I blame Chele at the Chocolate Teapot for this one. I don't think I would have thought of doing this in a million years - pineapple rings with cherries in the middle were the stuff of nightmares for me when I was a child. Well, I may be exaggerating a tad here, but pineapple upside down cake was not my favourite. However when I saw this, made with fresh pineapple, it got me interested. Then, whilst out shopping, I saw a half price pineapple which was just about perfectly ripe. What option did I have?
Here's how I did it:
- Dissolved 200g demerara sugar in a pan with 1/2 cup water and boiled for a few minutes until syrupy and golden.
- Took off the heat and stirred in 75g unsalted butter.
- Poured caramel into a 23cm cake thingie.
- Faffed around with a pineapple trying to skin and chop it into small segments - which I eventually achieved.
- Placed segments on top of the caramel.
- Melted 100g 85% cocoa with 125g unsalted butter.
- Beat 4 duck eggs with 225g vanilla sugar (you could use 1 tsp vanilla extract instead) for ages until really pale and thick.
- Poured in chocolate mixture and stirred to combine.
- Sieved in 170g flour (150g wholemeal spelt and 20g coconut flour) and 2 tsp baking powder then folded into mixture until just combined.
- Spooned mixture over the pineapple and baked at 160C for 50 mins.
I need not have worried, this cake was delicious - moist, sweet and pineapply. It was great as a dessert served warm from the oven with ice cream, but was equally good as cake the day after and the day after that!
A perfectly ripe pineapple is always delicious, cake looks great. Do you have access to duck eggs?
ReplyDeleteI have been meaning to play around with coconut flour, I keep seeing it and want to see what I can do with it.
I love the title 'with chocolate of course' :-)
ReplyDeleteI also love that you use duck eggs in all your recipes. Can I use either egg or does it have to be duck?
interesting.. but i'm not too sure if it's a good combination of flavors.
ReplyDeleteWow that looks very beautiful...you do it really well..
ReplyDeleteCityHippy - Thanks. I'm lucky enough to have two shops in town which sell local organic free range eggs. I'm not always able to get them but use them for preference in baking if I do. I've only used coconut flour as a partial substitute so far - let me know if you come up with anything interesting.
ReplyDeleteGillian - Yes use either egg - 1 for 1. I always use duck eggs for preference when baking but can't always get them so will use chicken eggs instead.
Jack - I wasn't too sure what this would be like before making it, but used an 85% cocoa content chocolate to offset the sweetness of the pineapple. It worked fine, but it would probably have been just as good without.
Sushma - thank you.
Thats a succelent and beautiful cake..
ReplyDeleteI love pineapple and I love chocolate cake so I think this one would score big with me!
ReplyDeleteChoclette, you really do come up with the most interesting combinations with chocolate. And then make them sounds and look so appealing! :) I've never even considered choc and pineapple before...
ReplyDeleteIt looks delicious, as always. My mum has the best gadget in the world in her pineapple slicer. Job done in a quick twist. I was impressed.
ReplyDeleteThanks Priya - yes succulent is a good word to describe this one.
ReplyDeleteThanks CC - we thought it was pretty good.
Thank you Celia - it is interesting trying out all these different things I would never have done if I hadn't started this blog.
Thank you Kath - but does it peel as well, that was the worst bit?
another stunner... bet it tasted great... I think there are a lot of fruits that work really well with chocolate that you wouldn't normally consider... it could have also been nice if you had caramelised your pineapple in a little butter first, this would have added a wonderful taste and a great dark golden colour to compliment the chocolate! x
ReplyDeleteI cheerfully accept all responsability for this one ;0)
ReplyDeleteLooks so good, I'm going to have to make another one now with the chocolate added! Why didn't I think of adding chocolate in the first place? lol
Choclette, it's genius! I found a link to it to show you. I wish I had invented it. http://www.lakeland.co.uk/3-in-1-pineapple-corer/slicer/F/keyword/pineapple/product/10478
ReplyDeletechocolate-one of my favourite things!
ReplyDeleteI love pineapple upside down cake! My grandmother used to make a good one. But I have never tried one with chocolate - served with icecream sounds amazing.
ReplyDeleteI have never tired chocolate upside down cake...thanks for choc hint :)
ReplyDeleteLooks like a whole lot of fun! I love the name 'upside down cake' - this one sounds delicious!
ReplyDeleteI thought maybe you kept ducks in the garden like Celia and her chooks, devoted to exclusive choclette baking adventures...
I used to dream of two things, a forest on my doorstep and an ornamental duck pond with friendly ducks... not really compatible I guess.
Dominic - Thank you for saying nice things - always appreciated and thaks for the tip on caramelising pineapple first - that could work really well.
ReplyDeleteChele - Well, I have to say I am rather glad you come up with such yummy treats.
Kath - Thank you for that, it does indeed look amazing and not particularly expensive either.
Northern Snippet - Funnily enough, it's one of mine too!
FoodyCat - you were lucky, my grandmother never made cakes.
Ananda - upside down cakes are well worth trying.
Joanna - I would so love to have a garden in which I could keep ducks and chickens too and an orchard and of course a duck pond. Although, think you are probably right about duck pond and ornamental not quite going together. You do have the forest on your doorstep though - sort of!.
wow that takes me back. I didn't like glace cherries so mum always did a cherry less ring for me. I loved the cake though and can hardly believe I've never made it as an adult. Yours looks all the more striking for the choccie backdrop :o)
ReplyDeleteYes- nostalgia food for me too!
ReplyDeleteMMMMMMMMMmmm...
Nic & Emmalene - why does this seem to be a childhood thing I wonder?
ReplyDeleteoh yummy, that looks totally delish. Ive never seen it made with chunks just with rings.
ReplyDelete