Week 10 - Pina Colada Cake

Yipppppeeee! Sorry my little cupcakes, you've got an over excited Rebecca this week! Today I found out that I've won a competition I entered at the Vitality Show. Courtesy of the lovely people at Oakley, I'm off to Cornwall in the summer to learn to surf! It'll be amazing, can't wait, always thought I'd be good as a surfer chick...now's my chance! In the meantime there's still cake to bake, so back to the matter in hand.

Last week I mentioned I was writing a manifesto for cake, it was inspired by a crisis of confidence a couple of weeks ago, brought on by a copy of Olive mag. Don't get me wrong I love the mag & read it every month, but their cakes make mine look like mutants quiet frankly! So, after giving myself a talking to I started to think about why I bake & decided to celebrate it, this is the result...

1. My cakes are real cakes! They do not have their own stylist or make up artist & they may not be as pretty as the cakes in magazines. Yes, my cakes may be lopsided, uneven & roughly iced but as the saying goes, it's what's on the inside that counts, my cakes are delicious & yummy even if they are not supermodels!

2. Baking is my therapy & cakes are easy to make, all it takes is some flour, butter, sugar & eggs. Cake mix should not come out of a box or contain e numbers & things I can't even pronounce. I'll keep my cakes natural.

3. Not everything I bake will work or taste right, nothing is perfect! I'll accept the mis-adventures, pick up the spatula & try again.

So this is my new mantra, to be repeated often to avoid another cakey confidence crisis!

Back to this weeks recipe & the it's the second of my cocktail inspired cakes, Pina Colada Cake. This one really was an experiment & if I'm honest I've actually come to the conclusion I don't much like coconut so I'm not sure I can make an objective decision on whether it's a success or not? Referring back to item 3 above...here goes!

300g plain flour
50g caster sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
50g desiccated coconut
50g butter
1 egg
300g canned pineapple chunks (keep the juice)
100ml pineapple juice

for the frosting
250g marscapone
40g icing sugar
50g desiccated coconut

1. Melt the butter in a large mixing bowl, add the egg & pineapple juice & beat together lightly

2. Add the pineapple chunks & mix well, then add the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarb & desiccated coconut & fold together until all the ingredients are combined

3. Pour the mixture into a tin, I made my cake in a loaf tin, then bake in the oven at 180c/GM5 for around 30-40 minutes until well risen & the top is browned, just starting to crack. Leave to rest in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out on a rack to cool

4. To make the frosting beat the icing sugar into the marscapone & pop back in the fridge until needed. Spread the desiccated coconut on a small baking sheet & pop it in the oven for 5-10 minutes until it starts to toast & turn a lovely golden colour

5. When the cake is completely cooled, spread the marscapone mixture all over the top, then sprinkle the toasted coconut over the top

So the result? It smells great & the pineapple chunks & juice gives the cake a really lovely soft gooey texture, I just need some coconut fans to test it out for me. See you next week, when I have a feeling we might just get a visit from the Easter Bunny! Rebecca x