Eggless Piña Colada Cake

Of late I have been baking quite a lot and I am really happy to see that I have a lot of baked goodies in my drafts!Yes, I am yet to post so many cakes and cookies that I have been baking for the kids!!

This month for the Eggless baking group, Meena Thenappan of Chettinad Fiesta suggested the Pina Colada Cake. This cake is a tropical dessert made with coconut, pineapple , cream with a cake base. It is rich,moist and full of flavor!The recipe that was suggested was a bit confusing and complicated for me. So I made my own version of the cake!!!

I baked this a few weeks back for my husband’s birthday . Since the ‘cake cutting thing’ took place late at night and the kids were so eager to finish off the cake, I do not have a pic of the section of the cake. But you can trust me when I tell you that it was one the best cakes I have ever baked!

The cake takes up some time but the time you spent on it is totally worth every bite!

I used:

For the cake , I used my regular vanilla cake recipe minus the essence…

All purpose flour – 1 1/2 cup
Thick yogurt – 1 cup
Sugar -1 cup
Baking powder- 1 teaspoon
Baking soda -1/2 teaspoon
Sunflower oil – 1/2 cup

For the frosting I adapted this piece from Paaka Shaale

Finely chopped Pineapple -1 cup
Fresh coconut milk– 1 cup
Corn flour- 2 tablespoons
Powdered sugar- 3 tablespoons
Whipping cream- 1 cup + 1/2 cup
Pineapple essence- a few drops

You need a syrup to soak the cake. Usually rum is used. I used the syrup from the tinned pineapple. If you are using fresh pineapples,then follow this recipe for the syrup -Dissolve 1/4 cup of sugar in 1/2 cup of water and add a tablespoon of lemon juice to it .

To garnish

A few pineapple piece
Mint leaves
Glazed Cherries
Finely grated coconut

1. Line the tin with butter paper / grease and dust with flour and keep aside. Sift the flour. Preheat the oven 180 degree C

2.Take curd in a bowl and  the sugar to the it.Mix till it dissolves.

3.To this mixture ,add the baking powder and baking soda. Mix and leave aside for a few minutes.You will see it frothing around the edges.

4.To this add the oil  mix well. I missed clicking this step! Then add the flour little by little and mix . There should be no lumps in the batter. Pout this batter into the prepared tin.

5.Bake at 180 Degree C for 30 minutes or till a skewer comes out clean. Can you see Lil dudes reflection on the oven door! He loves watching the cake bake but I so worried that he would open it when hot! So have to be extra careful with him around…

Once the cake is done remove from the oven. Let it cool for 5 minutes .Remove the butter paper and let the cake cool completely.

For the frosting….

1.Mix corn flour in a little milk. Heat the coconut milk and add sugar.

2. When it comes to a light boil, add the corn flour mixture and keep stirring till it thickens. Cook on low / medium flame till the mixture resembles whipped cream. Remove from heat and let it cool completely.

In a bowl, take 1 cup whipped cream. Add the pineapple essence.in goes the chopped pineapple. Also add the coconut mixture from above.Mix well and keep aside

To assemble the cake….

1. Cut the cake horizontally.In a serving plate, place the top part of the cake with the cut surface facing up and drizzle 1/2 cup of the syrup over it. Spread a portion of the frosting on it.

2. Now place the lower portion of the cake over the frosting, cut surface facing up. Spread the frosting over the top and on the sides. Dust all over with finely grated coconut.

Garnish with pineapple pieces, cherries and mint leaves….

Note :

• Oven temperatures vary , so check the cake after 20 minutes.
• The cake and the coconut mixture have to cool done thoroughly before proceeding.
• As mentioned earlier, I used the syrup from the tinned pineapple. If you are using fresh pineapples, then dissolve 1/4 cup of sugar in 1/2 cup of water and add a tablespoon of lemon juice to it.
• You can also add finely chopped pineapple over the whipped cream in step 1 of assembling the cake.
• Instead of cutting the cake horizontally, you can bake 2 cakes and place them one on top of the other.
• I used Blue bird brand [powder] whipping cream. I was a little hesitant at first but my blogging Marathon buddies gave me a ‘go ahead’ and I was really happy with the result!

Since I did not want to make the kids wait till their dad got home , I made a few Pina Colada cupcakes as well for them to taste as soon as the cake was done. I simple frosted the vanilla cupcakes with the frosting mixture and they were ready to be served!