Pineapple cake with Fresh Cream frosting

Will always remember this, my first official cake. I baked the utmost that simple pineapple cake which my Papa used to bring when I was a kid, on my B'day, I tried my best and luckily it taste the same, simply loving it. Here is the recipe for you all.

Ingredients
Cake

• 2 cups of all-purpose flour (Maida)
• 3/4 cup butter - room temperature (unsalted)
• 1 & 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp Pineapple essence
• 1/2 cup crushed pineapple (Canned)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 tbsp sour cream (totally optional)

Frosting

• 2 & 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream (550 ml approx)
• 3 tsps powdered sugar/confectioner sugar (or as per the taste)
• 1 tsp pineapple essence
• 1 cup canned pineapple pieces, strained well
• Keep the canned syrup to moisten the cake
• Maraschino cherry (for decoration)

Method

Cake

• Grease the baking dish with some butter and dust with some all-purpose flour or line with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 350F or 180⁰ Celsius.
• Sieve all the dry ingredients (i.e. All-purpose flour + Baking powder + Salt) together atleast for 3 times (to make the cake more soft) and keep aside.
• In another bowl, whisk together the butter and sugar until it forms a creamy texture and become fluffy. For this the butter should be at room temperature.
• Add one egg at a time to this and beat each egg into the mixture till it is nice and fluffy.
• Add the pineapple essence and the crushed pineapple and sour cream.
• Now add one third of the dry ingredients to the batter and fold it in. Then add half of the milk and mix. Fold alternately milk and the dry ingredients till they are all incorporated into the batter. Do not over mix otherwise the cake will become hard. Always use cut and fold method.
• Pour the batter in the greased tin and bake the cake at 350 F/180⁰C  for about 30-35 minutes. Use a toothpick and insert it into the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean then the cake is ready. If not, bake for a few more minutes but keep an eye over it. Mine cake was done in 34 minutes but every oven varies temperature wise.
  
• Take it out and let the pan cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Then invert the pan onto the cooling rack and slide the cake out. Let the cake cool completely.

Frosting

• In a mixing bowl, mix the heavy cream, pineapple essence and sugar and using a hand blender or whisk, whisk it till the cream has thickened and when you lift the whisk, the cream stays in peaks. Always keep some ice in other bowl below your cream bowl.
• Now slice the cake into two pieces horizontally. Brush the cake with the pineapple syrup left after straining the pineapple pieces. Ice the lower layer with a layer of whipped cream and spread out an even layer of the pineapple pieces on top of the whipped cream layer.
• Brush the lower part of other layer of the cake with pineapple syrup and then place it on top. Now again brush upper part of it with syrup.
• Now cover the cake with the whipped cream icing and decorate it as per your choice with maraschino cherries and pineapple pieces.
• I didn’t have cherries at home so I used strawberry jam by whipping it and mixing some water.

 

Bye & Happy Baking :)

Priyanka