It’s called Fool’s Cake and I can think of two reasons why that might be. 1) It’s so good you would be a fool not to make it. 2) It’s so easy that a fool could make it. I think maybe it’s that both of those things are true but the thing I know for sure is that it’s not because this cake is a fool’s errand. It’s a quick cake mix trick kind of a cake that involves layering but no batter-making so maybe it’s just that you’re fooling everyone with how easy it is!

You only need five things. A box of yellow cake mix. That’s the key part. But then, two sticks of butter, a can of pineapple, some coconut, and some nuts. (I’m very partial to macadamias here but you can totally use walnuts or pecans.)

You can also bring in some maraschino cherries, but those are just for serving, so that’s like extra credit.

You don’t need the oil and eggs and whatever the cake mix box calls for. Instead, you’re going to pour the pineapple (and the juice!) into the bottom of a springform pan and then spread the coconut over the top. Then, you sprinkle the cake mix over the top, followed by the nuts, and finally the cubed butter.

You don’t stir anything. You just layer. And then you pop it into the oven for 45 minutes.

It seems like a long time, I know. But in that time, the butter melts into the powdered cake mix, the coconut absorbs some of the pineapple juice, and everything kind of finds its way to each other.

In other words, the layers find a way to co-mingle and they become cake!

A sort of tropical, crunchy, sweet and simple cake. And it’s so delicious and so easy, you’d be a fool not to make it.