Do you have leftover pineapples sitting around at home? If yes, this easy homemade pineapple cake recipe is the ultimate way to enjoy the sweet and sour taste of pineapples. The ingredients are pantry-friendly and the baking time takes only 25 minutes!
What To Know About Homemade Pineapple Cake
My pineapple cake recipe contains three parts: yellow dough, green dough, and filling. The yellow dough serves as the pineapple’s body, while the green dough creates the pineapple leaves. It is the yellow dough that wraps the sweet and creamy pineapple filling in the center.
The filling is a blend of mashed pineapple, rock sugar, and butter. To create the dough, I use softened butter, sugar, powdered milk, salt, eggs, and low-gluten flour. Then, just add a bit of matcha powder to about 50g of dough to make the green dough portion for the leaves.
I like to get creative and make fun cake designs, so I use a pineapple mold to craft perfect little pineapple cakes. Pop it in the oven for 25 minutes, and it is done! If you love creating adorable cakes, you can also make Yummy Chinese Pumpkin Cake for more fruit and vegetable designs.
Ingredient Alternatives And Suggestions
The ingredients needed for the filling and dough are easy to find in your local grocery store. There are a few ways to alter these ingredients according to your desired taste and item availability. Here are some ideas worth looking into:
● Filling:
- Pineapple: I use two pineapples that are peeled and diced before blending. After blending, it is important to squeeze out as much juice as you can to avoid a runny filling. Moreover, this ensures that the juices won’t cause the cake to go soggy.
- Rock Sugar: When it comes to Asian recipes, it is quite common to use rock sugar as a sweetener. Generally, it is less sweet than white or brown sugar. If you don’t have rock sugar, simply use white sugar, brown sugar, or coconut sugar.
- Butter: Butter helps make the filling less watery. It adds richness and creaminess to the taste and texture. You can use regular butter, dairy-free butter, margarine, bananas, or coconut oil.
- Alternative filling: If you are looking to make a variety of flavors, try other fillings like taro paste, red bean paste, yam paste,lotus seed paste and purple sweet potato paste.
● Dough:
- Butter: The dough needs butter to make it rich and give it structure. Moreover, it helps create a crispier crust and a delightful flavor and aroma. To replace regular butter, you can use dairy-free butter, vegetable oil, margarine, bananas, or coconut oil.
- Sugar: You can add some sugar to counter the sour taste of pineapple. I recommend granulated sugar to make it easier to blend with the dough. Use white sugar, brown sugar, or coconut sugar.
- Powdered milk: By adding milk powder, you can create a denser texture and a milkier taste. Milk powder can be substituted with liquid milk, coconut milk powder, soy milk powder, or rice powder. It is also possible to remove this item from the recipe ingredients if you prefer.
- Salt: Adding salt to the dough adds flavor. Without it, it will taste flat and bland. Basically, salt helps bring out the flavors and aroma of the dough ingredients. You will only need 1 gram of salt. Use table salt, kosher salt, or sea salt.
- Eggs: Another ingredient that helps in structure and stability is eggs. Its yolk thickens the dough by adding fat, while the egg white helps lift the dough. Moreover, it also enhances the color of the dough. If you need an egg replacer, you can use the following for 1 whole egg:
- 1 teaspoon baking soda + 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1/4 cup applesauce
- 1/4 cup yogurt
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 3 tablespoons water
- Low-gluten flour:Low-gluten flour creates a softer and crumbly texture. Some examples of low-gluten flour are pastry or cake flour, barley flour, spelt flour, rye flour, and all-purpose flour. Avoid high-gluten flour like vital wheat gluten flour, bread flour, or 00 flour. High-gluten flour will make the cake chewy, elastic, and dense.
- Coloring ingredients: To create different colors of the dough, you will need natural coloring ingredients. I use matcha powder to make the pineapple leaves. If you want to make it more fun and colorful, you can use purple potato flour, green spinach powder, and pink beetroot juice.
Kitchen Tools And Ingredients To Make A Pineapple Cake
Apart from your regular kitchen items, the special kitchenware you need are a blender, electric whisk, and oven. Don’t forget to pick your preferred cake mold. I used a pineapple-shaped cake mold to imitate a pineapple.
