Spiked Pina Colada Cake - Happy B'day Anna

My brother is a man of very few words........So I have just one word for him......

'RESPECT'

Recipe Source: Humming bird bakery  Cake days

Ingredients
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For sponge

• 100ml White rum
• 4 slices Pineapple
• 40g unsalted Butter, softened
• 1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
• 120g All purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1 Egg
• 120 ml Coconut Milk
• 1 tsp Vanilla essence

For Frosting

• 80g unsalted Butter , softened
• 250g Icing sugar
• 4tsp White rum
• 4 tsp Coconut Milk
• 4 slices Pineapple for decoration
• 4 tbsp Caramelized coconut for decoration

Method

1. Grease a 6 inch pan,line with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Pour rum into a small saucepan,add 30g sugar,place the saucepan on medium flame and bring to boil, let the liquid reduce to half .Cut the pineapple into bits and soak it in the reduced rum for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven at 170 degree C.
4. In a large bowl combine butter,140g sugar, flour,baking powder and salt.Using an electric beater beat on low speed till the mixture looks like crumbs.
5. In a small jar combine the wet ingredients - egg, coconut milk and vanilla essence, whisk with a fork and mix well.
6. Pour the the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients,beat at low speed and increase the speed once all the ingredients are well combined.
7. Remove the pineapple from the rum (squeeze out the excess liquid), sprinkle the pineapple bits on the greased pan.Pour the batter on the pineapple bits and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or till the cake is done.
8. Remove from the oven and let the cake cool down for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan and transferring on to a wire rack.Let the cake cool down completely.
9. Prepare frosting :- Beat butter and icing sugar till they resemble sand like consistency,in a small glass combine rum and coconut milk, pour this into the butter and icing sugar mixture and beat till light and fluffy.
10. Assemble the cake :-Place the cake on a serving dish , soak with the reduced rum and frost the cake.Decorate with pineapple bits and caramelized coconut. 

Pineapple Cream Gateau - Happy Birthday Mom

I am no doubt  a Daddy's girl.....always taken my mom for granted...still do and I don't think it is going to change in the near future....My mom and me.....we are not the very expressive kind....always  at each others throat....fighting,arguing,screaming(well its just me doing all the three...my mom just ignores me and my tantrums).....have you ever noticed....no matter how rude you are towards your mom,she is always fine the next minute(at least that is how my mom is)....its like nothing happened, I feel god made her that way...'super special'.


I may not appreciate my mom much .....I am sometimes rude to her.......I may not hug or kiss her often......I may not say 'thank you' often.......nor do I say 'I love you' often...but I know deep down inside .....she is my SUPERWOMAN and I love her and I will be happy and blessed if years down the lane ...I am at least half the person she is. Happy Birthday Mom (Please don't tell her this...I won't be able to deal with her attitude)


My mom does not like chocolate.....I know she likes pineapple.....I was all set, started preparing for the cake the previous day.....early morning...running around....getting my girl ready to go to school....dropped her....came back....made the basic sponge cake....let it cool....skipped gym...went to pick up my girl from school....slit the cake to two......made syrup...whipped first batch of fresh cream...plopped on the cake... meanwhile cut my finger trying to open the pineapple tin....sprinkled chopped pineapple on the cream(after tending to my wound).....plopped top layer...whipped second batch of cream...took almost 20 minutes to frost the cake almost perfectly....made butter cream icing for decorating......daughter pretending to help me bake but actually being a big pain.....piped the cake with frosting ...all done.....and mom says "I would have preferred  pineapple mousse" .......Thank you mom....I wonder where I got that 'Non Appreciating' gene from.

Ingredients
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For Cake
Recipe source :From my heart

• 105g  All purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 3 Eggs
• 125g Caster Sugar
• 55ml Boiling Water
• 7g Butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1/4tsp Pineapple essence (optional)

For Soaking Syrup

• 1/2 cup Syrup from tinned pineapple
• 2tbsp  Sugar
• 2 tsp Rum

For Frosting

• 400ml Fresh Cream
• 6tbsp  Icing Sugar
• 450 g tinned pineapple slices

Butter cream frosting (optional)

• 55g Butter,softened
• 4ml Vanilla Extract
• 125g Icing sugar, sifted
• 15ml Milk
• few drops of lemon yellow color

Method

For cake

1. Grease an 8inch pan and line with baking paper.Keep aside.
2. Preheat oven at 180 degree C.
3. Sift flour and baking powder.Keep aside.
4. Using an electric beater, beat egg and sugar till it turns pale yellow,light and fluffy.
5. Fold in the sifted flour, do not over mix.
6. Now fold in butter,vanilla,pineapple essence and water and mix slowly till well combined.
7. Pour the cake batter into the prepared tin and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or till done.
8. Cool the cake in the pan for 5 minutes ,remove from pan and cool the cake completely on wire rack.

For Soaking syrup

1. Combine sugar and syrup in a small sauce pan and boil till sugar dissolves. Let this cool.
2. Add rum.

For whipped cream Filling

1. Whip cream and icing sugar till soft peaks are formed.

For Butter cream icing

1. Cream butter till light and fluffy.
2. Add icing sugar and vanilla and beat on high speed, add enough milk to get smooth and light consistency
3. Add color and beat for 30 seconds.
4. Transfer the icing bag and set aside till further use.

Assemble the cake

1. Cut the cake to two layers.
2. Place one layer on cake stand, soak the layer with half of the soaking syrup.
3. Cover with cream and top with half of the chopped pineapple
4. Place the second layer on top, soak with the remaining syrup.
5. Frost the cake with rest of the whipped cream and decorated with chopped pineapple or anyway you desire.
6. Pipe the butter cream frosting on the cake. 
7. Let the cake rest in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving.

pineapple and cream

I don't know what to call this , pineapple and cream or pineapple mousse. As far as i know mousse is mostly made out of raw eggs, where the egg white is beaten stiff and mixed into the cream and all, but to tell you the truth, I am just not comfortable handling raw eggs, i can eat chocolate mousse and pineapple mousse at restaurants , but i just don't trust myself with raw eggs.So I am settling with gelatin.

Ingredients
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• 1 tin pineapple
• 1/3 cup pineapple syrup/juice(taken from the tinned pineapple)
• 2    tsp  plain gelatin
• 5    tbsp powdered sugar
• 250ml  whipping cream

Method

* Pour the whipping cream in a bowl add powdered sugar(the quantity of sugar is up to you) . Whip the cream till almost fluffy and double the volume. Keep this in the fridge till further use.

* chop the pineapple rings into small cubes and keep aside.

* In a bowl add 1/3 cup pineapple syrup, sprinkle gelatin into the syrup, keep it aside for few minutes.

*Double boil the gelatin liquid over a bowl of hot water till all the gelatin powder is dissolved and there is clear liquid. Take it off the double boil.

* Whisk the gelatin mixture with a hand whisk or electric beater (I used electric beater) till frothy.

* get the whipped cream out add the chopped pineapple (keep few aside for garnish). Fold in the frothy gelatin mixture.

* In a bowl lay some chopped pineapple. Pour in the cream mixture ,smooth it out and decorate with chopped pineapple.

*let the pineapple and cream set in the fridge for an hour.