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Pineapple Coconut Surprise Cake is cold, creamy, sweet, and loaded with tropical flavor. A simple yellow cake mix gets topped with a Pudding-and-cream-cheese layer, crushed pineapple, whipped topping, and plenty of coconut. You’re going to love that it’s even better after a night in the refrigerator.
Why You’ll Love It
- Easy cake base — a yellow cake mix keeps the cake part simple.
- Creamy tropical layers — pineapple, vanilla pudding, cream cheese, whipped topping, and coconut make every bite rich and bright.
- Feeds a crowd — the wide pan makes plenty of squares for sharing.
- Better made ahead — chilling overnight helps the layers settle and makes the cake easier to slice.
Ingredient Notes
Use the regular 15.25-ounce yellow cake mix here, prepared exactly according to the package with whatever water, oil, and eggs it calls for. Store brand and name brand both work well. The cream cheese is where the tub kind should not be used. Use the brick, and let it sit out for the full hour. It needs to be soft enough to beat smooth with the milk.
The pineapple needs to be crushed pineapple, not tidbits and not rings chopped up by hand. Drain it well, too. Press it gently in a sieve with the back of a spoon—not bone dry, just not sloshing around.
The pudding is instant vanilla pudding, the little 3.4-ounce box. Do not use cook-and-serve pudding.
As for Cool Whip, this is a Cool Whip kind of cake. Homemade whipped cream is lovely, but whipped topping helps this cake hold up well in the refrigerator. The flaked coconut goes right over the top—every bit of that 14-ounce package. It seems like a lot because it is a lot. That’s the point.
Ingredients
- 1 box yellow cake mix (15.25 ounces)
- Water, oil, and eggs, as called for on the cake mix package
- 1 can crushed pineapple (20 ounces), drained well
- 1 package cream cheese (8 ounces), at room temperature for about 1 hour
- 1 1/4 Cups milk
- 1 package instant vanilla pudding mix (3.4 ounces)
- 1 container Cool Whip (8 ounces), thawed
- 1 package flaked coconut (14 ounces)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1-inch baking pan. This is basically a jelly Roll-style pan, and yes, it seems shallow for a cake. That’s how this one is supposed to be. If you prefer a thicker cake, you can bake it in a 9×13-inch pan instead.
Prepare the yellow cake mix according to the package directions, using the water, oil, and eggs it calls for. Pour the batter into the greased pan and spread it out as evenly as you can. Give the pan a gentle tap on the counter to settle the batter.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. Start checking at 23 minutes if the oven tends to run hot.
While the cake bakes, drain the crushed pineapple. Let it sit in a colander or sieve while you make the creamy layer. You want the fruit drained so the topping stays fluffy instead of turning runny.
Put the softened cream cheese in a mixing bowl. Gradually add the milk, a little at a time, beating at medium speed as you go, until the mixture is smooth. Don’t dump all the milk in at once unless you want to spend the next ten minutes scraping cream cheese bits off the sides of the bowl.
Add the instant vanilla pudding mix. Beat on low speed for 12 full minutes. Twelve minutes feels strangely long, but the mixture needs that time to become smooth and creamy. Set a timer.
Spread the pudding and cream cheese mixture over the baked cake. Use an offset spatula or the back of a spoon.
Sprinkle the drained crushed pineapple evenly over the creamy layer. Try to get it all the way to the edges. The first few pieces may look a little skimpy, but it evens out.
Spread the thawed Cool Whip over the pineapple. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
Sprinkle the flaked coconut over everything. Don’t be timid with it; use the whole package. Cover the top generously, then lightly press it into the whipped topping with a hand or spatula so it stays put.
Cover the cake and refrigerate. It is best made a day ahead, which gives the flavors time to settle in and makes the slices easier to serve.
Variations
This cake works exactly as written, and recipes like that are worth respecting. A little extra pineapple scattered on top right before serving makes it look pretty and gives each square a brighter fruit flavor. Toasted coconut also works, but it changes the soft, snowy look of the cake a bit. Still delicious, just different.
Chocolate pudding is not recommended here. Pineapple, coconut, and chocolate are not enemies exactly, but they are not close friends either.
You could use a 9×13-inch pan for a thicker version, as mentioned above. It makes a taller slice, which some people prefer. The wider pan gives you more of that creamy topping in every bite.
Storage & Reheating
Keep Pineapple Coconut Surprise Cake covered in the refrigerator. It will hold well for several days, and it’s especially good on day two. By day three the coconut softens more.
There is no reheating here. Please don’t warm it up. This is a cold cake, and its whole personality depends on that chilled, creamy topping.
If you’re taking it somewhere, keep it cool as long as you can. Refrigeration is your friend.
Final Notes
This is the kind of dessert to make when a layer cake with six bowls is not in the plans. It has a little bit of that old recipe-card charm—boxed mix, instant pudding, Cool Whip, no apologies.
Make it the day ahead if you can. Let it sit in the refrigerator while everything else gets done. Then cut a square before serving.
Because once the plates are out and the coconut starts scattering across the counter, it goes fast… and somehow there’s never quite enough left for breakfast the next morning.
Pineapple Coconut Surprise Cake
Ingredients Â
- 1 box yellow cake mix 15.25 ounces
- water, oil, and eggs as called for on the cake mix package
- 1 can crushed pineapple 20 ounces, drained well
- 1 package cream cheese 8 ounces, at room temperature for about 1 hour
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 1 package instant vanilla pudding mix 3.4 ounces
- 1 container Cool Whip 8 ounces, thawed
- 1 package flaked coconut 14 ounces
InstructionsÂ
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1-inch baking pan.
- Prepare the yellow cake mix according to the package directions, using the water, oil, and eggs it calls for, then pour the batter into the greased pan and spread it evenly.
- Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean, checking at 23 minutes if your oven runs hot.
- While the cake bakes, drain the crushed pineapple in a colander or sieve so the topping stays fluffy instead of runny.
- Put the softened cream cheese in a mixing bowl and gradually add the milk, a little at a time, beating at medium speed until smooth.
- Add the instant vanilla pudding mix and beat on low speed for 12 full minutes until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
- Spread the pudding and cream cheese mixture over the baked cake with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon.
- Sprinkle the drained crushed pineapple evenly over the creamy layer, getting it all the way to the edges.
- Spread the thawed Cool Whip over the pineapple layer.
- Sprinkle the whole package of flaked coconut over the top, then lightly press it into the whipped topping so it stays put.
- Cover the cake and refrigerate, preferably overnight, so the flavors can settle and the cake slices more easily.