Pineapple Cake – shaped like a Pineapple!
Hi everyone! So it is officially Fall now (yay!). Buuut, last week was still summer, and if you have a pineapple lover in your life, what better to bake them for their birthday than a pineapple cake?! This cake has sautéed fresh pineapple, a little coconut flavor, and a whole lot of frosting!
Enjoy!
Pineapple Cake
1 fresh pineapple, diced into small cubes (keep the top!)
1 cup butter, cut into cubes
1 1/2 cup sugar (set aside 2 tbsp.)
1 1/2 cup flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp coconut extract
Sautee 1/2 cup butter, 2 tbsp. sugar and all diced pineapple in a pan until it starts to simmer and smells good. Turn off and let cool.
Beat butter together with sugar until fluffy, then mix in eggs and extracts. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients in 3 parts while mixing. Next add the sautéed pineapples. Continue to mix. Meanwhile butter three 6 inch cake pans and one 4 inch cake pan. Preheat oven to 350F. Divide batter among all pans. Bake for 20 mins for 4 inch pan, and 30 minutes for 6 inch pans (may vary slightly – check for doneness with a toothpick). Remove form oven and let cool.
Buttercream
1 cup butter
1 cup vegetable shortening
8 cups powdered sugar
4 tsp clear vanilla extract
2 Tbsp heavy cream
Orange food coloring
Yellow food coloring
Green food coloring
Red food coloring
Beat butter and shortening in stand mixer until smooth. Add sugar to this and beat until smooth. Next add vanilla and heavy cream to desired consistency. Add a combination of the food colorings until you achieve the right “pineapple” color (less green, more of the others).
Assembly
Layer your three 6 inch cakes together with the frosting. Then add the 4 inch one on top and crumb coat the whole cake. After refrigerating the cake for 30 minutes, use a small round tip to pipe the cake so that you allow rough tips all over the pineapple. Take the top of the real pineapple and attach to the top of the cake with frosting and 6 wooden dowel rods cut to fit the height of your cake. Frost over them so they are not noticeable.
Enjoy your fun Cake!