Pineapple & Rum Cake
I don't know about you but to me this flavour combo is the definition of summer vibes! I wasn't sure what to expect when I started randomly adding pineapple juice to the icing but you know what - it worked out pretty well and then when you put it with the rum - it goes to another level.
INGREDIENTS
For the cake
- 525g Unsalted butter (softened)
- 550g Caster sugar
- 6 Medium eggs
- 6tbsp Plain flour
- 4tbsp Natural Yoghurt
- 525g Self raising flour
- 4-6tbsp Milk
For the Sugar Syrup
- 125g Caster sugar
- 100ml Pineapple juice
- 25ml Rum (for a booze free recipe just substitute the rum with more pineapple juice!)
For the Icing
- 200g Unsalted Butter (softened)
- 500g Icing sugar (sifted)
- 100ml Pineapple juice
- Dash of pastel yellow food colouring (optional)
METHOD
- Grease and line two 8" cake tins and preheat your oven to 160C/ 140C (Fan).
- Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- One at a time, add the eggs, beating between each addition. Add a tbsp of plain flour when the mixture starts to look a little curdled. (Note - depending on the size of the eggs you may not need all 6)
- When the mixture is very 'wet' stir through the yoghurt. (Don't worry at all about any appearance of curdling - this will all disappear when the flour is added)
- Fold in the flour gently. The mixture will quickly thicken up and become much more representative of cake batter!
- Once the flour is properly incorporated, add the milk until the consistency of the batter is super smooth and creamy.
- Divide the mixture equally between the two cake tins and bake in the oven for 1hr 15 mins (it seems like a long time but with a low temperature you are guaranteed to have a beautifully light sponge).
- Prepare the sugar syrup so that it is ready for when the cake is fully baked. Place all your ingredients on a medium/high heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Remove from the heat once the sugar has completely dissolved and set aside.
- Once the cake is done, level it to ensure it is nice and even (which makes stacking so much easier), before spooning over the sugar syrup over both sponges.
Note - The cake may seem oversaturated but by the time the cakes are at room temperature this effect will have disappeared and you will be left with super moist sponges!
- Allow the cake to cool completely before getting ready to ice.
- The icing is super easy to make, simply cream together the icing sugar and butter before gradually adding the pineapple juice. If the mixture seems too sloppy simply add some extra icing sugar to re-thicken it.
- Fold through a drop or two of yellow food colouring so you get a lovely pastel colour before icing the cake.
(Tip: I use a turntable, a pallet knife and a cake scraper to get a nice, smooth finish on my cakes)
