This was one of the cakes I made for our wedding…kind of. There were a few dairy free comers to the wedding so my idea was to make a completely dairy free coconut + pineapple cake, which would be the one thing from the dessert table they could eat. But I didn’t end up with enough time to recipe test and by the time the wedding came around I ended up having to wing it a bit. Which didn’t end up going so well. I got the cake made, it was delicious, but I could not get the dairy free frosting right. First try I tried with shortening and it just did not taste good at all. Then I tried with non dairy butter with some coconut cream added which I thought was a-ok. But due to a mix of the frosting being too soft, it being mid summer and a fridge not working properly so the frosting wouldn’t cool, the cake ended up with icing slowly dripping into a puddle around the cake. This cake sadly didn’t end up on the dessert table as planned, spending the wedding in the fridge as to not melt completely into a puddle on the floor. But you know what, it tasted pretty darn great, and the dairy free people really appreciated having something sweet to eat!
Post wedding I tried a couple of methods of coconut dairy free frosting for as I really wanted to get this cake right, but honestly I just could not figure it out. Either it tasted bad, or could not get a firm enough consistency to frost a cake with. So I gave up and went back to my trusted american buttercream with a bit of coconut milk and essence for flavouring. I do usually try and always use natural flavourings as much as possible, but I haven’t found a way to get enough coconut milk in the frosting to make it taste coconuty without making it runny.
This cake is ‘sitting on the beach of a tropical island sipping on pina colada’ in every slice, just minus the rum. It’s loaded with all things coconut…milk, flakes, oil and a bit of coconut essence for that little bit extra. It’s super moist, fluffy with a sweet sticky pineapple jam in the middle to top it all off.
– Pineapple Coconut Cake –
Cake
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup coconut flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups coconut oil
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
3 eggs
1/4 tsp coconut essence
Frosting
2 cups / 500g butter, softened
4 cups icing sugar
3 tbsps coconut milk
1/4 tsp coconut essence
Pineapple Jam
1 1/2 cups chopped tinned pineapple
1 cup sugar
Cake:
Heat the oven to 350F. Grease three 6 inch cake pans.
In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients together. In another bowl whisk all the wet ingredients together. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together until just combined.
Evenly divide the batter into the three cake pans. Bake until the the cake is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Begin checking for doneness at 30mins. Let the cakes cool slightly for 5 mins, then carefully transfer onto a cooling rack.
Jam:
In a small pan, combine pineapple and sugar over medium heat. Stir occasionally to prevent mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Cook for about 10mins till it becomes thick and syrupy. Set aside to cool.
Frosting:
Place the softened butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. beat on medium speed for 5 minutes until light and creamy. reduce the speed to low and gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, beat to combine. beat in the coconut essence.
Assembly:
Cutting off any doming on top on the cakes. Spread a layer of frosting on the first layer, then pipe a ringed border around the edge. Fill the middle with half the pineapple jam. Place second cake layer on top and repeat. Place final cake layer upside down. Frost the outside of the cake and decorate as desired!
