May 11, 2009

Pineapple Layer Cake


pineapple-cake-7



As far back as I remember this was the first layer cake I had ever made. I used to hear rave reviews about my sister in law making this wonderful pineapple sponge cake from my husband.. so I had her write down the recipe for me. For every single year for atleast 8 years I would make this for my husband’s birthday. I still follow her handwritten recipe, though it has gone through some minor adaptations of my own over the years. The cake is a fat less sponge cake layered with cream & pineapple.

“Sponge cake is a cake based on flour (usually wheat flour), sugar, and eggs, sometimes leavened with baking powder, that derives its structure from an egg foam into which the other ingredients are folded…A typical sponge cake is made by beating the eggs with sugar until they are light and creamy then carefully sieving and folding in the flour (depending on the recipe, the flour may be mixed with a small amount of baking powder, though some recipes use only the air incorporated into the egg mixture, relying on the denaturing of the egg proteins and the thermal expansion of the air to provide leavening). Sometimes, the yolks are beaten with the sugar first while the whites are beaten separately to a meringue-like foam, to be gently folded in later.The mixture is then poured into the chosen cake tin and baked. As can be seen, both methods take great care to incorporate air in the beating, whisking and sieving stages. This makes a very light product, but it is easy to lose the air by removing the cake before it has finished in the oven.” (Wiki)

Any Fruit or Berries may be used here instead of the pineapple. I have done it with peaches, mangoes, strawberries &  cherries.. & they all were really good. But today it is pineapple….

pineapple-cake-6




Ingredients:

  1. 1.2  Cups (150 gms) All Purpose flour
  2. 2/3 Cup  (150 gms)  of Sugar
  3. 2 Tablespoon Corn Flour ( Called Corn Starch in some places)
  4. 4 Eggs – at room temperature (Yolks & Whites Separated)
  5. 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
  6. 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  7. 1 Cup Pineapple Juice
  8. 1 Tablespoon Sugar
  9. 2 Cups Crushed Pineapple – Canned or Fresh (or more if you want more pineapples)
  10. 2  Cups Thinly Sliced Pineapples (for the layers & more to decorate)

For the Pineapple Cream:

  1. Whipping Cream – 500 ml – Chilled or 300 ml Heavy/Whipping/Double Cream (In carton)
  2. Icing Sugar – 4 Tablespoons
  3. 1 Teaspoon Pineapple Extract/Essence





Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 Degree F.

Sift Flour, Corn flour(Corn Starch) & Baking powder  twice.

In a mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks & beat till frothy & fluffy. Combine 2 tablespoons of sugar & continue to mix till the mix is thicker. Add the Vanilla extract & beat till it almost doubles in amount.

In another bowl beat the egg white till bubbly. Gradually beat in sugar,  until thick and meringue-like & peaks form. This might take about 5-10 minutes.

Very gently fold in the egg yolks into the egg whites. Do not stir. Sift the flour, corn flour, baking powder mix into the egg mix.  Fold in the flour with a spatula or whisk to combine. Do not stir or move too much, so as not to let the air escape.

Lightly grease the Cake pan ( I used a 9″ Spring Foam).

Pour the mix carefully in the pan & put it in the oven.

Bake for 30 -35 minutes or till the toothpick comes out clean when inserted at the center of the cake.

Cool on a wire rack.

Divide the cake horizontally into 3 parts.

Combine the Pineapple Juice & 1 tablespoon of sugar.

(Optional: I do this every time, & I really do not know how I missed it this time… I slice off in very thin strips the brown on the top & the sides of the cake, not that it interferes with the taste, but looks way better than this did when the cake is layered & topped with the cream)

Place the bottom layer of the cake on the plate that you are going to serve. Spoon the pineapple juice on this layer of the cake till the cake is moist.


To Prepare the Cream:

If you are using liquid heavy/whipping/double cream; use chilled cream and whip/whisk cream in a chilled bowl until prominent peaks form. Keep cream chilled.

Chill 2 Bowls in the Fridge. Chill the Beater/Whisk.

Divide the prepared/prepackaged Whipping Cream in 2 Bowls. Add 2 Tablespoons of Sugar to each bowl along with the Cream. Put one bowl back in the Fridge to Chill.

Add half the amount of the Pineapple Extract to the bowl if you are using the extract. Beat the Whipping Cream, & the Sugar in one bowl till the cream is thick,  fluffy & forms peaks. Fold in the  the Crushed Pineapples with this Cream.



To Assemble the Cake:

Spread the Pineapple Cream mix  on this bottom part of the cake in a layer.

pineapple-cake-collage

Spread more pineapple slices over the Cream. Put the other part of the cake on this and repeat the same steps from soaking the cake to layering the pineapple slices.