Then, I covered the pineapple leaves with aluminum foil to stop them from turning brown. Make sure to use a cookie mold with a screw rod or stamp to push the cake out effortlessly and maintain its beautiful design. You can use other molds you have or simply shape the dough with your hands by making round balls or flat cookie dough.
Here’s everything you need to get started:
Kitchenware
- Knife and chopping board
- Blender
- Cloth strainer
- Mixing bowls
- Non-stick pan
- Spatula
- Electric whisk
- Sifter
- Kitchen gloves
- Cake mold
- Aluminum foil
Ingredients
Filling
- 2 pineapples (peeled and diced)
- 80g of rock sugar
- 35g of butter
Dough
- 100g of softened butter
- 25g of sugar
- 25g of powdered milk
- 1g of salt
- 40g of eggs
- 135g of low-gluten flour
- 1g of matcha powder
- Corn oil (to coat the mold)
10 Steps To Make Homemade Pineapple Cake
Finish this easy homemade pineapple cake recipe in 10 steps. You will make the filling, knead the dough, and assemble everything in the cake mold for baking. Watch my quick recipe video on Instagram or TikTok and leave a comment with your thoughts and suggestions.
Take your peeled and diced pineapples and blend them in a blender until slightly chunky.
Strain out its juice using a cloth strainer. Straining will shorten the frying time for the filling and create a firmer texture. Remember to use the juice for a refreshing drink!
Then, heat the pineapple chunks with rock sugar and butter for 20 minutes until dry and golden. This makes about 310g of pineapple filling.
Next, make the dough by whisking softened butter, sugar, powdered milk, and salt. Whisk until smooth and whisk again with eggs.
Afterward, add sifted low-gluten flour and knead into a smooth dough. The dough should not stick to your hands.
Make the green dough by mixing in 1g of matcha powder with 50g of dough.
Make round balls with the following measurements: 3g of green dough, 20g of yellow dough, and 25g of pineapple filling.
Assemble your cake by flattening the yellow dough into a circular wrapper. Place the filling in the center and seal.
Then, brush some oil in the mold and place the green dough onto the leaves and the yellow dough for the other parts. Press the dough into the mold, gently unmold it, and place it on the tray.
Cover the green leaves with foil and bake at 160°C or 320°F for 25 minutes. Add 3 more minutes if you prefer a darker color. This creates a slightly brown color for the yellow body of the pineapple.
The Easiest Homemade Pineapple Cake
Equipment
- Knife and chopping board
- Blender
- Cloth strainer
- Mixing bowls
- Non-stick pan
- Spatula
- Electric whisk
- Sifter
- Kitchen gloves
- Cake mold
- Aluminum foil
Ingredients
- Filling
- 2 pineapples peeled and diced
- 80 g of rock sugar
- 35 g of butter
- Dough
- 100 g of softened butter
- 25 g of sugar
- 25 g of powdered milk
- 1 g of salt
- 40 g of eggs
- 135 g of low-gluten flour
- 1 g of matcha powder
- Corn oil to coat the mold
Instructions
- Take your peeled and diced pineapples and blend them in a blender until slightly chunky.
- Strain out its juice using a cloth strainer. Straining will shorten the frying time for the filling and create a firmer texture. Remember to use the juice for a refreshing drink!
- Then, heat the pineapple chunks with rock sugar and butter for 20 minutes until dry and golden. This makes about 310g of pineapple filling.
- Next, make the dough by whisking softened butter, sugar, powdered milk, and salt. Whisk until smooth and whisk again with eggs.
- Afterward, add sifted low-gluten flour and knead into a smooth dough. The dough should not stick to your hands.
- Make the green dough by mixing in 1g of matcha powder with 50g of dough.
- Make round balls with the following measurements: 3g of green dough, 20g of yellow dough, and 25g of pineapple filling.
- Assemble your cake by flattening the yellow dough into a circular wrapper. Place the filling in the center and seal.
- Then, brush some oil in the mold and place the green dough onto the leaves and the yellow dough for the other parts. Press the dough into the mold, gently unmold it, and place it on the tray.
- Cover the green leaves with foil and bake at 160°C or 320°F for 25 minutes. Add 3 more minutes if you prefer a darker color. This creates a slightly brown color for the yellow body of the pineapple.
Video
Nutrition
