This three-layer sunset cake is pretty enough for company, but it's so simple to make that you'll find yourself baking it often. A boxed mix keeps it convenient while the fruity filling makes it a crowd-pleaser. —Kara De la Vega, Suisun City, California

Hawaiian Sunset Cake

white or orange cake mix (regular size)

2% milk

vanilla pudding mix

(3 ounces) orange gelatin

eggs, room temperature

canola oil

FILLING:

(20 ounces) crushed pineapple, well drained

sugar

coconut (about 10 ounces)

sour cream

carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed

Optional: Additional toasted coconut, fresh pineapple, orange slices and fresh mint leaves

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine first 6 ingredients; beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Pour into 3 greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

In a large bowl, combine pineapple, sugar, coconut and sour cream. Set aside 1 cup for frosting. Place 1 cake on a serving plate; top with half the remaining pineapple mixture. Repeat layer once; top with remaining cake.

Fold whipped topping into reserved pineapple mixture. Spread over top and side of cake. If desired, top with additional coconut, sliced pineapple, orange slices and mint. Refrigerate until serving.

My Hubby loves coconut and usually gets a coconut cake for his birthday. Saw this recipe and asked if if I could try this instead of just coconut. He said yes and we had it last night. Wonderful! I read the reviews and made a few changes. I only used one cup of sugar in the filling. I also added 8oz. cream cheese to filling. Yummy.

I followed this exactly as it said and everyone loved it at my mother in law's bday party. Instead of decorating with the pineapple and orange slices I cut the top of the fresh pineapple and used the greenery and pineapple top as a cake topper. It looked neat.

This cake was a big hit!  It looks beautiful and festive , and it tastes great.  I whipped a carton of whipping cream instead of using frozen whipped topping in the frosting.  The pineapple and orange slices on top made it look lovely.  It was a show-stopper.

First off, I used a 9x13 cake pan because I am just too lazy to do layers. I baked at 350 for 25 minutes. I mixed all the rest of the recipe together by hand and just topped it that way.On the icing part, I dropped 1 cup of sugar because of the sweetened coconut and it’s still very sweet. It’s really good

I made this recipe into cupcakes. Cored out the middle of the cupcake and used the filling part in the middle. I did add a block of cream cheese to the filling as suggested by another reviewer and that helped it not be so runny. Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. The filling was pretty sweet so I might cut back on the sugar next time. Brought them to church and hardly anyone touched them! I find that coconut is a pretty polarizing ingredient and people either love it or hate it. I guess they hated it! Brought them to work the next day and the guys devoured them....guess they love coconut! Anyway, don't be afraid to make this recipe, I thought it was delicious!

So I made this for Easter and everybody loved it. I made with a white cake mix as I could not find orange anywhere. And I used lactose free sour cream, whip cream, (and cream cheese which I did add in because you can never go wrong with cream cheese.) It turned out very well.

First, I gotta say the cake part was absolutely delicious. I did add orange extract (since I couldn't find orange cake mix and had to resort to yellow instead), and I think it added a lot of flavor. And maybe it was all the eggs (four!), I don't know, but the cake raised beautifully. My issue is with the filling. I'm not a big fan of cream cheese, so perhaps that's the problem, but I had to scrape the filling off the cake because I was starting to gag on it. Also, I omitted all that sugar in the filling; otherwise, I knew hubby wouldn't touch it. As a result, he actually liked the cake -- and the filling! I will make the cake again, but just the cake, maybe with a little sifting of powdered sugar over the top.

I received so many compliments on this cake. Moist, delicious and a real crowd pleaser. I used white cake mix - two 15 oz boxes and adjusted recipe accordingly. I added fresh pitted cherries between the layers and on top. I would definitely make this again and had several requests to do the same for the next birthday.

My son and I loved this cake. The only thing I did change was that since I am a very controlled diabetic I still eat some sweets without problems. With this recipe I changed the instant pudding to sugar free and the orange jello to sugar free along with using only 1 cup of sugar. It was perfect just sweet enough didn’t bother my sugar levels and didn’t choke either of us with an overload of gooey sweetness.

I make this cake all of the time , it is wonderful but I add cream cheese to the pineapple mixture.

I liked this cake a lot but thought the coconut/pineapple layer was a little too sweet.  If I make it again, I will decrease the sugar in this layer by half.  Because I couldn’t celebrate my 60th birthday with dinner out due to COVID-19, I decided to make this special cake, and it was.

The cake is very moist with the orange gelatin. But the pineapple and coconut overpower the orange flavor. I think next time I'll  add some mandarin oranges into the cake batter.

I took this cake to a family gathering, and it was a hit. I had someone ask me for the receipe so they could make it for their son's wedding reception...

This is a very delicious cake and really simple to make. Taste all home made, no one will ever know unless you tell.

This is a wonderfully moist, refreshing cake.  Make sure to drain the pineapple well so that the icing isn't too "soupy".

I baked this for a family dinner.  There were just 5 of us so I had a lot left over, but I like it so much I had a piece for every meal till it was gone.  Family like it to.  I like the coconut and fruit filling.  It really makes the cake taste like hawaiian sunset.

I used an orange cake mix and I think I would use a white cake next time.  It was a little to rich for my husband and I, but everyone that I gave the cake to loved it.  At first I thought that the sugar was confectionery sugar until I looked at the reviews and seen that someone would use Splenda, which meant it was regular sugar.  I think I would make that clear in the recipe.  Great cake for a party.

With an interest in shaving the calorie content, the next time I make this, I am going to substitute with fat free milk, sugar free gelatin & pudding mix, Splenda, light sour cream, and fat-free topping...in other words, I'll substitute whatever I can in hopes of cutting those calories.  I hope it will still be taste worthy!  I've done this with other recipes with a lot of success.

Loved this recipe! So moist. Of course mine didn't look at pretty as the one in the picture lol...I to didn't let the pineapple drain enough...but I think that it let the juice get down into the cake and make it even more moist.... anywho...it was YUMMY!!!

Thank you so much for all the good recipes you have .

hawaiian sunset cake

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total: 45 minutes

Servings: 16

Author : Taste of Home Editorial Team

Ingredients

Instructions

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