Monday, March 26, 2012

Pineapple Cream Cake

It was a different demand from birthday boy this year.No cake at all,can you imagine!!Well,he had a reason after all.We had a party at home few days back thrown for Ajay's colleagues in our new abode.We ate so much brownies and ice-cream that we just couldn't imagine making/eating anything sweet for the next few days.
But what's a birthday if there's no cake?As most of you know,I am wary of baking sponge cakes.Have tried it a few times before,some resulting in flat cakes and sometimes hard discs.This time,I was short of time and the oven was not behaving well too.I am yet to get used to the new oven and the icing on the cake was the power outage right during half time.
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I didn't give up and went ahead with the flat cake.Whipped up the cream in my food processor which took less than 5 minutes to whip and hold shape.Finished off with some pineapple slices and kept my fingers crossed till we cut it.It wasn't bad after all.The texture was of course wrong(it was a bit grainy/coarse) but it tasted delicious,now I know how it feels to bite into moist cakes made at home.


Update - I am surprised that few anonymous commentators feel that if the texture is wrong,the whole dish goes kaput!Really?I did a quick Google search just to confirm the texture of sponge cakes.Many recipes state that even if the cake doesn't rise much it is fine since you'd be filling it up with cream or any other filling of your choice.The cake took to the moistening syrup well and  remained moist.If you look through the step by step pics,you'll know the texture to an extent.I could still cut the cake horizontally into two in a decent size.Probably if I had used an 8' pan,it wouldn't have come out as flat.


After the first slice was cut,I immediately made some custard and transformed the cake into a trifle pudding.Now I wasn't going to waste the precious cake,was I:)
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Pineapple Cream Cake


Ingredients 


For the sponge - Recipe source PAB


Eggs - 3
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Flour - 1/2 cup


Method


Preheat oven to 190C.Line a 9' round cake tin with parchment paper.
Beat together the eggs and sugar for 10-12 minutes on medium speed till it becomes pale and triples in volume.
Drizzle in the vanilla extract.
Spoon in the flour 1 tbsp at a time and fold in gently using figure eight moves to ensure you don't release the air.
Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 30-35 minutes or till the top becomes golden brown and the cake springs back when touched.
Peel off the parchment,let the cake cool completely and trim off the crust and cut the cake into half horizontally.


For the filling and frosting


Cream - 400ml - I used Amul
Sugar - 4 tbsp
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Pineapple slices - 3-4(canned)
Pineapple syrup - 1/2 cup(the sugar syrup from the tin)


Method


Whip the cream in a food processor for 2-3 minutes till the cream forms peaks and holds shape.Mix in the sugar and vanilla extract and keep chilled.


Keep 2-3 slices for decorating on top,chop the rest of the pineapple into small pieces.
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Assembly


In a serving plate,keep one layer of cake and drizzle the pineapple syrup on top.Brush some one the sides too.
Top with 1/3 of the cream and chopped pineapple.
Cover with the top layer and 1/2 of the cream.
Decorate with whole pineapple slices and whipped cream swirls on top.
Chill for 3-4 hours.

19 comments:

  1. I can totally understand... there has been so many cases where i get super excited about the cake and finally when it comes out, it becomes more like a pudding!!! hehe... nevertheless, like my mom says, since it's maida, eggs, sugar and vanilla, it will definitely taste good! :)

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    1. yeah when you put in ingredients like maida sugar vanilla and eggs,it has got to taste as good:))

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  2. Love the decoration. it looks awesome ..

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  3. lovely treat for your son..sure he loved it!

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  4. I am really sorry to say this but a flat cake only tastes like a flat cake! Not like a homemade moist cake. If you don't yet know the difference, I don't know what to say!

    R

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    1. Hey R,if you've been through my blog I hope you've also realized that I've been baking for quite a while now.I think turning a wrong experience into a successful one doesn't come easy to many.FYI,sponge cakes can be a bit dry and overcome the flop status if moistened well and covered with frosting and that's exactly what I did.I think you've tasted many a flat cakes since you know exactly how it tastes like:)

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  5. 'The texture was of course wrong but it tasted delicious,now I know how it feels to bite into moist cakes made at home.'

    This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever read on any blog! LOL!

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    1. Hey Anon,glad I could LOL you with my post:).Please read my above comment to R if you need more entertainment:)

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  6. Love the sponge recipe.. I ve had one and I never get it right for a 9 inch pan. I always end up with few cupcakes after the cake. Should try this one...

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  7. Looks lovely. I love citrusy cakes.

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  8. Hey Divya! I too have had many cake mishaps in past and what I have learnt is that using a good syrup to moisten the sponge and a nice icing usually covers up the damage to a great extent if not 100%.. What matters in the end is how good ur cake looks once presented and what flavors lie in it once a bite is taken.. I think you made a great effort with decoration and this cake looks absolutely adorable..as for the taste when there is all that cream, pineapples, egg and flour, it definitely cannot go wrong! I bet your husband must be happy for your efforts on his birthday and you two must have had a great time :)
    Happy Birthday to him! :)

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  9. Hey Divya... the cake looks good...even i had some disasters with baking.. but as you said after adding all that sugar and butter and cream, it has to taste good :-)
    Pineapple cream cake was the first post in my blog, so it is also my favorite :-)

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  10. cake looks delicious, I love the cream

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  11. Hey Divya, we both baked & blogged similar cakes at the same time! I made a sponge with mango pudding in between and you came up with sponge and pineapple! :)

    Happy Birthday,Ajay! Enthayirunnu bhaki special?

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  12. i love the way u have decorated the cake, so what if the sponge failed (happened to me n number of times coz of theridiculous current cuts in hyderabad)u transformed it into such a pretty dessert :)

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  13. Divya, your cake looks lovely!! I just picked up a tin of pineapple slices and plan to bake this cream cake for a friend's birthday. You have used amul cream for the frosting and whipped it in a food processor. I don't have a food processor with me and tried whipping amul cream in an ice bath using my morphy richd's hand blender, but it never formed peaks :(. Have you tried whipping it with a hand blender, plssss tell me if you've been succesful in getting it to form peaks? Waiting to hear from you before I make a second attempt.

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Love,
Divya.