This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you purchase through those links (at no extra cost to you).
Hawaiian Wedding Cake is the mandarin orange-studded, fluffy-pineapple-frosting-slathered, perfectly pillowy yellow cake of your dreams. It tastes like a tropical getaway, and making it is an absolute breeze.
Meggan’s notes
There are a handful of recipes on this site that use pre-made ingredients, like store-bought whipped topping or a box of cake mix. And this, my friends, is one of them.
In fact, in the spirit of true disclosure, this Hawaiian Wedding Cake recipe uses a whole lot of store-bought ingredients, not just Betty Crocker. I promise you this: they all blend perfectly together to create a fruity, fluffy, honeymoon of a cake that your guests will inhale as soon as it hits the table.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Oranges: To substitute fresh oranges, tangerines, or clementines (more work than canned oranges), cut the segments from their membranes into supremes, and squeeze the extra juice from the fruit for making the cake.
- Whipped topping: To substitute homemade whipped cream for the Cool Whip, whip 3 cups of heavy cream with 6 tablespoons powdered sugar and 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract. For best results, chill metal mixing bowl and metal whisk in freezer for 10 to 15 minutes for before whipping. Whipped cream can be stored covered, in the refrigerator, for 10 hours.
- Pinapple: To substitute fresh pineapple, pulse chunks of pineapple in a food processor. Drain well and reserve the juice for the frosting. Note: Do not use fresh pineapple with a gelatin-based pudding. Bromelain, the natural enzyme found in fresh pineapple, will break down gelatin, which can soften the frosting if you use a gelatin-based pudding.
Step-by-step instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan with parchment paper and coat with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and oil together until well blended. Whisk in the cake mix until smooth. Carefully fold in the mandarin oranges and their juice.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake 25 to 35 minutes (check at 25 minutes). Cool completely, at least 30 minutes. When the cake is cool, blend whipped topping and dry vanilla pudding mix in a large bowl (do not prepare the pudding mix into pudding). Carefully fold in pineapple and juice. Spread the frosting in a thick, even layer on the cake.
- Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving. Garnish individual slices with maraschino cherries if desired. Refrigerate any leftovers.
Recipe tips and substitutions
- Yield: This recipe makes one 9-inch by 13-inch cake. I usually cut 20 generous slices, but you can cut them bigger or smaller depending on your preference.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: You can bake the cake up to 2 days in advance and store covered in the refrigerator. Frost the cake up to one day in advance. The frosting stays on the cake better when it is completely cool, but after that, pop it in the fridge again to let the frosting bond with the top of the cake. That’s where the magic happens.
- Toppings: Add shredded toasted coconut, toasted walnuts, toasted pecans, or maraschino cherries on top of the frosting.
- Hawaiian Wedding Cake Trifle: This is a great cake for a trifle dish! I recommend lining the cake pan with parchment so you can easily lift the entire cake out. Then, cut it into cubes and layer it with pineapple and the whipping topping/pudding mixture. I wouldn’t add the pineapple to the frosting for the trifle because you need more things to layer. Adding some maraschino cherries on top would also be stunning.
- Hawaiian Wedding Cake Layer Cake: To make a layer cake (I recommend a naked-style cake where you don’t frost the outside), divide the cake batter evenly among three 8-inch cake pans, lined with parchment paper or greased well. Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool cakes completely on a wire rack. Make the frosting, then divide evenly among the layers, stacking the cake. Garnish with marachino cherries, toasted coconut, or mandarin orange slices on the top of cake.
- Low-sugar cake: Make it with sugar-free vanilla pudding mix, sugar-free whipped topping, and sugar-free cake mix.
- Cupcakes: Not recommended. If you frost a cupcake with the whipped topping mixture, it won’t cover enough surface area to really soak in the citrus flavor of the cake, the way it’s supposed to.
More stellar cake recipes
Cake Recipes
German Chocolate Cake
Cake Recipes
7UP Cake
Cake Recipes
Carrot Cake
Cake Recipes
Angel Food Cake
Join Us
HUNGRY FOR MORE? Sign up for our weekly newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for our latest recipes! Tag all your glorious creations #culinaryhill so we can eat vicariously through you.
Hawaiian Wedding Cake
Hawaiian Wedding Cake is the mandarin orange-studded, fluffy-pineapple-frosting-slathered, perfectly pillowy yellow cake of your dreams. It tastes like a tropical getaway, and making it is an absolute breeze.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 4 eggs
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 1 (15-ounce) can mandarin oranges and juice undrained
For the frosting:
- 1 (16 ounce) container whipped topping thawed
- 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix (dry mix)
- 1 (15-ounce) can crushed pineapple and juice undrained
- Maraschino cherries for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan with parchment paper and coat with nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and oil together until well blended. Whisk in the cake mix until smooth. Carefully fold in the mandarin oranges.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 25 to 35 minutes (check at 25 minutes). Cool completely, at least 30 minutes.
- When the cake is cool, blend whipped topping and dry vanilla pudding mix in a large bowl (do not prepare the pudding mix into pudding). Carefully fold in pineapple. Spread the frosting in a thick, even layer on the cake.
- Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving. Garnish individual slices with maraschino cherries if desired. Refrigerate any leftovers.
Recipe Video
Nutrition
Calories: 268kcalCarbohydrates: 37gProtein: 3gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 33mgSodium: 249mgPotassium: 102mgFiber: 1gSugar: 25gVitamin A: 354IUVitamin C: 9mgCalcium: 82mgIron: 1mg
Did you make this recipe?Tag @culinaryhill on Instagram so we can admire your masterpiece! #culinaryhill
I have made this several times now. It’s always being requested! Everyone just loves it. What I like mostly is its not sweet. Light and fluffy. Making it again for Easter Sunday. Can’t wait!!
