Walnut Pineapple Cake Recipe {Old Fashioned Bicentennial Cake Recipe} (2024)

Full of pineapple and walnuts, this homemade cake was originally titled Bicentennial Cake. Frost this easy Walnut Pineapple Cake with cream cheese frosting.

We LOVE pineapple in cake. Whether it is the classic pig pickin’ cake or a prettier cake like the upside down cake, pineapple gives cake such great flavor and a moist texture.

This easy walnut pineapple cake is not only just a homemade cake, but it is chock FULL of walnuts and pineapple. In every bite. I hid this cake in the freezer and forgot about it for a few weeks.

You can bet when I remembered I had this cake I was thrilled. It is so good (even when you eat it straight from the freezer!).

Bicentennial Cake

I have a stockpile of recipe books that date back to the 1930’s. My grandpa was a preacher so we have old church cookbooks that are a treasure. And these recipes aren’t the easiest to follow. They didn’t bake the same way back then! Often times recipes don’t have a pan size or an oven temperature so we need to do quite a bit of recipe testing.

This old fashioned cake was called “Bicentennial Cake”. I did some research to try to find why or how it got this name. I couldn’t find any other like it online that was titled similarly.

So who knows why this is a Bicentennial Cake, but that is what our old church cookbook called it.

How to Make Walnut Pineapple Cake

If you’re nervous to make homemade cakes, this is one of the easiest cakes to start with. It’s a thick, rich, moist cake rather than a light fluffy one.

And I don’t know about you, but I often think those are THE BEST kind of cakes. 🙂

• Preheat the oven to 350º Fahrenheit.
• Grease and flour a 9×13 baking pan. We often use cake release to grease cake pans. This one stays in the pan for serving, so you could easily just use cooking spray.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer (or using a hand mixer), beat together the sugar and eggs.
• Add in the pineapple (WITH the juice!) and vanilla and mix well.
• Add in the flour and baking soda. Mix just until combined.
• Fold in the chopped walnuts. If you’d like a bolder flavor from the nuts, use black walnuts. They are strong, but those who like them usually go crazy for black walnut cakes.
• Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Allow the cake to cool completely on a wire rack before you frost it.

Love pineapple walnut flavor? Try these donuts!

How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream cheese frosting is one of the most versatile frostings. It goes great on chocolate cake, yellow cake or white cake, but is DELICIOUS on fruit cakes such as this walnut pineapple cake.

• In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, cream cheese and vanilla until smooth. We like to use a stand mixer for making homemade frosting, but you can use a hand mixer if you’d like. It is best to use a power mixture for the best texture.
• Add in the powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
• Use a rubber spatula to spread the cream cheese frosting over the cooled cake.

Does cake with cream cheese frosting need to be refrigerated?

Cake with cream cheese frosting should be refrigerated. It will be ok at room temperature for several hours, but if you are keeping it overnight, be sure to refrigerate.

The fruit in this cake also makes it important to refrigerate.

Can you freeze cake?

Yes! This cake freezes well. Cut any leftover cake into slices and store it in an airtight container, then freeze. When you want to defrost it, allow it to come to room temperature in the container before you open it. This will help the cake retain moisture.

Other Old Cake Recipes

• Pineapple 7UP Cake
• Pistachio Cake
• Elvis Presley Cake
• Oatmeal Cake