Retro 'Better than Tom Selleck' Cake Combines Pineapple and Cake Mix Nostalgia

This Cold War-era cake recipe from Alaska blends tropical flavors and 1970s baking trends.

Published on Feb. 21, 2026

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This "Better than Tom Selleck" cake combines a long tradition of pineapple cakes in Alaska with the 1970s cake mix craze. The recipe, which was adapted from a recipe zine produced by the Anchorage Museum, features a coconut cake base soaked in a pineapple-condensed coconut milk mixture, topped with a whipped cream-pineapple frosting and shredded coconut.

Why it matters

Alaskans have long relied on canned fruits like pineapple, leading to a tradition of pineapple-based cakes in the state. This recipe blends that history with the 1970s trend of "poke cakes" made with cake mixes, Jell-O, pudding, and other indulgent toppings. It provides a nostalgic nod to Cold War-era baking and the cultural shifts that influenced home cooks.

The details

The recipe calls for a coconut cake mix, which is doctored up with extra eggs and butter instead of oil. The hot cake is poked all over and soaked with a mixture of pineapple juice and condensed coconut milk. It's then topped with a whipped cream-pineapple frosting and shredded coconut. The cake is named after the charming, mustachioed private investigator character played by Tom Selleck on the 1980s TV show "Magnum, P.I."

  • The recipe was adapted from a recipe zine produced by the Anchorage Museum that looks at the evolution of cake recipes in Alaska during the Cold War era.

The players

Anchorage Museum

An art museum in Anchorage, Alaska that produced a recipe zine exploring the influence of the Cold War on Alaskan home baking.

Tom Selleck

An American actor who played the charming, mustachioed private investigator character on the 1980s TV show "Magnum, P.I."

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What they’re saying

“Alaskans were disproportionately reliant on canned fruit, and canned pineapple was one of the first fruits widely available here. Pineapple cakes can be found in Alaska's community and church cookbooks going back almost 100 years.”

— Julia O'Malley, Author (adn.com)

“Flash forward to the 1970s, when cake-mix cakes had totally taken over cookbooks, and 'poke cakes' became a common thing. These were sheet cakes, pierced with holes, soaked in Jell-O, pudding or condensed milk and loaded with toppings, including Cool Whip and crumbled candy bars.”

— Julia O'Malley, Author (adn.com)

What’s next

The Anchorage Museum is hosting an event that explores the evolution of cake recipes in Alaska during the Cold War era, where this "Better than Tom Selleck" cake will be featured.

The takeaway

This retro cake recipe blends Alaska's long tradition of pineapple-based baking with the indulgent 1970s cake mix craze, providing a nostalgic nod to the cultural shifts that influenced home cooks during the Cold War period.