When I think of Pineapple, I immediately imagine an Island, Beach and Sunshine. No wonder its one of the world’s most famous tropical fruits. Did you know that it is also a street snack favorite in many parts of the world? Growing up in the paradise island: Sri Lanka, I too had my fair share of enjoying this fruit in its full glory; ranging from eating it as a ripened fruit, to making a juice out of it – on warm sunny days, to having it pickled, to making spicy curries out of it, to adding little cubes of it in fruit salads…. and the list goes on and on.

One of my favorite desserts, that featured Pineapple as the key ingredient is the – Pineapple Gateau Cake. A soft sponge cake; that is so light, moistened with simple Pineapple syrup, covered in a rich chocolate icing, and filled; and garnished with Pineapple chunks; and most importantly: chilled. It sounds so exquisite doesn’t it? Trust me it tastes like that too.

Making this cake, seems like lot of work. But when you follow the 3 main steps, it will be a walk in the park. Step 1: Make the sponge cake. Step 2: Stew the Pineapple. 3: Make the Chocolate frosting. Once you combine all these steps, you have this tropical cake, that will be a nice addition to your next dessert table.

Lets start with, how to choose the star of this recipe – the Pineapple. Picking a fresh whole Pineapple is always my choice. Look for the ones that are already yellow in color – a little green in the skin is just fine. It should be firm to the touch and have a very prominent sweet smell. If you cant get your hands on one of these fresh ones, the skinned and packaged one will do.

This being a pineapple cake, I am going to add some stewed Pineapple chunks in-between 2 layers of Cake to give the cake more texture and to make sure that you get to enjoy the pineapple in every bite you take. You can also choose to only add them to the top of the cake. Like I always say, you decide what’s best for your taste palette.

This being a cold dessert cake, I would recommend that you give this cake some resting time in the fridge before you indulge. Technically it’s best if you let it sit in the fridge for a day before you enjoy it. But I hear ya, can’t wait? Give it at-least a couple of hours for the syrup to soak in and it’s time to dig in!

Pineapple Gateau

Serves 6 – 8 | Prep-time 30 mins | Cook-time 30 mins

Ingredients:

Sponge Cake

• 4 Eggs
• 3/4 cup of Light Brown Sugar.
• 1 cup of Unbleached Flour.
• 4 tablespoons of Melted Margarine.
• 1 teaspoons of Baking powder.
• 1 teaspoon of Vanilla extract.
• 1 teaspoon of Lemon juice.

Pineapple Filling

• 2 cups of chopped Pineapple.
• 2 tablespoons of Light Brown Sugar.
• 1 cup of Water.

Chocolate Frosting

• 1/2 cup of Margarine.
• 3 Cups of Sifted, Confectioner’s Sugar.
• 1/2 cup of Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips.
• 3-4 tablespoons of Almond Milk; or Regular milk (at room temperature).
• 1 teaspoon of Vanilla extract.

Sponge Cake Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 365 F° or 185 C°.
• Grease two 6×2 round baking pans with butter or non-stick baking spray, and line parchment sheet to the bottom.
• Separate egg-white and yolk into two separate bowls.
• In a medium bowl, whisk the egg-whites until it becomes to a soft peak.
• Slowly add in the sugar and whisk well until it becomes a stiff peak.
• Add in the egg-yolks one at a time and beat well.
• Add flour and baking powder, and fold in with a spatula or wooden spoon.
• Combine vanilla extract, lime juice and mix well.
• Finally: add the melted Margarine, beat for 2-3 minutes until all the ingredients are well combined.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes; until a wooden skewer / toothpick inserted in the middle, comes out clean.

Pineapple Filling Directions:

• In a sauce pan; mix in the chopped pineapple pieces, water, sugar and simmer for 8-10 minutes.
• Separate the stewed pineapple in a small bowl and keep the pineapple water – syrup for later use.

Chocolate Frosting Directions

• Cream the Margarine until smooth in medium to high speed using a mixer.
• Gradually add in the powdered sugar and beat in low speed.
• Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler or in a microwave.
• Add the melted chocolate to the margarine-mix, and beat in medium to high speed.
• Add vanilla extract and the milk and mix to a cream.

Cake Assembling Directions:

• Once the baked cakes has cooled down; use a fork and make some holes in both the cakes.
• Slowly pour the stewed pineapple syrup on top of the cake layers and keep it aside.
• Pipe a ring of icing around the bottom layer of the cake and fill it in with the stewed pineapple pieces.
• Place the 2nd cake on the top and frost and smooth the cake.

Notes:

• While separating the eggs; make sure, to not leave any egg-yolk traces in the egg-whites. Otherwise we wont reach a light, foamy texture when whipping the egg-white.
• To get the egg-whites to a soft peak, it will take around 8-10 minutes with a hand beater and much less in a stand mixer.
• Prepare the pineapple stew, once you get the cake into the the oven to make use of the – otherwise, “wait time”.
• Once the cake is baked; let it sit on a wire rack to cool down.
• Be very careful when handling this cake, as it’s very soft and may crack easily.
• I have used Margarine in this recipe as our family is slowly switching to a dairy free diet. Butter can be substituted, and it will yield a delicious cake.
• I have used Unbleached flour in this recipe as a personal choice, but all purpose, regular flour too will do the job.
• I have used Brown sugar in this recipe which is sweeter than the regular sugar. Regular sugar will work fine.
• Almond milk can be substituted to regular milk.
• Decorating the cake: I have used Wilton Piping tip number – 2D to do the swirl on the top of the cake.