Now put the Third & the Final Layer of the Cake on the second layer of Cream & pineapple slices  & repeat the same process of soaking the cake with the juice.

Take out the other bowl of Cream from the refrigerator. Add the rest of the pineapple extract & beat the Cream & the Sugar together till Fluffy & Peaks form. Top the final layer & the sides of the cake with this cream. Top the Cream with more pineapple slices.

(For myself, I do not usually apply the cream on the sides most of the time, or do a very thin layer. It is a personal choice)

Put the cake in the refrigerator and chill for 3-4 hours. Serve chilled.

Note: If you do not want to make the sponge cake at home, the store bought Angel Cake Mix works as a really good substitute for this. I have done it sometimes, & wasn’t disappointed with the outcome.


pineapple-cake-4

Slice by slice by slice… it was almost gone over the weekend.

pineapple-cake-5
Super moist & soft & spongy… filled with fresh pineapple cream, it is a delightful dessert. Let’s Celebrate the season… Over to the Meeta’s Monthly Mingle: Spring Cakes.


Related Posts:

Pineapple Coconut Mousse with Pistachios
Spiced Cranberry Raisin Bundt Cake
Rich Rum Fruit Cake


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Filed Under: Cakes, Cookies, Muffins etc, Desserts & Sweets
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87 thoughts on “Pineapple Layer Cake”

  • It looks like a nice moist cake. You have mentioned adding corn flour/starch in this recipe. How does that contribute to the cake? Just curious.

    From what I have heard, the corn flour adds to the sponginess of the cake. I did do a search on this & i have seen some recipes of sponge cakes which uses only the corn starch/flour.. i haven’t dared to experiment that far. i have baked this with & without, & cannot say that i have seen a very significant change. But for me, since I do not do that good at baking, i just try to follow the given recipe.

  • wow it looks so delicipus & tempting . great cake …. i have to try this ….. i also dont know about this corn flour/starch ….. thanks for the post …

  • lovely! never tried a layer cake yet, except this one time i cut the cake up because i wanted to try it and it ended up crumbling into bits 🙁

  • I think that brown edge gives a good border for the snap. 🙂
    Lovely looking cake Soma … feel like trying all your recipes ….. ebar amar blog ta tomar plagiarised version hote jacche mone hoye. 😉

  • Hi Soma,
    This cake reminds me of a cake shop called sweet charriot in Bangalore, I used to freak out on the moist and chilled pinapple layered cake…actually many other flavours too 🙂
    Gorgeous snaps. Sinful and diet killer 😉
    Enjoy the week ahead.
    TC

  • I second RC…Thts one of the fav. of my family , but i never can even dream of making this at home
    Your’s look so wonderful, and i better close this window before my kid have a DEKHO at this…otherwise it will be hard for me to explain him why his mom is not yet into baking…lol

  • The second picture’s beautiful, Soma! It just struck me that in smaller places, when we were kids, the Black Forests were not so popular, but pineapple pastry was. I see it happening in small bakeries too.

  • oh yummy! I love sponge cakes and if they are in layers with pineapple that is even better 🙂

  • wow…Soma, pineapple cake looks really delicious and beautiful pictures too!!! there is an award waiting for you in my blog….please accept it Soma….

  • What a great warm weather cake! It sounds delicious. My Mom often made a pineapple sheet cake when I was growing up, and this reminded me of the flavor.

  • soma this is absolutely incredible. pineapple is such a refreshing ingredient to use for cakes! glad you are bringing this along to the mingle!

  • I love this cake. A makes it regularly. Whenever I try it, I cannot make layers, so I guess I will just have to get him to try this!

  • Pineapple cream cake..more like a pastry was one of my favorites during college days.Your post made me nostalgic..fatless sponge is a great idea..but every recipe that calls for slicing the cake and icing makes me jittery:)

  • u have mentioned 1.2 cups of flour..i’m not sure about that..i think u meant 1/2 cup of flour…plz clarify this point asap as i am dying to bake this cake and wanna do it today 🙂
    thank u soooo muchhh

    Hi Saniya,

    Sorry for the late reply. I just saw it.

    It is 1.2 cups of flour, which is equal to 150 gms of flour. It is regular all purpose flour (not cake flour). The sugar and flour is the same weight. Since sugar is heavier than flour the cup measurement varies.

