Hawaiian Wedding Cake Recipe with Pineapple and Pecan Topping

This cake tastes like a chilled, tropical trifle in slice form: pineapple-soaked yellow crumb, fluffy cream cheese frosting, and toasted pecans on top.

What sets this version apart is the pudding layer whisked into the frosting so it holds shape under the toppings instead of slumping after an hour.

The whole thing needs 45 minutes of active work, but only if you start with a boxed mix, which most ranked recipes do, and only if you drain that crushed pineapple thoroughly or the frosting weeps.

Ingredients

A boxed yellow cake mix forms the base, and you’ll need the eggs and oil the package calls for since those aren’t listed separately here.

The tropical layer that defines this cake comes from a 20-ounce can of crushed pineapple, drained well so the frosting doesn’t slide, plus 1 cup of sweetened shredded coconut for that chewy, fragrant finish I always reach for over unsweetened.

The frosting starts with 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened enough to blend smooth, beaten with 1/2 cup (1 stick) of softened butter and 2 cups sugar.

For the pudding layer that sets this apart from a standard cream cheese frosting, you’ll need 3.4 ounces of instant vanilla pudding mix whisked with 2 cups cold 2% milk until thick.

• 1 package yellow cake mix (regular size), plus eggs and oil per package directions
• 1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 3.4 ounces instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 cups cold 2% milk
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

I stick with canned pineapple and sweetened coconut because the moisture and sugar content are predictable; fresh pineapple can turn grainy and unsweetened coconut dries out faster than I like in a make-ahead cake.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. For a 9×13-inch sheet, grease the pan; for a bundt, coat it well with cooking spray. The bundt bakes longer but carries the frosting more elegantly. The sheet pan is faster and easier to slice for a crowd.
2. Stir together the dry base (yellow cake mix plus a little flour and baking soda if you’re building from scratch) with the wet: eggs, vegetable oil, milk, and the full can of crushed pineapple with its juice. The juice matters; it keeps the crumb loose and humid, almost like a tres leches in cake form.
3. Pour and bake. A 15x10x1-inch sheet takes 20–25 minutes; a bundt needs 65–70 minutes. A toothpick pulled from the center should read clean. That range is wide because the pan geometry changes everything, so start testing early with the sheet and trust the full hour for the bundt.
4. Cool the cake completely on a rack. Warm cake turns the frosting to soup; I have tried to rush this and regretted it.
5. Beat together 8 ounces of softened cream cheese, 2 cups cold milk, and the instant vanilla pudding mix until smooth, then fold in 8 ounces of thawed whipped topping. The pudding sets the frosting so it holds its shape under the toppings; cream cheese alone slumps after an hour.
6. Spread the frosting over the cooled cake. Scatter on drained crushed pineapple, sweetened coconut, chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts both work; pecans toast cleaner), and maraschino cherries if you want the color. The order matters less than draining the pineapple well, or the frosting weeps.
7. Refrigerate before slicing. The frosting firms, the flavors settle, and the cake cuts neatly. Total active time runs about 45 minutes; the recipe yields 20 servings from the sheet pan.

What Hawaiian Wedding Cake Is

A Hawaiian wedding cake is a moist sheet cake built on crushed pineapple and coconut, finished with cream cheese frosting or a whipped topping layer.

The name borrows from Hawaii’s pineapple-growing history rather than any traditional Hawaiian baking practice. In the early and mid-20th century, Hawaii supplied most of the world’s canned pineapple, and mainland cooks started tagging anything with the fruit as "Hawaiian-style."

The cake took hold in church cookbooks and community gatherings, where it became a potluck staple and reunion regular.

I have never seen one at an actual wedding. The cake travels under other names too, including "pig pickin’ cake" in the South, where mandarin oranges sometimes replace the pineapple.

What stays constant is the format: a 9×13 pan, a crowd, and the understanding that the first piece rarely survives long enough to cool completely.

Cake Base Options

Most recipes for Hawaiian wedding cake start with a boxed yellow cake mix, and that is the practical choice for a weeknight.

The mix bakes in a 15x10x1-inch pan for 20 to 25 minutes at 350°F, and the results are consistent enough that the rest of the recipe, pineapple topping and all, can count on it.

