Southern Pineapple Sunshine Cake

This Southern Pineapple Sunshine Cake is a doctored cake mix cake with pineapples, cool whip, coconut and pecans! 

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This fun summer vintage recipe is another find from my grandma’s recipe binder! It was a hand written recipe that was carefully folded and tucked into the binder under plastic to keep it safe. I can totally imagine my Ma making this amazing cake in her kitchen. My Ma loved using yellow cake mix for her desserts so it was no surprise to find this gem tucked into her recipe keeper. 

The original recipe called for a 9×13 pan, I made this in a 2 quart casserole dish and it came out perfectly. So either dish will work. If you bake this in a 2 quart casserole dish instead of a 9×13 it will be a bit thicker like the photos in this post. 

What you’ll need to make Southern Pineapple Sunshine Cake : (amounts in recipe below)

This Southern Pineapple Sunshine Cake kind of reminds me of poke cakes, except for the poking part. The recipe didn’t call for any holes to be poked into this cake but I did add a step of stabbing the top of the cake with a knife before pouring the warm pineapples on top. I just felt like this helped get the sweet pineapple juice down into the cake which is an important part of this cake! You want the pineapple juice to flow down into the cake. 

Topping for a Southern Pineapple Sunshine Cake:

There is where I made another little change as well. The originally recipe called for the coconut and pecans to be mixed all together and plopped onto the cake as a frosting. However, in my mind that just didn’t sound very pretty. 

We eat with our eyes first, so I changed it up a little so that the toppings were showing instead of hidden in a giant blob of cool whip. Plus, I don’t like to hide nuts in foods since I know a few people with allergies. 

• COPYCAT DISNEY DOLE WHIP
• PINEAPPLE SESAME CHICKEN
• BBQ PINEAPPLE CHICKEN SANDWICHES
• MERMAID PINEAPPLE RUMDUM

 

 

Southern Pineapple Sunshine Cake

Southern Pineapple Sunshine Cake

Yield: 12 Pieces

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

This Southern Pineapple Sunshine Cake is a doctored cake mix cake with pineapples, cool whip, coconut and pecans! 

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Ingredients

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 4 cup milk, divided
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 20 oz can crushed pineapple
• 1 cup white sugar
• 5.1 oz box instant vanilla pudding
• 8 oz Cool Whip, thawed
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Instructions

Pre heat oven to 350F.

In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, 1 cup milk, vegetable oil and eggs.

Mix until well combined.

Pour batter into a 9x13 baking dish or a 2 quart casserole dish.

Bake for 30-45 minutes or until done.

Heat crushed pineapple and sugar in a small sauce pan until hot and sugar is dissolved.

Once cake is baked, remove from oven, carefully stab top of cake with knife and pour pineapple mixture over top of warm cake. Spread all over top of cake.

Let cake and pineapple mixture completely cool before moving onto next step.

Whisk together 3 cups cold milk with vanilla pudding mix. Whisk until thick.

Spread pudding over pineapple mixture.

Spread Cool Whip over pudding mixture.

Top with shredded coconut and pecans.

Best if kept chilled until ready to serve.

Notes

The original recipe called for a 9x13 pan, I made this in a 2 quart casserole dish and it came out perfectly. So either dish will work. If you bake this in a 2 quart casserole dish instead of a 9x13 it will be a bit thicker like in the photos.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: I square
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 444Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 53mgSodium: 410mgCarbohydrates: 74gFiber: 2gSugar: 50gProtein: 7g

This data was provided and calculated by Nutritionix on 7/6/2020 - Numbers may vary depending on brands used and recipe substitution

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Welcome to the 4th Annual #SummerDessertWeek event hosted by Angie from Big Bear’s Wife. We’re celebrating all things summer with a week-long event that is absolutely filled with some of the best summer dessert recipes! Follow the hashtag #SummerDessertWeek on social media to find recipes and make sure to check out the bottom of this post for even more summer desserts!

 

Check out the amazing #SummerDessertWeek recipes from our bloggers today!

Ice Cream & Chilled Desserts:

• Caramelized Pineapple No-Churn Ice Cream from Love and Confections
• Chocolate Covered Frozen Strawberries from Our Sutton Place
• Coffee Panna Cotta from Pastry Chef Online
• Strawberry Margarita Popsicles from Cheese Curd In Paradise
• Pineapple-Orange Sherbet Popsicles from Palatable Pastime
• Strawberry Rhubarb Ice Pops from Jolene’s Recipe Journal

Sweet Summertime Cakes and Cupcakes:

• Southern Pineapple Sunshine Cake from Big Bear’s Wife 
• Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Strawberry Pound Cake from Savory Experiments
• Blueberry Lemon Dump Cake from Sweet ReciPEAs
• Key Lime Sheet Cake from It’s Shanaka

No Bake Treats:

• Fruity Watermelon Pizza from Blogghetti

Baked Desserts:

• Chocolate Chess Pie from Back To My Southern Roots
• Bourbon Peach Empanadas from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Rhubarb Thumbprints from A Day in the Life on the Farm

Summer Treats:

• Easy Caramel Banana Sauce from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings