Pina Colada Cake

I only got to taste the barest little sliver of this cake but it was enough to make me think I needed to make it again, soon, and this time I may not take it to the Legion Cake Raffle.   Since the winner of the last one took it home and didn't share.
Which they can do, but most winners of the cake will cut up the cake and share it out, to appreciative recipients at the Legion. 

Let me share this cake with you now. I've been playing around with making cakes using various methods of mixing.  And I'll detail those in a bit.
This cake had one of my two favorite frostings on it.  I love my Faux  or Ermine buttercream but I think that 7 Minute frosting may edge out that one by a hair, or spoonful as the case may be.

I used a yellow cake recipe for this, then added an extra egg, and added another element to the mixing process.
I'm not sure what this mixing process is called, and umm, it did make some bubbles in the cake, at least a few that I didn't get stirred out.
But the flavor was good.
Here are a few pictures of the process.  As you can see, I mixed the cake a little too much and got lots of bubble in it.
The 'dam' of frosting around the edge of the cake.

I took the cake over to the table to get this shot, and as you can see from the pencil there, I make notes as I'm baking and decorating cakes.  
The pineapple filling, nestled into the frosting dam.  This keeps the filling from oozing out the sides when the layers are put together.

 After the layers are put together and the sides have been smoothed out a little.  You can fill in the gaps by piping butter cream in and smoothing it out. 

Ready for the frosting to be dumped on top.

 and a very poor picture of the inside of the cake with the one slice that had been purloined.

Yield: 12 servings, 2 layer cakeAuthor: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking (adapted from Celebrating Sweets recipe)

Pina Colada Cake

prep time: 15 minscook time: 35 minstotal time: 50 mins

This cake is a taste of a tropical drink, but in cake form.

ingredients:

Cake:

1 1/2 cups butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 cups sifted self rising cake flour

4 eggs, separated - whites beaten to a soft peak

1 1/4 cup milk

2 teaspoons dark rum

Filling:

1 can (15 oz.) crushed pineapple

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed in 3 tablespoons water

1- 1 1/2 cup prepared  plain butter cream in a piping bag ( I keep piping bags filled with prepared butter cream in the freezer but you can also use commercial frosting for this)

7 Minute Frosting: 

2 egg whites lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup water

1/4 tsp. Cream of tarter (or 1 tablespoon corn syrup)

1/8 tsp. Salt

2 teaspoons Dark Rum

Topping

1/2 cup toasted coconut

instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 2- 9 inch (2 inch high) cake pans or 3 8 inch cake pans, using Bakers Joy or grease and flour the pans. 

Separate the eggs, and set the yolks aside for a minute while beat the egg whites to a soft peak.   Set aside. 

Cream the butter and sugar together for at least 5 minutes in the bowl of a Kitchenaid.  Add the egg yolks and mix in well, then add the rum.

As soon as it is incorporated, add 1/3 of the self rising flour, mix in, add half of the milk, mix together, add the next third of the flour, mix, then add the remainder of the milk.  As soon as it is incorporated, add the remainder of the flour.  Mix.

Fold in the beaten egg whites with a spatula until the egg whites are incorporated and there are no more little bits of egg whites visible.   Pour the batter into two cake pans and bake for about 35 minutes.  Check at the 30 minute mark to see if it's done, either by poking a toothpick in and seeing if it comes out clean or by touching it to see if it springs back lightly when touched in the middle. 

While the cakes are baking, mix the pineapple, sugar and cornstarch slurry together and heat  over medium high heat until the mixture has thickened, stirring constantly so that it doesn't burn.  Take off of heat and let cool.

As soon as the cakes are baked, tip them out on a cooling rack.  

Assembly:

Divide the cooked pineapple into thirds, just by drawing a spatula thru the pineapple mixture while still in the pot.  Doesn't have to be exact.

If the cakes 'domed' up during baking, cut the dome off with a long serrated knife so that the cakes are level. 

 Split each cake in two using a serrated knife and place the first cake layer onto a cake plate with the leveled off side up.  This is where you will add the filling.  Using a piping bag, carefully pipe a 'dam' around the edge of the cake.  Then fill in with 1/3 of the cooked pineapple.  Very carefully, place another cake layer on top.  Pipe a dam of butter cream frosting around the edge of the cake and fill with some more pineapple.  Continue with the third layer and for the final cake layer, make sure that the cut side of the cake is down and you are frosting the bottom of the cake.  Less chance of crumbs in the frosting that way. 

Take a look at the cake and fill in any gaps with the remaining butter cream frosting in the layers, smooth it out with an offset spatula and place in the fridge to rest for an hour.

While the cake is resting, you can toast the coconut, very briefly in a hot oven.  Just spread the coconut out on a pan, let toast for 5 minutes or so, then remove from oven as soon as the coconut changes color.  If you let it get too dark, the coconut gets bitter.

Make the 7 minute frosting.  Mix together the egg whites, sugar, salt, cream of tarter and water in a heat proof bowl, or the top of a double boiler. 

Heat the water in the bottom of a double boiler to boiling and place the top of the double boiler over it, making sure that it is not touching the water. 

Using a hand held mixer, whisk the egg white mixture together at high speed for 7 minutes. It will become light and white and fluffing. At the end of the 7 minutes, add the vanilla extract and mix in with spatula.

 Take cake out of fridge and enrobe the cake with the 7 Minute frosting, covering up the sides and making swirls on the top.  This frosting will set up so it should be made after the cake has been filled. Sprinkle with the toasted coconut and serve.

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