Mixing fruit into baked goods is nothing new. All sorts of recipes call for mashed banana or even applesauce. But there’s something special about canned pineapple in the South, and we’re not just talking about the fabled pineapple sandwich.
In the same way that Southerners like to reach for buttermilk instead of whole milk, it’s not uncommon to replace water that a boxed cake mix calls for with a can of crushed pineapple—and there’s a proven reason why.
Canned pineapple, both sliced and crushed, is acidic, but not too acidic, lending moisture and contributing to just the right amount of leavening and lightness to all sorts of recipes, even more complicated ones. Look closely, and you’ll notice that this canned fruit is a secret staple of Southern cuisine.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Lighter And Fluffier Layer Cakes
From Depression-era winners like Million Dollar Cake to the towering, iconic Pig Pickin Cake, an homage to the Southern hog roast, there are endless examples of canned pineapple taking a cake recipe to the next level.
According to Associate Food Editor Alana Al-Hatlani, the pineapple is a hack not so much for its flavor, but for its moisture. “Pineapple lends moisture without creating a super dense cake,” Al-Hatlani says. “Not only is it moist, but it’s also acidic, which helps keep the cake from being too dense.”
Hannah Hufham, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle
Recipe Developer Sheri Castle argues that canned pineapple is convenient not just because it lasts forever, but because it works predictably in family recipes. “We know that a cup of crushed pineapple is always going to be a cup of crushed pineapple…” Castle says, “with no need to fret over whether we cored and chopped it correctly before adding it to our Hummingbird Cake.”
Our more modern Carrot Pineapple Cake borrows from all these traditions, pulling on all the best qualities of these old-school Southern staples.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
“Poke” Cakes
Recipes like Pineapple Sunshine Cake or Punch Bowl Cake (which is more a trifle than a cake) cleverly incorporate the crushed pineapple and the sweet juice of the can into the baked cake, which acts like a simple syrup or glaze. Prick or “poke” the cake with a fork and drizzle it with the drained juice of the can to infuse it with moisture. While there’s not exactly any proven truth to it, it’s often alleged that this sort of cake was Elvis Presley‘s favorite.
If you like this tropical flavor, get creative: Reduce the syrup from the can on the stove for a more condensed sweet syrupy glaze, or incorporate it into a whipped frosting for tang and sweet pineapple essence that pairs well with vanilla and coconut cake in particular.
2-Ingredient Boxed Cakes
It only takes a can of pineapple, with the juice, to bring a boxed angel food cake to life. In our Pineapple Angel Food Cake, the acid of the canned pineapple works wonders to ensure a delicate crumb. It works by using the juice from the can of crushed pineapple to replace the water that the cake mix typically calls for; just make sure you save it and don’t prematurely pour it down the drain!
Morgan Hunt Glaze, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Christina Daley
Upside-Down Cakes
The sweet nostalgia of a pineapple upside-down cake is hard to beat. Our Honey Pineapple Upside Down Cake has some smart, sweet flourishes: a honey glaze that balances and seals in the sharp tang of the pineapple to hold it all in.
The secret of it all? Perfectly round canned pineapple rings. “The golden yellow rings will always be uniform pineapple upside-down cake after pineapple upside-down cake,” says Castle. “So we can confidently arrange them across the bottom of our black skillet, nestling them into the sticky, buttery brown sugar, knowing that perky red maraschino cherries will always sit pretty in their identical holes.”
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Dump Cakes
The acidic nature of the canned pineapple and its juices makes for a powerful ingredient in a dump cake, which famously doesn’t require much other than dumping and baking. In our Pineapple Upside-Down Dump Cake the pineapples release their moisture as the cake cooks and still retains that iconic upside-down cake look. The Pineapple Cherry Dump Cake does something similar, but with crushed pineapple and lots of cherries, too.
