time I made it, I had no lemon so I zested orange and it was TO DIE FOR! Now I always make it with orange. Amazing, Thank you!
Gerard Williams
I am thinking about making this for the residents where I work as a treat for the month of June. Do you think if I used 2 inch deep hotel pans that it would still come out right as long as I do not over fill the pans? This will be for about 80 residents.
Chef Dennis Littley
I think it would work in hotel pans. Is that how you usually make cakes? If it works for other cakes I would think it would be okay. The only problem with this cake is trying to make it thicker, that’s where you run into problems.
Abby Van Waeyenberg
Woowwww, it turned out delicious, and it was easy to make! I’ll be making this again.
Bob R
I just pulled it out of the oven and it looks and smells delicious. Reminds me of a French apple cake I made recently. My question is whether the cake needs to be refrigerated and, if not, how long it will stay fresh on the counter?
Chef Dennis Littley
no it doesn’t need to be refrigerated. It will probably be gone in two days
Bob R
An excellent cake. I may try adding some liquor (rum?) to the fruit next time, but it was delicious as is.
Raven
I made this cake today. I used almost 3 cups of pineapple. I also made this sugar free. I used butter with salt. Hoot, hoot! Oh yeah! It reminds me of of lemon cake with a pineapple twist. I would totally recommend this cake. It’s different from many cakes and refreshing.
Taylor
Hi Dennis!
I was hoping to make this recipe to mail to a friend for her birthday, do you think it would hold up cushioned and packed carefully (whole) in a box?
Will this last at room temp for a few days before it arrives or is it so moist that it would get mouldy/fall apart?
Thanks for the advice!
Taylor
Chef Dennis Littley
hi Taylor, I don’t think this cake will ship very well, its too moist. Sorry
Vixenvena
Delicious! Just needs more pineapple!
Simon Cryer
Hi. You mentioned pina colada in the intro and I wondered whether you could swap out vanilla essence for rum flavouring (even actual rum!) for a more cocktail-y taste?
Chef Dennis Littley
Yes you can.
Sharon Carnes
Absolutely delicious and so easy, it was a bit with the teenagers too. They want it with strawberries, would I still use the whole stick of butter?
Chef Dennis Littley
if you’re using a fruit that doesn’t need to be slightly cooked, like berries, I would eliminate two teaspoons of butter.
Catherine
Can this recipe be doubled?
Chef Dennis Littley
it can be doubled, I would make 2 separate layers, if you try to make in one layer it may not cook properly