Pineapple Poke Cake
This Pineapple Poke Cake is a sweet bite of tropical flavor and perfect as the summertime dessert for any barbecue, picnic, or potluck. It's super moist thanks to pineapple preserves, and is easy to assemble using a box cake mix.
Servings: 20 servings
Ingredients
Cake
- 20 ounce can crushed pineapple
- 15.25 ounce white cake mix
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 cup milk
- 18 ounce jar pineapple preserves
Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
- 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
- Garnish Options: pineapple slices, fresh mint, toasted coconut, vanilla ice cream
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 13x9-inch baking pan with non-stick spray or butter and set it aside.
- Drain the syrup from the can of crushed pineapple in a bowl and set aside. Place the crushed pineapple on a cutting board, and blot the moisture with a paper towel.
- In a large bowl, blend with a hand mixer or whisk together the cake mix, butter, eggs, and milk.
- Fold the crushed pineapple into the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- Once the cake cools, poke holes with a fork over the entire surface.
- In a bowl, stir jam until thinned and smooth. If needed, add 1-2 tablespoons of warm water to loosen to a pourable texture. Add the pineapple jam over the entire cake and spread evenly.
Frosting
- In a stand mixer or bowl with a hand mixer, whip cream cheese until smooth.
- Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar and whip again until incorporated well and smooth.
- Gradually beat in the heavy whipping cream. After about 30 seconds to 1 minute, when it begins to thicken, beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Spread the frosting on the completely cooled cake. Garnish as desired.
Notes
Storage:
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. I don't recommend freezing this cake since it will change texture once it thaws.
If you want to make the cake in advance, that's easy to do! I usually like to frost it right before serving, but you can also frost it in advance and hold it in the fridge until ready to serve.
Tips:
- Make sure your ingredients are at the correct temperature for even mixing. You'll want your butter to be melted and cooled, eggs room temperature, and cream cheese softened.
- Swap the white cake mix for yellow. I've also made this cake with yellow cake mix and it's equally as delicious.
- Allow the cake to cool before poking holes in it. This will help it to keep it's shape before you soak it with pineapple syrup.
- Gradually beat the heavy whipping cream into the frosting and make sure it's cold in temperature. This will help it to create that whipped cream consistency to make the frosting light as air.
- Blot the crushed pineapple dry after draining it. This ensures your cake batter won't be too wet when you stir it in.
Nutrition
Trans Fat: -40g
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