    Here are some links for conversions:

    http://www.recipegoldmine.com/kitchart/kitchart2.html
    http://www.joyofbaking.com/flour.html
    http://wiki.answers.com/Q/150_grams_of_flour_is_equivalent_to_how_many_cups

  • thank u sooo much 🙂
    i made the cake and it turned out pretty good…i added coconut powder to the pineapple cream and it tasted wonderful..do try that and let me know how it works for u 🙂

  • sorry to bother u again, but can u plzzz tell me whether u use fresh or canned pineapple? and if use canned, can u tell me which brand? also, can u tell me which brand of pineapple juice u use to sprinkle over the cake before spreading the cream on it? thank u sooo muchhh

    Saniya,

    Looks like you already made it. Canned and Fresh are both good. If you use canned, drain the pineapples. If I am using the canned, I usually use Del Monte. If you are using canned pineapples, save the juice the you drain out and use that. If you are using fresh, use any kind of pineapple juice. If you don’t have any, just dissolve some sugar in water and use that to moisten the cake.

    I think using coconut is a wonderful idea!! Mmmm full of tropical flavors. Thanks 🙂

  • Hi there..
    First off this cake looks A.M.A.Z.I.N.G….It reminded me of the yummy fresh cream pineapple cakes in bombay.
    I am baking a pinapple cake for my daughter’s b’day party this sunday..and am following my brother’s recipe(he is a hotel management grad.) I was just looking around for similar recipes and stumbled upon urs..hve bookmarked this page,for road-blocks:)

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  • hey, I made this cake..it turned cook…the only problem was I used frozen pineapple instead of the canned one and I found out that frozen ones has a strong taste of the preservatives…
    thanks for the recipe…

  • Hi,

    What brand of whipping cream you used, can you please let me know. When i bought a whippping cream last time to make some other layer cake, it was very flowy and it was not standing on the cake layer..:-( . What should be the right consistancy of the whipping cream ?

    thanks

    rupa

    You can use any brand of whipping cream. But you cannot use it right away. You only only get the thick non flowy creamy consistency once you whip/beat it with a beater, till soft peaks form and it will also stick to the beater. If you overbeat it, it will get thin again and the peaks won’t stand. if you lift up the beater from inside of the cream, you will see soft peaks which will stand and not fall flat. the cream will also increase a lot in volume. I hope this will help you.

  • Hi Soma di…
    after looking at those mouthwaterin pics, I had bookmarked this recipe to bake for my anniversary..and boyy..it turned out just awesome…hubby dearest was simply blown away…this was my first try at cake with frosting…and was all set to buy some ready bake as a backup(in case something failed0…bt it didnt let me down…thanks a lot fr making my anniversary special…plz post more pf such wonderful frosting bake recipes…

    Thank you, and I am really happy that it worked out good for you! This is a very special cake in my family! I am really not good with frosting myself, and do not have much patience to do a pretty job with them. 🙂 I’ll try to post… Thank you for the inspirations!

  • Looks amazing. I’m planning to make this for my friends on weekend. I was wondering if you used 35% whipping cream? 🙂 Thanks.

    Yes I used Ultra Past. Whipping cream – anything between 30%- 40 % should be good.

  • Hi, pineapple cake looks sooooooooooper…would love to make it. But not finding pineapple essence anywhere? Is there a substitute? Can i use the pineapple syrup with the whipping cream. Please help.
    Thanks

  • I’m confused with the measurements used in the recipe – 150 gms offlour (mentioned as 1.2 cups) and Suga

    The measurements from gms to cups are approx. here but close… the sugar and flour are diff. as one is denser than the other..flour is lighter so even if they are same wt.. the flour will take more volume…

  • Whipping cream is the normal packaged cream or some else

    I am not exactly sure what a packaged cream would be. In USA we get the heavy cream/whipping cream in a carton and is like thick milk which gets the creamy texture when whipped. Similar to double cream available in UK. Or you may use the packaged already prepared whipped cream

  • I made this cake so many times following this recipe. It always come out good.Thanks to u.

  • how long do you beat egg yolks before they double in volume on Kitchenaid mixer, speed 10 (high)?

  • I made this cake for super bowl Sunday it was delicious. I used a boxed yellow cake mix and followed the rest of the directions except I put crushed pineapple on top of the cake it was to die for everyone love it !

  • Hi I tried your recipe to the dot but my cake just didn’t go spongy 🙁 my cakes usually never fail, I am an avid baker and cook. I love pineapple pastry and pineapple cake, but got disappointed with this one! I am sure it’s not your recipe which is at fault. Even though it didn’t come out beautifully fluffy, hubby loved it!
    Thank you for sharing the recipe though.
    Nandini

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  • Nice recipe of pineapple cake. Thanks for sharing it. I liked pineapple cake very much. Whenever I want this cake I ordered from monginis shop. It has fresh and best in taste.

  • Hi the cake looks absolutely delicious.Xan you tell me the best substitute for eggs as i need to make an eggless pineapple cream cake.

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