Old Fashioned Pineapple Cake

This Crushed Pineapple Cake is subtly sweet, super moist, and covered in a thick layer of delicious, gooey homemade caramel sauce. Your friends and family are going to love this simple old fashioned cake recipe.

You don’t need any fancy ingredients or equipment to make this cake—just a few ingredients, a mixing bowl, and a whisk, and a baking dish. Even the caramel topping is a cinch! And if you are looking for more recipes using whole or crushed pineapple, try this classic Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

Easy Crushed Pineapple Cake

This super moist pineapple cake recipe is one of our favorite cakes to make for a summer celebration.  The crushed pineapple cake layer has an entire can of crushed pineapple—juices and all—making it light, bright, and refreshing.  

Many pineapple cakes are topped with cream cheese frosting, which is an excellent choice!  But taking a hint from pineapple upside-down cake, we decided to cover this in an ooey-gooey caramel sauce, instead.  The result is downright heavenly.

Old Fashioned Pineapple Cake Video Tutorial

Ingredients You Will Need

• Sugar – for this cake you will need white granulated sugar. You could experiment with replacing a small portion with light brown sugar to give it a little extra caramel flavor.
• Flour – all-purpose flour works great, or you can also substitute cake flour.
• Baking Soda – this is what gives the cake a little boost in the oven and keeps it nice and tender.
• Crushed Pineapple – you can use the canned crushed pineapple. Be sure not to drain the liquid—you’re going to want to dump it all into the batter.  If you want to use fresh pineapple, you can substitute 2 cups of fresh chopped pineapple.
• Eggs – it is best if your eggs are at room temperature before adding so that they don’t “shock” the butter which will prevent it from emulsifying into the batter.
• Butter – melt the butter and make sure it isn’t super hot before adding.

For the Caramel Sauce

• Butter – we generally use unsalted, but if you want a bit more saltiness you can use salted butter.
• Sugar – again, you will need white granulated sugar but could replace up to 1/3 of it with light brown sugar.
• Evaporated Milk – this helps keep the caramel sauce super creamy.
• Egg Yolk – the egg yolks help to set up the caramel sauce and keep it nice and creamy.

How to Make Crushed Pineapple Cake

1. Mix together the batter. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt and whisk together.  In a small bowl, whisk the eggs to break them up, then add the eggs, pineapple and melted butter to the dry ingredients.  Stir with a spatula until all ingredients are combined.
2. Bake. Pour the cake batter into a greased 9″ x 13″ baking dish and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the top is golden and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. 
3. Cool. Remove from the oven and let cool completely while you make the caramel sauce.
4. Make the caramel sauce. In a medium-sized saucepan, melt the butter, then add the sugar, evaporated milk, and egg yolk.  Whisk together, then bring to a boil and boil for 6 minutes, stirring constantly until it coats the back of a spoon. 
5. Pour over the cake. Once cooked, remove from heat and immediately pour the caramel sauce over the cake.  Using a spoon or spatula, spread it evenly over the cake, all the way to the edges.
6. Serve. Let the caramel cool on top of the cake for at least 10 minutes at room temperature before slicing.  Enjoy!

Recipe Variations

• If pineapple is seriously your thing, you can add another 20-oz can of crushed pineapple to the finished caramel sauce, or even just sprinkle it over the top.  In this case, you would want to drain the pineapple juice before adding it to the sauce.
• And if you’d like to try another frosting recipe, try our Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting recipe. It would also be amazing with a sprinkling of toasted coconut on top!
• Try adding extra toppings like chopped toasted pecans, candied nuts, or lightly toasted coconut over the top of your cake for a beautiful and tasty finishing touch.
• Make an easy pineapple layer cake! Bake the cake batter in three 9” cake rounds. Once they are completely cooled, spread a thin layer of caramel sauce between them and top with cream cheese frosting. 

Frequently Asked Questions

More Of the Best Cake Recipes

• Coconut Filled Chocolate Bundt Cake
• Pineapple Upside Down Cake
• Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
• Nutella Cheesecake
• LIme Bundt Cake
• Banana Cake
• Zucchini Coconut Cake with Caramel Topping
• Lemon Bundt Cake
• Gingerbread Cake
• More Cake Recipes
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This Old Fashioned Pineapple Cake recipe is one of our favorite cakes to make for a summer celebration.  It is subtly sweet, super moist, and covered in a thick layer of delicious, gooey homemade caramel sauce.