Piña Colada Confetti Cake
Homemade confetti cake recipe elevated with a tropical twist!
Equipment
- 1 Kitchenaid Stand Mixer with paddle attachment
- 1 Food Processor for blitzing coconut crumble
- 1 Piping Bag Wilton 1A tip
- 1 Offset Spatula
- 3 9" Cake Pans
- 1 Wire Cooling Rack
- Parchment Paper
- Plastic Wrap
- Sifter
- Sieve
- Silicone Heat-Safe Spatula
Ingredients
Confetti Cake (Three 9" Cake Layers)
- 3¾ cups Cake Flour
- ⅓ cup Corn Starch
- 1½ tsp Kosher Salt
- 3 tsp Baking Powder
- 3 sticks Unsalted Butter room temp
- 2¼ cups Granulated Sugar
- 6 Large Egg Whites
- ⅓ cup Vegetable Oil
- 1½ tbsp Clear Imitation Vanilla
- ¾ tsp Almond Extract
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp Whole Milk
- ¾ cup Supernatural Rainbow Crunchie Sprinkles
Pineapple Curd
- 2 cups Pineapple Juice
- 2 tbsp Lime Juice
- ½ cup Granulated Sugar
- 1½ tbsp Corn Starch
- 6 Egg Yolks
- 6 tbsp Unsalted Butter cubed
Coconut-Buttercream Frosting
- 2 tbsp Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste
- 1 tsp Coconut Extract
- ½ tsp Kosher Salt
- 2 sticks Unsalted Butter Softened, cubed
- ¼ cup Cream of Coconut Goya
- 3 cups Confectioners' Sugar
Coconut-Crumble Coating
- 2 cups Sweetened Coconut Flakes
- 3 Tate's Coconut Crisp Cookies
- ½ Mauna Loa Dry-Roasted, Salted Macadamia Nuts
- ½ tsp Kosher Salt
(Optional) Piña Colada Gelée
- 1 envelope Knox Gelatin Powder
- ¼ cup Cold Water
- 2 tbsp Granulated Sugar
- ½ cup Boiling Water
- ¼ cup Pineapple Juice **Must be canned
- 2 tbsp Cream of Coconut Goya
- ½ cup Coconut Rum Island Getaway
- ¼ cup Pineapple Vodka Deep Eddy's
- A few drops of blue plant-based food coloring Optional
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and prep the pans with grease and parchment paper.
- Sift together cake flour, corn starch, salt, and baking powder into a large bowl. Gently whisk, then set aside.3¾ cups Cake Flour, ⅓ cup Corn Starch, 1½ tsp Kosher Salt, 3 tsp Baking Powder
- Cream together unsalted butter and granulated sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy.3 sticks Unsalted Butter, 2¼ cups Granulated Sugar
- With the mixer running, slowly add the egg whites, mixing after each one until incorporated. Add the coconut oil and extracts.6 Large Egg Whites, ⅓ cup Vegetable Oil, 1½ tbsp Clear Imitation Vanilla, ¾ tsp Almond Extract
- Reduce speed on mixer to low. Then, alternate adding dry ingredients and whole milk, about ⅓ of each at a time. Mix until just barely combined.1 cup + 2 tbsp Whole Milk
- Gently fold in the Rainbow Crunchies, making sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.¾ cup Supernatural Rainbow Crunchie Sprinkles
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake until an internal temperature reads between 205-210℉ or once it passes the toothpick test, about 25 minutes for cake layers.
- Allow cake layers to cool for about 10 minutes in the pans, turn them out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling. Once cool enough, wrap individual layers in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to assemble the cake.
For the Curd
- Bring two cups of pineapple juice to a boil over medium-high heat. Allow it to simmer for about 20 minutes, until roughly 1 cup of concentrated pineapple juice is left.2 cups Pineapple Juice
- Mix lime juice, granulated sugar, corn starch, and egg yolks together in a medium saucepan. Whisk until smooth and even.2 tbsp Lime Juice, ½ cup Granulated Sugar, 1½ tbsp Corn Starch, 6 Egg Yolks
- While constantly whisking, slowly pour in the concentrated pineapple juice to avoid cooking the yolks. Once smooth, add the butter, a bit at a time, and whisk after each addition to ensure smooth incorporation.6 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking constantly.
- Once it begins to boil, reduce to medium heat. When the pineapple curd becomes thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, allow it to cook for about 5 more minutes. Cook until internal temp check is 180-190℉.