Heather, thank you SO MUCH! I mean, I feel the exact same way. I feel like my photos don’t even do it justice, but once I tried one bite of that cake I was sold. Like you said, it’s not overly sweet which is SO LOVELY. And so perfect for Easter. Thank you so much, I really appreciate your thoughtful comment! Happy Easter!
Thanks for posting this! I love fruit with my desserts. Heck the one time I had fruit cake I didn’t think it was bad at all even though most v people seem hate it. ANY WAY. Adding this too my fruit salad recipe as a favorite! Thanks again.
This is the first time I have seen this recipe on the internet! My mom used to make this cake all the time, but she called it Mandarin Orange Cake. She passed away two years ago, so it is wonderful to see this recipe posted, it brings back fond memories. It is a light wonderfully simple cake to make, refreshing in the summer and cheery in the winter. Sometimes she would sprinkle toasted coconut on the top as a garnish. It was one of her go to recipes for church pot luck dinners, and it was a favorite dessert for family gatherings.
Hello!
This sounds amazing and perfect for the Hawaiian baby shower I’m hosting this weekend. Do you know if it’s possible to cook the cake in 8″ rounds instead of a 9×13″ pan? I’m hoping to bake three layers (thin) and stack them with the whip in-between. I’m a little concerned that it will be very slippery and slide around. Since you’ve worked with this recipe first hand I’m hoping you might be able to share a little insight to the texture and take a guess if I could make it work or not. I could use straws through the cake to hold it in place better as well.
Thanks!!
Hi, Jessica! I’ve never tried stacking the cake in this way, but I don’t think it would slide off. The only thing I would worry about is whether you have enough frosting to cover 3 layers AND go in between – I’m also not sure if you would like the texture of the cake for spreading. It’s quite thick and a bit chunky because of the fruit in it. You can see from the pictures, maybe, that it sits quite heavily on top of the cake. However, if you were going to do a “naked” cake and just frost the layers in between, not the outside, I am pretty sure that would work just fine! Frosting the outside *might* work too, I’m just less confident about that. I don’t think the cake will slip at all. It’s just a matter of whether the frosting itself would weigh too much and slide of the side of the cake, if you did that. Please let me know if you go ahead with the idea and how it turns out; I’d love to know! If I had time to test it before this weekend, I would. Good luck and thank you for the question! Sounds like a fantastic baby shower. 🙂
Thank you Meggan for such a fast response!! I think the points you make are all very very good. I actually like the idea of a “naked” cake, maybe I’ll go that route anyways. It’s a thing to do these days! Plus, that means I’d use less flowers for the decoration making the cake the decoration. I’ll definitely let you know how it goes!
Another thought I’m just curious for your take on is making the cake a few days in advance. In the past I’d make the layers a few days in advance, wrap them in plastic and keep them in the fridge. I’d take them out the day of to frost and decorate. Do you think this cake recipe would function just fine? I typically make a box cake and tweak it a bit, so I’m guessing it’d be fine. Just curious what you think!
Thanks!
Hi Jessica! I think you can absolutely make the layers in advance. The only thing is, I’d frost it and chill it the night before. Part of the glory of this cake is that the frosting has time to soften the top layer of the cake and, well “melt” is the wrong word, but they bind together a bit. As an example, I tried making this recipe as cupcakes one time, but dolloping frosting on right before serving time didn’t have the same effect. The frosting needs time to soften the cake and bind to it. That’s where the magic really happens! But other than that, yes make the layers in advance, just frost it the night before if you can (or early in the morning) and chill it. I hope this helps! Good luck and I’m excited for you! 😀
Thank you thank you thank you!! Such great tips! I’ll be sending you the results next week!
I’ve made this cake for years and always baked two layers and sliced them into crossways, making four layers. Icing between each layer and the top. Cake is so very moist and yummy!
Oh my goodness this sounds delicious! I bet the oranges make the cake super moist and delicious! Can’t wait to try!
I looked yesterday at a few stores! and there was some (imported) canned fruit… But no mandarin oranges at all! And no crushed pineapple, only chunks…. I’m in dubai and they are real big on fresh fruit here tho most if not all of that is imported as well lol! They actually did have instant jello pudding tho. I’ll see if I can do with “real” whipping cream maybe?
You could certainly try real whipped cream, I would just whip it up really well! Fact is, that is going to taste a lot better than the non-dairy whipped topping I suggest here. 😉
This looks interesting! But a challenge for me as they don’t sell “cool whip” and I doubt I’d find canned fruit either. Looks good though!
Hi Malia, where abouts do you live? No canned fruit?! I can see Cool Whip being hard to find, and you’re probably better off for it. 🙂
I’m actually a huge box cake mix convert now – though I certainly was not one a few years ago! I guess the busy hours are finally catching up. I love all the flavors in this cake and will most definitely be making this one soon! Hope all is well, dear lady!
Ala, we should totally get together sometime! We could even get together at DreamWorks again, my husband could create a drive-on for you! I hope you are doing well, I’d love to catch up sometime. Re: boxed cake mixes. They have such a bad rap, but sometimes they are totally convenient. And if I’m making a cake that is “supposed” to be made via a boxed mix, who am I to say no?!
We eat something that’s 99.9% the same here but we call it a Pig Pickin’ Cake. LOL. I make mine with a box of instant cheesecake filling and sour cream in the frosting too. It’s no joke!
THAT’S IT!!! That’s the original name the lady called it! I seriously could not even remember. I was thinking like, prickly toes or something. It’s Pig Pickin’ Cake. Thank you for making my world a better place. 🙂
I love the mandarin oranges in the cake itself. Fruity cakes are one my faves and that frosting sounds so good I would lick the cake naked first before eating it 🙂
Lick the cake naked. That is all. LOL!!!