While other ingredients may change, the rum stays! We have recreated this Tommy Bahama Piña Colada Cake for home bakers and celebrators alike. With its tropical ingredients and fluffy white layers, this coconut and rum-laced pineapple cake is the ultimate reminder of sunny days, relaxation and breezy tropical locations and a perfect pick-me-up during the winter months.
The way we’ve recreated it, this might become your go-to cake.
Our Tommy Bahama Cake recipe is a four-layer white cake with crushed pineapple, Bacardi black rum and whipped cream filling, coated in the same whipped cream mixture and generously bathed with lightly toasted sweetened coconut. With our modifications, the combination of flavors is quite refreshing and despite the rich ingredient list, tastes quite light. This cake also makes an excellent wedding cake or celebration cake because of its elegant all-white presentation.
With our modifications you can still enjoy an incredible cake and mix it, bake it and frost it in under 2 hours.
Tommy Bahama Piña Colada Cake
Bake elements in the order listed below, starting with the cake.
Serves 10-12.
Preparation time: 2 hours
Time to refrigerate the cake before serving is optional but 2-3 hours is recommended
Ingredient List:
Two 9” rounds of White Cake (recipe below)
1/4 C Bacardi Black Rum
1 pint heavy cream
1 ½ C powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
20 oz canned crushed pineapple pieces, drained thoroughly
1 14 oz. bag sweetened coconut, toasted
3 T powdered sugar, for the coconut
Instructions:
WHITE CAKE
- If you use a box white cake mix, follow baking instructions on box and while cake is baking, skip to the Coconut step.
- For a from-scratch white cake see instructions below.
Have all ingredients at room temperature. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Prepare the cake tins: Line the bottom of two 9” cake rounds with parchment circles that fit to the edges. If you’ve never done this, here’s a culinary school trick: Cut a square of the parchment larger than the tin, then flip the cake tin holding the parchment on top and cut with scissors around the base following the curve to create your parchment circles. Once lined, spray the circles with cooking spray on top of the liner and set aside.
Sift together twice:
3 ½ C sifted cake flour
1 T plus 1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
Combine:
1 C milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp almond extract (optional)
In a large bowl beat until creamy, about 30 seconds:
½ lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
Gradually add and beat on high speed until lighten and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes):
1 2/3 C sugar
Add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the milk mixture in 2 parts, beating on low speed or stirring with a rubber spatula until smooth and scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. In another large bowl, beat on medium speed until soft peaks form:
8 large egg whites
3/8 tsp cream of tartar
You want to beat the egg whites separately because this creates the volume that will give this 4-layer cake the wow factor!
Gradually add, beating on high speed:
1/3 C sugar
Beat until the peaks are stiff but not dry. Use a rubber spatula to fold one-quarter of the egg whites into the butter mixture, then fold in the remaining whites. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and spread evenly. Don’t overfill the pans; if there is any extra batter, discard it. Bake at 375 degrees until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Let cool in the pans on a rack for 10 minutes, then slide a thin knife around the edge to loosen the cakes, then invert onto the rack and peel off the parchment.
Allow cakes to finish cooling while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
TOASTED COCONUT
Make sure oven is preheated to 375 degrees.
Dump the bag of coconut into a wide mouth mixing bowl and add the 3 T powdered sugar with a fork, lifting and coating the coconut with the sugar as you mix it together well. Coating the coconut with powdered sugar (which also contains cornstarch) helps dry out the moist coconut and will aid in making a crunchy, toasted coconut more quickly without browning too much. Spread the coconut mixture onto a large parchment-lined baking sheet and bake on the top rack for about 8-10 minutes. While this is baking, you will have time to prepare the whipping cream. Stir it half-way through baking to move the browner edges to the center of the pan. The coconut is finished when it begins to get crispy or the edges begin to brown. You can also pull out the pan and mix it around to more evenly toast the flakes. When it reaches a very light golden color or slightly crispy texture, pull out and set the timer for it to cool about 15 minutes before adding to the cake.
WHIPPED CREAM ICING
Prepare the whipping cream by pouring the pint of heavy cream into a stand mixer. While on the medium setting, gradually add the vanilla and powdered sugar so lumps don’t form and then continue mixing on medium high until the whipped cream thickens.
Remember to stop the mixer and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl periodically to incorporate all the ingredients thoroughly.
Some people like their whipping cream sweeter than others. Feel free to adjust here, adding small amounts at a time of sugar or vanilla to make this your own creation. However, note there is sugar added to the already sweetened coconut so you may want to try the recipe once first as is before modifying. The whipping cream is ready when the whipping cream holds a nice peak.
RUM
Pour the rum into a small cup and set aside with a pastry brush on your workbench. You need a real pastry brush for this, silicone bristles will not pick up the liquid.
ASSEMBLY
Place each cake on a cutting board and cut in half by placing one hand flat on top of the cake to guide your bread knife as the other hand gently slices through the middle from edge to edge. Repeat with the second cake. Cutting two cakes in half will create four cake layers.
HOW TO LAYER THE CAKE
Lay the top side down on the cake serving platter and begin layering as such:
- Use the pastry brush to dip in the rum then dab onto the cake layer using about 1/3 of the rum for each layer
- Spoon on about 1/2 - 3/4 C of the whipping cream, making about a ½ inch layer or just enough to cover the cake
- Take the drained pineapple and spoon 1/3 of the mixture on top, spreading out to the edges of the round
- Add the next cake round
- Repeat these steps two more times
Use the last cake bottom to be the top layer and flip it so the bottom becomes the top of the cake. Ice the entire cake with the remaining whipped cream. Bonus: it does not have to be neat!
Add the toasted coconut to the sides at the bottom first, taking handfuls of the coconut and pressing it against the layered cake, then sweeping up the bits off the platter and adding it to the top and upper edges.
Refrigerate immediately. Best served after 2-3 hours so that the layers firm up or eat whenever convenient. Cake will last a week and should be stored covered in the refrigerator.
Enjoy a bit of the tropics with this magical cake. It's a crowd-pleaser, even among the most rowdy of your island companions!