We made a ton of giant fake fruit for our fruit party centerpiece (tutorial coming soon!) but we really wanted to anchor it with something edible! And thus, this DIY pineapple cake was born!!! Similar to our La Croix cake, the pineapple cake is built just like a super tall layer cake, with a little carving involved! It even has pineapple filling. BOOM. And you gotta check out Theresa’s easy hack for shaping the final touch, the leaves, below!
DIY Pineapple Cake
Ingredients
- Three 6-inch round cake layers about 1 inch tall, use your favorite cake recipe, any flavor
- Two 5-inch round cake layer about 1 inch tall, use your favorite cake recipe, any flavor
- Pineapple cream filling recipe follows
- Buttercream frosting yellow
- Royal icing pineapple leaves recipe follows
- For the Pineapple Cream Filling:
- 1 box instant vanilla pudding
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 15- oz can crushed pineapple drained
- For the Leaves:
- Printable Template
- 1 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons meringue powder
- 3 tablespoons warm water
- Green food coloring
- Food grade floral wire cut into about 3 to 4 inch pieces
Instructions
- For the pineapple cream filling: Combine instant pudding and heavy cream in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on medium speed till thick and fluffy. Add in the crushed pineapple and mix till combined.
- For the Cake: Stack all layers of cake with about 1/3 cup of pineapple cream filling spread between each layer, starting with one 5-inch round on the bottom, the three 6-inch rounds in the middle and ending with the last 5-inch round on the top. Cover cake in a thin layer of yellow buttercream and chill for 30 minutes.
- Finish with a thick layer of yellow buttercream over the entire cake. Using the edge of a spoon or offset icing spatula, a chop stick, etc., create a criss cross diamond pattern over the entire cake.
- For the Leaves: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat powdered sugar, meringue powder and warm water till stiff peaks form (about 5 to 7 minutes). If icing is too thick, add more warm water, 1 teaspoon at a time, till desired consistency is reached. Add green food coloring and mix till fully incorporated. Add royal icing to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip.
- Place wax paper over leaf templates. Using the template as your guide, outline and fill in the leaves with the royal icing. Carefully move and position the wax paper with your piped leaves over a paper towel roll, with the tips of the leaves over the roll and the bottom of the leaves flat against the counter. Place a piece of the cake wire at the bottom of each leaf about an inch in. You can tape the paper towel roll and wax paper down if necessary. Let leaves dry for at least 4 hours. Gently peel the leaves from the wax paper when ready to use.
- Place the prepared leaves onto the top of the cake, starting with the tallest ones in the center, and ending with the smallest on the outside.
Photos by Jeff Mindell | Recipe by Theresa Rountree
SOURCES
Palm Springs Rental Home: The Harlow House
Balloons:
Watermelon | Lime | Dragonfruit | Lemon| Kiwi | Orange | Fruit Combo Pack
17″ Yellow | 17″ Deep Jade | 17″ Watermelon Red
Frankly, I Love Rainbows Party Pack | Make It Rainbow Party Pack | Make Life A Party Party Pack
Decor:
Striped Placemats | Pink Napkins | Gold Flatware | Pink Glasses (similiar)
Don’t forget! We also made these fruit slice cakes last year that would be such a fun compliment to this one if you want to make a whole cake display!
Sarah in Indiana says
This is a darling cake and I bet the filling is yummy. Great idea on how to make the leaves! But I am confused by the construction instructions. It says 2 5 inch cakes top and bottom with 3 3 inch cakes in the middle. But the cake pictured us clearly smaller at the top and base, so should it really be 2 3 inch cakes top and bottom and 3 5 inch in the middle?
Sarah in Indiana says
Never mind! Either you fixed it already or I totally misread!
Michelle says
What an amazing cake, I want this on my birthday!
https://www.makeandmess.com/
Paige Flamm says
That cake is perfection! You did an amazing job!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Sophie says
This is adorable! I want to have a Hawaiian party, and serve this cake.
Http://goldclutter.com
Stefania A says
I would love one! Now I am dreaming about a pineapple cake! The taste!