Pina Colada is the official beverage of Puerto Rico since 1978 according to WIKI. It is a drink made with pine apple juice and cream of coconut. There are so many variations of this drink and there are also so many cake and cupcake recipes based on this drink. I didn't know about the ingredients in Pina Colada until Meena suggested the Pinacolada cake for the monthly Baking Eggless challenge for this month. The recipe she suggested was in Polish and I translated it using Google Translate. The rewcipe had so many ingredients including cream of coconut which is not available at Madurai. So I googled Pina Colada cake and came upon so many variations. So I made my own version incorporating both pineapple and coconut which resulted in this rich cake. To my surprise this cake was liked by all the adult members of my family and kids didn't like it very much. Though Sruti ate a whole slice, she didn't come for a second serving.
I adapted the pineapple cake from my coconut cake recipe and it turned very nice. And for the frosting I went with the simple butter cream and topped it with toasted coconut which made the cake taste very rich. I just added some extra pounds to myself during the relishing period. This would make a nice party cake where you can give smaller servings to all the guests.
I also have a confession to make. I started to make the pineapple mixture and ended with a caramelized pineapple mixture. I added pineapple pieces, sugar and water and let it cook for 30 minutes until the fruit is soft. But I forgot the pineapple and the sugar started caramelizing. I removed it from heat and went on with the process and ended with a delicious pineapple caramel relish. I just added it to the cake batter and it came out really nice. So this was not intentional.
Ingredients:
For The Caramelized Pineapple Puree:
Pineapple-1 small
Sugar-3 tsp
Water-1/4 cup
For The Cake:
Flour-1 1/4cups
Butter-1/2cup
Pineapple Puree-1 cup
Curd-1/2cup
Milk-1/2cup
Baking Powder-1tsp
Baking Soda-1/2tsp
Vanilla Essence-1tsp
Granulated Sugar-3/4cup
For The Butter Cream:
Butter-1/2 cup
Confectioner's Sugar/ Icing Sugar- 2 cups
Vanilla Essence-1 tsp
Milk-2-3 tbs
For Topping:
Fresh Grated Coconut-1 cup
Procedure:
For The Pineapple Puree:
1. Remove skin and chop pineapple into small cubes.
2. In a heavy bottomed pan, add the pineapple cubes, sugar and water, cover and cook on low flame for 30 minutes.
3. Now grind it to make a puree. If you want it caramelized as mine, then allow the sugar to change colour.
4. For that, rise flame to high and let the sugar turn golden brown. Remove from pan, cool and grind it.
Preparing The Cake:
1. Preheat oven to 175C.
2. Grease and dust an 8" round cake tin.
3. Cream together butter and sugar.
4. Add the pineapple puree and mix.
5. Add curd, essence and milk and whisk together until completely incorporated.
6. In another bowl, sieve together flour, baking powder and baking soda.
7. Add this to the pineapple butter mixture and mix gently.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 40-50 minutes.
9. If the cake browns fast, place a foil on the tin. Placing the foil should be atleast 20 minutes after you place the cake in the oven.
10. When a tooth pick inserted comes out clean, remove from oven and place on counter and let it sit there for 10 minutes.
11. Now flip it onto a wire rack and allow it to cool completely.
Butter cream:
1. Beat butter with an electric mixer until fluffy.
2. Add icing sugar at regular intervals and beat until creamy.
3. Now add milk and essence and beat until fluffy and creamy.
Topping:
1. In a pan add the grated coconut and toast until slightly brown and aromatic.
2. I added a few drops of yellow food colour to it before toasting.
3. Let it cool.
Assembling The Cake:
1. Cut the cake into two equal parts.
2. Place one layer on the serving plate.
3. Add some butter cream on top and spread it with a spatula.
4. Sprinkle some toasted coconut on top and place the next layer on top.
5. Now cover the entire cake with butter cream and using a spatula smooth the frosting.
6. Now sprinkle generous amount of toasted coconut on top and the sides to completely cover it with coconut.
7. Allow it to set for an hour before slicing.
8. Slice it up, serve and Enjoy!!!
Cook pineapple for 30 minutes.
Cream butter and sugar and add the pineapple puree.
Add curd, milk and essence.
Add flour and prepare batter.
Pour into a greased and dusted tin.
Bake until done.
Toast coconut in a pan.
When it is aromatic and slightly brown, remove from stove and cool.
Flip the cake on a wire rack.
Slice into half. Place one half on the serving plate.
Prepare the butter cream.
Apply it on layer and top with toasted coconut.
Place the other half, apply butter cream.
Cover the sides.
Cover the entire cake with coconut.
Slice it up and serve.
Labels: BAKES, BAKING EGGLESS, CAKE, COCONUT, EGGLESS, PINEAPPLE
