Boozy Pina Colada Cake

If you love Pina Coladas (and getting caught in the rain), then I have the perfect cake for you today! A delicious, boozy Pina Colada cake. Moist layers of coconut cake with homemade bourbon pineapple curd between, and topped with bourbon coconut buttercream frosting. I mean, seriously. This cake is like a tropical cruise in a cake, and I am here for it!

Ok so you may be thinking – aren’t Pina Coladas usually made with rum? Yes, yes they are! But it turns out that Brown Sugar Bourbon Pina Coladas are just as delicious (possibly even more so!). I took one for the team and did a taste test, and might make all my Pina Coladas with this Brown Sugar Bourbon from now on!

If you’ve made any of my other cake recipes, you know that I’m not a fan of sickly sweet cakes. In the past I’ve tried coconut cakes that had way too much sugar for my taste, so I was on a mission to create a Pina Colada cake recipe with all the flavor, and less sugar. And the cherry on the top (see what I did there haha!) is the delicious Brown Sugar Bourbon (BSB) in both the pineapple curd and frosting. It’s sooooo good, and I love that hint of flavor throughout the whole cake!

Can we just take a minute to appreciate these gold sparkly cherries? I’m a tiny bit obsessed! The glitter is obviously optional, but suuuuper easy to add for an extra special decoration. And not just for decoration, since it’s edible! All of my assembly tips for this boozy pina colada cake are included in the notes section of the recipe below!

Quick Boozy Pina Colada Recipe Notes:

*You’ll notice that the cake calls for coconut milk. By this I mean the canned kind that you’ll most likely find in the Asian food section of your grocery store. (I used the brand Thai Kitchen.) When you open the can, you’ll see thick coconut cream on top – that’s the part you want to use since it has the most fat. One can should have enough for this recipe!

**The pineapple curd calls for pineapple juice – and this will need to be the canned version too. I found this in the juice section of my grocery store. For some reason only the canned version works – because of how bottled juice is normally preserved, from what I understand. If you use “normal” pineapple juice, (as in from a plastic bottle) the curd won’t thicken correctly.

How Do You Make Pina Colada Cake From Scratch?

• Let’s start with the coconut cake! This is a really easy and simple cake, with coconut flavor from coconut yogurt, coconut extract, and coconut flakes. We cream together our butter and our sugar, add in the remaining wet ingredients, and then add the dry ingredients. Pretty simple, right? And soooo delicious!
• Next up: Our pineapple curd! Curds are so easy to make on the stove, and have really incredible flavor. As in: your friends will be convinced you’re a culinary genius. Which you are, obviously! To make the pineapple curd, we just combine all the ingredients except the butter in a saucepan and let it thicken, adding the butter at the very end. The eggs do all the thickening for us! You can make this ahead of time, and store it in the fridge until you want to assemble your cake.
• Finally, coconut buttercream! I feel like I’m transported to a tropical place when I get a whiff of this frosting, which is honestly the goal! The key to a fluffy buttercream frosting is whipping it on high speed in the stand mixer (or with your hand mixer) for a few minutes to get lots of air into it!

Boozy Pina Colada Cake

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• Author: Kirsten Bell
• Prep Time: 15 Minutes
• Cook Time: 30 Minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 16 Slices 1x
• Category: Cakes
• Method: Baking

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Description

A tropical cruise in a cake! This pina colada cake is fun, fruity and delicious!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Coconut Cake Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons coconut extract
1/2 cup coconut full-fat yogurt
1/3 cup coconut milk*
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

BSB Pineapple Curd Ingredients:

1/2 cup pineapple juice (from a can)**
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon Brown Sugar Bourbon
Small pinch of salt
3 tablespoons butter

BSB Coconut Buttercream Ingredients:

2 cups butter, softened
6 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon Brown Sugar Bourbon
2 teaspoons coconut extract
Maraschino cherries with stems for garnish (optional)

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Instructions

Coconut Cake Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 6″ cake pans, and line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients, flour through salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one, followed by the extracts, yogurt, and coconut milk. Mix until all the wet ingredients are incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Add the dry ingredients, mixing on the lowest speed until just combined. Stir in the coconut flakes, making sure to scrape down the sides again as the coconut likes to stick.

Distribute the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans (I like to use this scale to be sure each layer is exactly the same). Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs.

Pineapple Curd Directions: 

Combine all the ingredients except the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat, and stir in the butter a tablespoon at a time. The pineapple curd will continue to thicken as it cools.

Note the assembly directions below for tips on how to add the pineapple curd between each cake layer.

Bourbon Coconut Buttercream

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Add the Brown Sugar Bourbon and coconut extract. Beat on high speed for about 5 minutes.

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Notes

I prefer to frost cold cakes – I find it easier and there are fewer crumbs. I wrap each cake layer in plastic wrap once they’ve come to room temp, and then let them sit in the fridge for at least a few hours so they’re cold when I’m ready to frost

To assemble with the pineapple curd between each layer of cake, frost an even layer of the buttercream on top of the first layer. Then pipe a border of frosting around the edge of the cake layer. Spoon the pineapple curd into the well that you just created. Repeat with the next layer, and then continue with your crumb coat. (And by the way, I’m posting a video to Instagram in a few days that will show exactly how to do this! Find me @thiscelebratedlife on Instagram to see it!

A crumb coat, if you haven’t heard of it before, is a thin layer of frosting to just seal in the crumbs before you fully frost the cake.

Once your cake is fully frosted, coat it in unsweetened coconut flakes (or sweetened if you prefer).

Top with cherries for a true Pina Colada look! If you want to create the same glitter look that I did here, lightly dry each Maraschino cherry, and then dip them in this edible gold glitter. Easy as that!

Looking For More Cake Recipes?

• Lemon Cake with Chocolate Ganache
• Chocolate Strawberry Cake
• Cookies and Cream Cake
• Fresh Key Lime Cake
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Tools Used In This Recipe:

Thank you to Heritage Distilling Co. for sponsoring this post. As always, all opinion are my own.