- Remove from heat, then blend thoroughly with an immersion blender. Strain through a mesh sieve into a heat-proof bowl to ensure a velvety smooth curd. Cover bowl with cling wrap, and make sure it's touching the curd to prevent a skin from forming.
- Chill in the fridge until completely set and ready to use. Best to refrigerate overnight.
For the Coconut-Buttercream Frosting
- Combine the heavy whipping cream, extracts, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.2 tbsp Heavy Whipping Cream, 1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste, 1 tsp Coconut Extract, ½ tsp Kosher Salt
- Beat the butter and cream of coconut in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium-high speed until smooth.2 sticks Unsalted Butter, ¼ cup Cream of Coconut
- Reduce the speed to med-low and slowly incorporate the confectioner's sugar. Beat for approximately 2 minutes until smooth.3 cups Confectioners' Sugar
- Add the heavy cream-extract mixture, and increase the speed to medium-high. Beat until light and fluffy (~4 minutes).
For the Coconut-Crumble Coating
- Toast the sweetened coconut flakes on a cookie sheet in the oven, 350℉ for about 12 minutes. Stir every few minutes. Turn the oven off, leave the flakes in for 4-5 more minutes, until golden brown and crispy.2 cups Sweetened Coconut Flakes
- Combine 1 cup of the toasted coconut flakes and about 3 to 4 coconut cookies together in a food processor, and pulse until sandy. Empty into a bowl with the remaining toasted coconut.3 Tate's Coconut Crisp Cookies
- Carefully blitz Macadamia Nuts with salt. Just a few pulses, or it'll start to turn into nut butter. Add to bowl and gently mix by hand.½ Mauna Loa Dry-Roasted, Salted Macadamia Nuts, ½ tsp Kosher Salt
For the Piña Colada Gelée (Optional)
- Line a 6" cake pan with plastic wrap. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, sprinkle the envelope of gelatin powder over the cold water. Set aside.1 envelope Knox Gelatin Powder, ¼ cup Cold Water
- Bring water to a boil, add the granulated sugar, and whisk until dissolved.2 tbsp Granulated Sugar, ½ cup Boiling Water
- Carefully pour the boiling water into the gelatin and whisk until dissolved.
- Pour in the canned pineapple juice, cream of coconut, coconut rum, pineapple vodka, and blue food coloring into the gelatin water; then, whisk to fully incorporate.¼ cup Pineapple Juice, 2 tbsp Cream of Coconut, ½ cup Coconut Rum, ¼ cup Pineapple Vodka, A few drops of blue plant-based food coloring
- Pour into prepared cake pan as thick as desired. Refrigerate until set.
For Cake Assembly
- Level out cake layers as necessary.
- Fill a piping bag with coconut-buttercream frosting, fitted with a wide-open tip, like a Wilton 1A.
- Add a dollop of coconut-buttercream frosting to a cake serving tray, and place your first cake layer. Use an off-set spatula to spread a thin layer of coconut-buttercream frosting evenly across the top of the cake layer. Just enough to get a bite of pineapple AND coconut with every bite.
- Pipe a dam of coconut-buttercream frosting around the circumference of the cake layer. Fill the first layer with about half of your pineapple curd (⅔-1 cup of curd per layer) and spread it out to the border of frosting with an offset spatula.
- Add second layer and repeat.
- Top cake with final layer, and then, crumb coat. The amount of frosting should be just enough to apply a thick crumb coat. Enough to catch the coconut crumble, but not so much to overpower the cake with sweet frosting. If you're a frosting person, add 50% to the frosting recipe.
- Coat most of the cake with coconut crumble, leaving enough space on top of the cake for the gelée (if using).
- Place gelée on top of cake carefully, then frame with irregular pipes of remaining buttercream. Cover buttercream with more of the coconut-crumble coating to resemble sand dunes. Et voilà! Beach cake with a little water feature!
Notes
- I like to go by weight when portioning out my cake batter to get as even layers as possible. For instance, I know my stand mixer bowl is 1,029 grams. I subtract that from the weight of the bowl + batter. Then, I divide that number by 3. I'll set my cake pans, one at a time, on my kitchen scale, zero it out, then add batter until I get the perfect distribution for each pan.
- For the curd filling, see how many cups you have, and divide it by 2 for the perfect amount per layer. I used about 2/3 cup of curd per layer for Nathan's cake.
- This is meant to be a "sandy", messy cake. However, you can optionally place strips of parchment paper just under the edge of the first cake layer before frosting and adding coconut-crumble to minimize the messiness.
- If you're planning a beach/nautical party, check out my post "Let's Sailebrate" for some fun suggestions, including this cake.