This Pineapple Sheet Cake is filled with bits of sweet crushed pineapples and crunchy nuts. Baked in a quarter sheet pan and topped with a rich cream cheese frosting, this cake is perfect for serving just a few people.
This pineapple sheet cake has quickly become my family's favorite cake. It's so easy to make too. The ingredients are mixed in one bowl and the cake is baked in a quarter-sized sheet pan.
What Is A Sheet Cake?
A sheet cake is a single-layer cake baked in a flat, rectangular pan called a sheet pan or a jelly roll pan.
Whoever invented the sheet cake is a genius. Sheet cakes are the easiest type of cake to make. They're generally made with pantry staples and no fancy plating is needed since slices are served straight from the pan.
Sheet cakes are also easy to cut, just cut slices as you would brownies or dessert bars and you can decorate them very nicely, as we did with this pineapple sheet cake.
Ingredient Notes
See recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.
For the cake
- Flour: Use all-purpose flour (plain flour).
- Sugar, salt, nutmeg, and vanilla extract: For excellent flavor.
- Baking soda: Gives the cake a little lift.
- Egg: An egg provides structure in cakes and one large egg is all you need.
- Pineapple: This recipe calls for using 1 (8-ounce) can of crushed pineapple. The pineapple juice from the can provides just the right amount of liquid to make a perfect cake batter, so no milk is necessary.
- Nuts: Use peanuts, pecans, or walnuts.
For the frosting
- Softened cream cheese
- Softened butter
- Powdered sugar
- Nuts
How To Make This Recipe
- The ingredients are mixed together in a large bowl, then poured into a lightly buttered quarter sheet pan.
- The pineapple cake bakes for 25 minutes.
- After the cake has cooled, make the buttercream frosting using powdered sugar, cream cheese, and butter and spread it over the top of the cake.
Ways To Use Leftover Ingredients
If you have any ingredients left over from this sheet cake recipe, you might consider using them in any of these single serving and small batch recipes:
- Flour: Biscuits, Mini Pound Cake, Shortbread Cookies
- Sugar: Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie, Pecan Pie, Lemon Meringue Pie
- Nutmeg: Alfredo Sauce, Apple Galette, Tuna Casserole
- Eggs: Cheesy Baked Eggs, Quiche Lorraine, Bread Pudding
- Vanilla: Vanilla Cupcakes, Vanilla Pudding, Tiramisu
- Pineapple: Pineapple Oat Cake, Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Pineapple Lime Jello Salad
- Nuts: Chocolate Candy Clusters, Microwave Fudge, Granola
Frequently Asked Questions
Typically, a sheet cake will feed a lot of people. That's why it's a great dessert to bring to a potluck.
Mini sheet pans are the perfect pans to use when you don't want to bake a large Texas sheet cake. The sheet pan used in this cake recipe is roughly ¼ of the size of a regular sheet pan which makes it ideal if you're cooking for one, two or just a few.
Since this pineapple cake is baked in a quarter sheet pan, you will get about 12 to 15 small slices of cake if each slice is 2-inches x 2-inches.
This may seem like a lot but compared to a standard sheet cake recipe where you might get 65 to 70 slices, it's a whole lot less.
This pineapple sheet cake is the perfect one to make if you're serving a small group.
The cake keeps well in the refrigerator for a week.
Visiting Peanut Farmers
Recently, I boarded a plane and took a trip to Lubbock, Texas to visit with a few area peanut farmers. My visit inspired this pineapple peanut mini sheet cake recipe.
In my 20 years of living in Houston, I had never been to Lubbock and was excited to finally have the chance to visit.
I was invited to participate in the first ever Texas Peanut Blog Tour hosted by the Texas Peanut Producers Board and what a great time we had! When I returned home from the tour, I was inspired to create this incredible cake recipe.
I added chopped peanuts to the pineapple cake batter which provided a lovely crunch. You might be surprised by how well pineapples and peanuts go together - it's a surprisingly wonderful combination!
RELATED: 15 Easy Dessert Recipes For One
Expert Tips
- If you're not a fan of peanuts, substitute with the same amount of chopped pecans or leave the nuts out altogether.
- Measure the flour by using the spoon and level method. To measure flour correctly, use a spoon to scoop flour into a measuring cup and slightly overfill. Then, use the back of a knife or other straight edged utensil to level the flour across the cup. Do not scoop the flour. When you scoop, the flour gets packed too tightly and you will end up with more flour than the recipe calls for.
- Do not overmix the cake batter. Mix the ingredients together just until the ingredients are combined. Overmixing causes baked goods to develop a tough texture because you are deflating all the air and over-developing the gluten.
RELATED: 20 Single Serving Breakfast Recipes Worth Waking Up To
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of the Texas Peanut Producers Board. As always all opinions are 100% mine.
Other Mini Cake Recipes
If you like this pineapple sheet cake recipe, you might also like to try these mini cake recipes:
- Mini Caramelized Banana Upside Down Cake
- Mini Tres Leches Cake
- Mini Chocolate Cake
- Mini Double Cherry Dump Cake
- Pineapple Oat Cake
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Recipe
Pineapple Mini Sheet Cake
See the post above for expert tips,
FAQs and ways to use leftover ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 ounces canned crushed pineapple , undrained
- ½ cup peanuts , chopped (optional)
ICING
- 4 ounces cream cheese , softened
- ¼ cup salted butter , softened
- 1 ½ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup peanuts , chopped (for topping)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
- In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.
- Add in the egg, vanilla, and crushed pineapple and stir well to combine.
- Fold in the peanuts.
- Pour into a greased 11.35-in. x 8-in. x 1-in. (Quarter Sized) baking pan.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool.
- FOR THE ICING
- In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese and the butter. Slowly add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Spread over cooled cake and sprinkle with chopped peanuts.
Notes
- If you're not a fan of peanuts, substitute with the same amount of chopped pecans or leave the nuts out altogether.
- Measure the flour by using the spoon and level method. To measure flour correctly, use a spoon to scoop flour into a measuring cup and slightly overfill. Then, use the back of a knife or other straight edged utensil to level the flour across the cup. Do not scoop the flour. When you scoop, the flour gets packed too tightly and you will end up with more flour than the recipe calls for.
- Do not overmix the cake batter. Mix the ingredients together just until the ingredients are combined. Overmixing causes baked goods to develop a tough texture because you are deflating all the air and over-developing the gluten.
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Lisa Kirkpatrick says
Good! I didn't have cream cheese or nutmeg. I used cinnamon instead of nutmeg. I whipped some heavy cream with sugar and vanilla, chilled it. Then stirred in some coconut and put a dollop on a piece and it was delicious. Love your website