This EASY Pineapple Cake Fluff Salad recipe is like pineapple upside down cake turned into a fluff salad recipe!
If you love a traditional pineapple fluff, this recipe is one you should try.
It is no surprise that this blog likes to post fluff recipes! They're easy to make and easy to eat and they feed a lot of people!
This traditional pineapple fluff is made with vanilla pudding mix! You don't need milk though; using the juice from the canned pineapple makes the pudding.
Fluff Salad can be made in so many different ways: with cream cheese, with pudding, with fruit or cookies. I always wonder when salads like this became popular and I'm convinced they evolved in the 50s and 60s.
A traditional Ambrosia salad is where, I think, fluff salads started. Ambrosia typically has orange, pineapple, and cherries in a creamy mixture (usually made with sour cream and Cool Whip).
Watergate salad most likely brought fluff salad recipes into the mainstream, showing people that ambrosia could become something else entirely just by switching up the ingredients.
Once I realized that fluff could be anything, I turned one of my favorite desserts (Banana Pudding) into a fluff salad and realized that other desserts should be turned into this iconic recipe too.
I also like calling this a "salad" because it makes me feel better eating it. Don't worry, I know it's not healthy, but it's fruit salad, right?
Fruit salad...with marshmallows and pudding and whipped topping. Oh, and this version has cookies!
I've also heard of fluff recipes containing marshmallow fluff, which is possibly where it got it's name. I like the mouthfeel of the mini marshmallows in my fluff salads though.
Since pineapple is a traditional way to make these no bake desserts, I went that route for this recipe. I didn't want to do a basic pineapple fluff so I started thinking about what other flavors went with pineapple.
I immediately thought CHERRY and Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Perfect! I turned your favorite pineapple fluff into a pineapple CAKE fluff salad!
How do you turn a pineapple cake into pineapple fluff?
It's as simple as 1-2-3:
- Make the pudding base with pineapple and pudding mix.
- Stir in whipped topping.
- Add the rest of the "cake" ingredients: cherries and cookies, and marshmallows, of course.
This Marshmallow Pineapple Fluff Dessert is the perfect way to make a salad this summer. Plus, it's no-bake which is a win in this heat!
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Pineapple Cake Fluff Salad
Ingredients
- 1 can (20 ounce) pineapple chunks in juice
- 1 box (3.4 ounces) instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1 container (8 ounces) Cool Whip
- 1 jar (16 ounces) maraschino cherries
- 2 cups mini marshmallows
- 2 cups Nilla Wafers, coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Stir together pineapple chunks (with juice) and pudding mix. Fold in Cool Whip.
- Drain the cherries and pat them dry. Remove stems and cut each cherry in half.
- Stir cherries, marshmallows, and cookies into pineapple mixture.
- Serve immediately or chill before serving. Store in refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Nutrition
See even more FLUFF salads here!
Watergate Fluff Salad is an old School dessert!
Oreo Fluff Salad is a new twist on an old favorite.
Not your mama's Banana Pudding Fluff!
Dorothy is a blogger over at CrazyforCrust.com, where she's been sharing recipes with a slice of life for almost 10 years. She's married to Mel, the other half of Easy Good Ideas, and together they are raising a teenager and dog in Northern California.
Mix some cheese with it I'm talking about the real cheese extra cheddar cheese cut it real small that makes it delicious out of this world I don't have a website I'm just a truck driver my aunt made the same recipe she's gone now but she added cheese to it and I like the real cheese extra cheddar.