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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.
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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
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I’m going to make this cake for the first time and want to add coconut to it. I was wondering, how much coconut should I add?
Hi Angela, you can add coconut by omitting the mandarin oranges and substituting 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut and 1/2 cup coconut milk. If you would like to add it on top of the cake, toast a cup (or more if you like) of unsweetened shredded coconut and sprinkle it on top of the icing. Enjoy! – Meggan
Easy to make and had a good taste.
I have made recipes similar to this but this is by far my favorite. No mixer
needed!
2nd time making this…thought I already had vanilla pudding mix in the pantry but it was sugar free….eeeew. So the other box I had was banana cream and I used that and know what???? FANTASTIC!!! Can’t go wrong either way, this cake is as dreamy as it is easy. Thanks for another great recipe.
Could you make cupcakes with this recipe?
Hi Ann Marie, not really. The cake part works as cupcakes, but the frosting doesn’t. When you make the cake, the entire surface is covered with a very thick layer of frosting, and when you try to do it with cupcakes, you can’t get that edge-to-edge coverage. I tried this many years ago (the cupcakes) and I was really disappointed. If you used a different kind of frosting (something not based on cool whip) it would work just fine. I’m so sorry about that! Thanks. -Meggan
I made this for the seniors I work with. They loved it and wanted it again.
I made this yesterday for a party. Big hit. Would make it again for sure.
That’s great! Thanks Laura! 😀
325 degrees and at 25 minutes my cake is still watery. I can’t wait u til it’s done. It sounds delicious
I have a quick question, how would I go about doing this from scratch and not a box? Is it possible? Amazing recipe by the way! Couldn’t stop eating it LOL
Hi Anthony, this has actually been on my list for years – figuring out the from-scratch situation. Glad we’re on the same page! I am going to test it myself to figure out the exact recipe, but if you are anxious and need it in the next 5 minutes, you could use any from-scratch vanilla cake recipe. Are you hoping to ditch the cool whip in the topping, too? My thoughts on that are using some sort of whipped cream frosting with the pineapple mixed in. Again, untested now but going on top of my list of things to test. We need answers!!! I’ll report back once I’ve cracked the code. It’s probably going to be a couple of weeks since I’m still traveling for the holidays. I can commit to having this figured out by the end of January for sure. Sorry for the delay! Thank you! -Meggan
Can you substitute the mandarin oranges for crushed pineapple? My mom used to make this cake, but it didn’t have mandarin oranges in it. The rest of the recipe sounds very similar.
Hi Melissa, yes you can do whatever you want! I imagine there are a lot of versions of this cake, not all quite the same, but all very tasty. 🙂 Good luck! Thanks!
Does it normally take a little longer to cook depending on the oven? How do you check that it’s done toothpick test or something else