261 – Pineapple Coconut Cake / كعكة الأناناس وجوز الهند

Ingredients :

• 6 tablespoons (85 grams) of butter (melted)
• 1/2 cup (90 grams) brown sugar
• 2 cans of pineapple (20oz / 566 grams each)
• 1/4 cup macadamia nuts (chopped)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• A pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup coconut milk (or half milk and half heavy cream)
• 2 cups(240 grams) all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

Directions :

Step 1: Arranging the Pineapple Pieces
1- The first step is to arrange the pineapple in your baking pan. Pineapple upside down cakes are very common in the U.S. but not the coconut cake, that’s the twist I made.
2- Cover your baking pan with melted butter.
3- Sprinkle brown sugar on top of the melted butter until it covers the surface of the baking pan. The layer of brown sugar and butter will create a caramel syrup when the cake bakes.
4- I am using canned pineapple that is already chopped into small pieces. Place the pineapple pieces on the baking pan (on top of the brown sugar) in a nice pattern. The pineapple should cover the entire surface of the pan.
Note: make sure that you drain the pineapple from the syrup before using it.
5- Chop the macademia nuts. Use unsalted dry roasted or raw macademia nuts. If you do not have macademia nuts you can use other nuts that have some crunch like walnuts or pecans.
6- Sprinkle the macademia nuts on top of the pineapple pieces.
Step 2: Making the Coconut Cake
1- The next step is to make the coconut cake that goes on top of the pineapple.
2- In a large bowl, place the 3 eggs. Using an egg beater, beat the eggs with the sugar until you get a fluffy whitish mixture. It’s very important to get that texture because we want to incorporate a lot of air in our batter to get a moist fluffy cake.
3- Once the eggs and sugar get really fluffy, add the vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. Whenever we bake we need a little bit of salt to bring the sweet flavors out. Using a spatula, gently mix all the ingredients.
4- add to the batter our secret ingredient: coconut milk! If you dont have coconut milk you can replace it with a mixture of regular milk and heavy cream. Pour the coconut milk to the batter and gently mix it with the rest of the ingredients.
5- Sift the flour and add it to the batter. Add the baking powder. Gently mix with a spatula until you get a smooth batter.
6- Preheat your oven to 350 F / 180 C.
Step 3: Baking the Cake
1- Using a laddle, gently spread the batter over the pineapples pieces in the baking pan. Do it gently so that the pineapple pieces dont move around.
2- Using a spatula smooth out the surface of the batter.
3- Bake for 55-60 minutes (depending on your oven). Gently press the top of the cake, it should feel firm, that’s how you know it’s ready.
4- Let the cake cool down for around 10 minutes before flipping it.
5- Run a sharp knife around the edges of the cake to make sure that they are not stuck to the mold. Place a plate on top of the cake, and quickly flip the cake around.Give it a nice shake. Gently remove the baking pan, et voila! you have a beautiful pineapple cake on your plate!
6- Let the cake cool down, reach room temperature, before serving. You can serve warm or cold, with vanilla ice cream or just as is!

Bon appetit!