A from-scratch base is possible if you keep flour, baking soda, sugar, and butter on hand. I have made both, and the scratch version wins on flavor but costs you time and a few extra bowls.

For this particular cake, the toppings do most of the work. Mandarin oranges or pineapple soak into the crumb and dominate each bite, so the difference between a good mix and a good homemade base narrows.

Boxed mix is what most bakers reach for, and it works. That is not laziness; it is realism.

The cake is meant to be chilled, fluffy, and easy to pull together before a potluck or a backyard gathering. If you are already making whipped topping and crushing pecans, the mix keeps the project from becoming a project.

Frosting Types

Cream cheese frosting on a Hawaiian wedding cake gives you the tang that balances all that pineapple sweetness, but the texture you end up with depends on which route you take.

A straight cream cheese, butter, and confectioners’ sugar mix sets firm enough to slice cleanly and holds up at room temperature for a couple of hours, which matters if you are setting this out on a buffet table.

The other path folds in instant vanilla pudding and whipped topping. The pudding mellows the cream cheese bite, and the whipped topping makes the whole thing fluffier and lighter on the tongue.

That lightness is real, but you give up some stability. A frosting built on whipped topping needs to stay chilled or it starts to slump, and it does not take kindly to freezing, the texture turns watery when it thaws.

I would only go the whipped-topping route if I knew the cake was staying refrigerated right up until serving and disappearing the same day.

Toppings and Garnishes

The toppings on a Hawaiian wedding cake do more than decorate. Crushed pineapple, shredded coconut, chopped walnuts, and maraschino cherries each add a distinct texture that frosting alone cannot provide.

The pineapple brings moisture and a slight chew, the coconut flakes give something to bite against, and the nuts add crunch that keeps a forkful interesting through the last slice.

Sweetened versus unsweetened coconut is a choice that matters.

Sweetened coconut carries extra sugar and moisture, which keeps it softer against the frosting; unsweetened stays drier and flakier. Either works, though sweetened is the more common pick for this cake.

Toasting coconut or nuts before sprinkling them on is worth the extra pan. A light toast deepens the flavor from plain to almost buttery and adds a second layer of crunch that raw nuts or coconut cannot match.

Wait until after frosting to add any topping; otherwise the moisture from crushed pineapple or the weight of nuts sinks into the frosting rather than sitting on top of it.

The frosting needs to set as a base layer first, or the whole surface turns soggy instead of structured.

Variations

The Southern name for this cake is Pig Pickin’ Cake, and the swap is straightforward: fold mandarin oranges into a yellow cake base, then top it with pineapple frosting instead of coconut-pecan. Same potluck spirit, different fruit.

A homemade Hawaiian cake pushes the banana forward. The crumb lands closer to banana bread, with crushed pineapple, coconut, and pecans folded in, then finished with cream cheese frosting rather than the classic boiled topping.

It feeds a crowd and works in a 9×13 inch pan if you do not have a bundt.

The poke cake method changes the structure entirely. Bake your base, poke holes across the surface, and fill them with pineapple pudding so the cake absorbs the moisture.

Top with bananas, coconut, and whipped cream. It comes together fast, about 40 minutes start to finish, and the texture is wetter and more spoonable than the sliced original.

Make-Ahead and Storage

You can bake the cake itself a day or two ahead, but the cream cheese frosting means it needs to live in the refrigerator.

Chilling does more than keep it safe; that overnight rest lets the pineapple and pecan flavors settle into the cake layers, so the slice you serve tomorrow tastes fuller than the one you cut tonight.

Leftovers should go into an airtight container in the fridge, and if you added garnishes, they will soften and turn soggy under cover, so I store those separately when I can.

The freezer works for longer keeping, wrapped tight in plastic, though how long is up to your own judgment.

Hawaiian Cake must be refrigerated because of the frosting and toppings. It also can’t be left out on a table for more than two hours when you serve it.

— Taste of Home

That two-hour window matters for your serving setup, especially at a summer reception or a warm kitchen.

Let the frosting firm up in the refrigerator for 15 to 30 minutes before you cover the cake with plastic wrap; soft frosting smears and seals poorly, and you will lose the clean finish you baked for.

Frequently Asked Questions