Pineapple Pound Cake

This moist, buttery Pineapple Pound Cake is wonderfully decadent, with just the right amount of pineapple flavor!

If you are a fan of cakes with fruit or pineapple desserts, you will love this recipe. Crushed pineapple is folded into the rich cake batter, ensuring bits of pineapple in every slice.

Ingredients for Pineapple Pound Cake

You can whip up a pineapple pound cake in no time. Here is a quick look at our ingredients. Make sure to check out our recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full listing!

Crushed Pineapple: You'll want to drain off the excess pineapple juice by pouring the canned, crushed pineapple through a strainer over a bowl. (Reserve the juice)

5 Large Eggs: The eggs add richness, moisture, and structure to the cake recipe. They also act to thicken and emulsify the cake batter, binding the fats and liquids together.

White Sugar Not only sweetens, but is also great for adding moisture to cakes.

Unsalted Butter adds richness to our cake. We prefer to use unsalted butter because it allows us to know exactly how much salt is in the recipe. (The amount of salt in salted butter differs from brand to brand).

Sour Cream adds richness to this recipe without thinning the cake batter (just as with our sour cream pound cake and lemon blueberry pound cake recipes).

There is no need to worry about the pineapple sinking to the bottom with this recipe. The thick cake batter keeps the bits of pineapple suspended and evenly distributed as it bakes.

Why we Love it

There are so many reasons to love this Pineapple Pound Cake recipe. Here are just a few!

• We love pound cake recipes!
• Ultra moist and rich
• Wonderful pineapple flavor, with bits of pineapple in every slice (much like our layered Pineapple Dream Cake)!
• Perfect simple birthday cake recipe, potluck dessert, and more!
• So easy to make and decorate!

How to Make Pineapple Pound Cake

You can find the full, printable cake recipe at the bottom of this post. Here is a quick look at our steps!

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and grease and flour a bundt pan or tube pan.
• In a separate bowl whisk these dry ingredients to combine: all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt.

• Cream the butter (with paddle attachment , gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy 3 to 5 minutes.

• Add the eggs one at a time blending after each to incorporate.

• In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine these wet ingredients: sour cream, 1 ½ cups crushed pineapple (well drained), and vanilla extract.

• While mixing on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream mixture to the butter, sugar, & egg mixture. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. (I add the flour mixture three times and the sour cream mixture twice). Mix just until incorporated.

• Scoop the batter into a prepared tube pan or bundt cake pan.

• Bake at 325 degrees for 60-70 minutes. Check on the cake as it nears the 1 hour mark and adjust additional time as needed. When an inserted toothpick or skewer comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached, it is ready.

Pineapple Simple Syrup

We glazed the freshly baked pineapple pound cake with a pineapple simple syrup. This is an optional step, but will give your cake another boost of pineapple flavor.

We used equal parts of pineapple juice (reserved from the crushed pineapple) and white sugar. Rather than heating in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves as we sometimes do, this time we heated the mixture in the microwave.

Stir the heated mixture until sugar has dissolved. Then, brush the outside of the cake with the pineapple syrup.

You will have some leftover (which can be used as needed for the white glaze).

White Glaze

We used a very easy sugar glaze to decorate the cake. This is an optional step but is a simple way to dress the cake up!

This recipe is based on our easy vanilla glaze, and is a simple combination of confectioners sugar, pineapple juice, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt.

You can spoon the glaze over the cooled pineapple cake, or for more control, load it into a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away!

Recipe FAQs

More Pineapple Cakes

We have more pineapple cakes to share with you! Some of our most popular are our classic Pineapple Cake, Pineapple Coconut Cake, and Pina Colada Cake!

We also have some classic cake recipes that just wouldn't be the same without a bit of pineapple, including our homemade Hummingbird Cake and go-to Carrot Cake recipe!

Pineapple Pound Cake

BY Melissa and Bebe

This moist, flavorful Pineapple Pound Cake recipe is so rich and delicious!

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Servings: 15

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Ingredients

• ▢ 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened (339g)
• ▢ 3 cups white sugar (600g)
• ▢ 5 large eggs, room temperature (if you are in a hurry, place in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes)
• ▢ 3 cups All Purpose Flour (not self-rising) (375g)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking powder (2g)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt (3g)
• ▢ 1 cup sour cream (242g)
• ▢ 15.25 oz can of crushed pineapple, well drained. Reserve the juice for glaze. We do this with a strainer/sifter over a bowl. (We use about 1½ cups crushed, drained pineapple in the batter.)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (4g)

Pineapple Simple Syrup Glaze

• ▢ ⅓ cup reserved pineapple juice
• ▢ ⅓ cup sugar (100g)

Simple White Glaze

• ▢ 2 cup powdered sugar sifted
• ▢ 3-4 Tablespoons pineapple juice (reserved from can). If adjust amount as needed for desired consistency
• ▢ pinch of salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (4g)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and grease and flour a bundt pan.
• Draining the Pineapple: Place a strainer/sifter over a bowl and empty the can of crushed pineapple into it. Use a fork to lightly press the crushed pineapple in the strainer, the juice will fall into the bowl beneath. Reserve the juice and pineapple separately. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl whisk the all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt to combine, set aside for later.
• Mix the butter on medium speed until smooth (using paddle attachment if you have a stand mixer). Gradually add the sugar and mix on medium speed until light and fluffy (3 to 5 minutes).
• Add the eggs one at a time, blending after each to incorporate.
• In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the sour cream, 1 ½ cups crushed pineapple (well drained), and vanilla extract.
• While mixing on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream mixture to the butter, sugar, & egg mixture. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. (I add the flour mixture three times and the sour cream mixture twice). Mix just until incorporated.
• Bake at 325 degrees for 60-70 minutes. Check on the cake as it nears the 1 hour mark and adjust additional time as needed. When an inserted toothpick or skewer comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached, it is ready.
• This recipe makes approximately 8-8.5 cups of batter.

For the Pineapple Simple Syrup Glaze

• Stir together the pineapple juice and white/granulated sugar. Microwave for one minute. The mixture should be hot enough to dissolve the sugar. If you see sugar crystals on the spoon after stirring the heated mixture, microwave for a few more seconds. (You can heat and dissolve the mixture on the stovetop if you would rather).
• Using a pastry brush (we use a silicone pastry brush), apply the glaze to the top and sides of the cake. You will have some leftover. You can use a few tablespoons for the white glaze below if you need it.

For the Simple White Glaze

• Combine confectioners sugar, pineapple juice, and a pinch of salt in a small bowl and stir until smooth.
• Drizzle over the cooled, pineapple-glazed pound cake. (I spooned mine into a piping bag with the tip snipped away for more control.) If the glaze is too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar. If it is too thick, add a bit more juice or a touch of milk.
• This cake can be kept at room temperature in an airtight container.

Notes

**12/23 I've updated this Pineapple Pound Cake to remove the ¼ cup pineapple juice in the cake batter. Although the pineapple is well drained, it still adds moisture to an already moist cake.  We still use pineapple juice in the simple syrup and glaze.

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