This pineapple poke cake recipe is reminiscent of our fruit cocktail cake. It includes a deliciously moist and tender homemade sheet cake soaked with a sweet creamy sauce, with chunky bits of juicy pineapple in every bite! Whipped cream is the perfect finishing touch.
We’re no strangers to poke cakes around here. There are several on Southern Plate, including strawberry poke cake, s’mores poke cake, jello poke cake, and coconut poke cake. But today it’s pineapple’s time to shine!
This pineapple poke cake recipe is very easy to make. I often make my poke cakes with a boxed cake mix, but today I’m making a homemade sheet cake. Fortunately, all we have to do is combine and mix the ingredients in one easy step. You probably have many of the ingredients at home already too: eggs, sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt. We also add crushed pineapple (with ) and then make a soaking sauce to pour through the holes poked in the baked cake.
This delicious sauce is kind of like a homemade pudding or custard and is made with heavy cream, butter, vanilla, and sugar. Many poke cake recipes use instant vanilla pudding mix, but we’re going all homemade today. The sauce is so sweet and the perfect complement to the tender and moist vanilla cake. Add a dollop of whipped cream and you have yourself a delicious summer dessert in no time at all.
Recipe Ingredients
- Eggs
- Sugar
- Crushed pineapple (in juice)
- Flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Heavy cream
- Butter
- Vanilla extract
How to Make Pineapple Poke Cake
In a large bowl, place eggs, sugar, undrained crushed pineapple, flour, baking soda, and salt.
Stir well by hand until combined (about three minutes of stirring). You can also use an electric mixer if you like (for about two minutes).
Pour cake batter into a prepared baking dish and bake at 325 for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
About 10 minutes before the cake is ready to come out of the oven, place heavy cream, sugar, butter, and vanilla in a small saucepot over medium to medium-high heat.
Stir constantly and bring it just to a boil. Do not stop stirring and once it starts to boil remove it from the heat.
Use a fork to poke holes all in the top of the hot baked cake.
Immediately pour the hot soaking mixture over the hot cake and allow it to completely soak in.
Once the cake has cooled slightly, serve it with whipped cream (here’s my homemade recipe).
The pineapple poke cake can also be served at room temperature or stored in the fridge and served cold if you like.
Enjoy this delicious pineapple poke cake!
Storage
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Because this gives the cake time to soak up that creamy sauce, believe me when I say it will taste even better the following day!
- You can also freeze the cake without the whipping cream topping for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
Recipe Notes
- Garnish your poke cake with pineapple chunks, crushed nuts, or maraschino cherries. You can also use homemade whipped cream or Cool Whip.
- For a pina colada cake, add 1 cup of sweetened coconut flakes to the cake batter. You can also top the cake with 1 cup of toasted coconut flakes.
Recipe FAQs
Can I make my pineapple poke cake with fresh pineapple?
While you can use fresh pineapple, I prefer canned pineapple as the pineapple pieces come in juice and this juice adds so much extra pineapple flavor and moisture to the cake.
Check out these other pineapple treats:
Easy Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
Vanilla Wafer Pudding Recipe With Pineapple
Recipes for Pineapple Cake, Cobbler, and Pudding
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 20 ounce crushed pineapple, undrained
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Soaking Sauce
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup sugar
Instructions
- Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, place eggs, sugar, undrained crushed pineapple, flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir well by hand until combined (about three minutes of stirring). You can also use an electric mixer if you like (for about two minutes).2 large eggs, 1 1/4 cup sugar, 20 ounce crushed pineapple, undrained, 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking dish and bake at 325 for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown on top and the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- About 10 minutes before the cake is ready to come out of the oven, place heavy cream, sugar, butter, and vanilla in a small saucepot over medium to medium-high heat. Stir constantly and bring it just to a boil. Do not stop stirring and once it starts to boil remove it from the heat.1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 3/4 cup sugar
- Use a fork to poke holes all in the top of the hot baked cake. Immediately pour the hot sauce over the hot cake and allow it to completely soak in.
- Once the cake has cooled slightly, serve with whipped cream. Cake can also be served at room temp or stored in the fridge and served cold if you like.
Nutrition
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Be grateful for what you have and stop complaining. It bores everyone else, does you no good, and doesn’t solve any problems.
~Zig Ziglar
I wonder how a yellow cake mix would work in this recipe along with everything else.
looking for recipe for cake using canned pie apples thanks
I can’t wait to try this cake. I have to convert all recipes to gluten free, but thankfully in this day and age that isn’t hard to do. Have a great weekend.
Hi, Christy! I just made this with my own tweaks, and it smells DIVINE! I added chopped ginger and a sprinkling of organic nutmeg to the batter. For the hot topping, instead of heavy cream, I used organic buttermilk, 1/2 cup of sugar, and about 2 tbs of coconut spiced rum. No vanilla (I make my own, by the way). I didn’t want the vanilla to take away from the delicate flavor of the coconut. After it soaked in, I layered with organic coconut flakes.
Can’t wait for the fam to dig in tonight!
I hope it turned out fabulous and everyone enjoys it!! Can’t wait to hear!!