Saturday, October 06, 2007

Coconut cake with roasted pineapple and ricotta cream

Flicking through one of the issues of an Australian Vogue I came across this recipe. I was attracted to the unusual way of serving this cake, with ricotta cream. And the roasted pineapple.

The recipe is very straight forward, the cake dough gets ready in no time. You just have to wait a little bit for the pineapple but boy, it is worth it. Plus I am sure that whoever you serve a slice of this cake to will just love it. How couldn’t he/she?

150g self-raising flour ( or plain flour with 1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder)

55g ground hazelnuts

275g caster sugar

110g dessicated coconut

125g melted butter, unsalted

3 eggs, separated

125ml buttermilk

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons Demerara sugar

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped roasted peeled hazelnuts

Roasted pineapple:

Pineapple, peeled and chopped diagonally in medium-small pieces

Lemon juice

Brown sugar


Ricotta cream:

½ cup ricotta

125g plain yoghurt

2 tablespoons honey


Preheat oven to 160oC/ fan assisted oven 150oC. Grease and line the bottom of a 10cm x 21 cm loaf tin and reserve.

Combine flour, ground hazelnuts, sugar and coconut in a bowl, then add butter, egg yolks, buttermilk and lemon zest and stir until combined.

Using a mixer whisk the egg whites to soft peaks and gently fold into coconut mixture. Pour the coconut mixture into the loaf tin and sprinkle with combined Demerara sugar and chopped hazelnuts. Bake for approximately 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in tin for 30 min before turning it onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For roasted pineapple increase the oven temperature to 200oC. Place pineapple pieces in an oven proof dish, drizzle with lemon juice and sprinkle with brown sugar. Roast for 10 minutes, then baste with the juices and place under the hot grill until the pineapple turns golden ( it is not really necessary so feel free to skip the grill bit).

For the ricotta cream just mix all the ingredients together. Serve slices of cake with roasted pineapple and ricotta cream. Yum!

13 comments:

Ilva said...

This sounds so nice but I especially like the grilled pineapple, I have to try that!

Meeta K. Wolff said...

Oh my Valentine - this looks exceptional. I, like Ilva, find the grilled pineapple a fantastic addition!

Cynthia said...

You've said the magic word: coconut!

Definitely have to give this a try.

Deborah said...

What a great combination of flavors!! This will be perfect for the middle of winter to bring a bit of the tropics around!!

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Roasting the pineapple must really take this out of the ordinary. Lovely.

Anonymous said...

You posted this on the day of my birthday, so I'm claiming it as my birthday cake. ;-)))

Paz

Patricia Scarpin said...

My dear friend,
Next time, please, save a slice for me! ;)

Nora B. said...

Hi Valentina, this cake sounds delicious. I love caramelised pineapple, so roasting would also bring out the natural sweetness of the pineapple.

Lis said...

HUNGRY NOW!! I want some! waaaaaa!!

So not fair - this would be the perfect Sunday morning breakfast. :P

Miss you!!

xoxo

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

I think I need to make friends with caramelised pineapple! Looks beautiful Valentina.

Nora B. said...

I hope you are well.

Merry Christmas, Valentina. I hope that you and your family will have a wonderful day and also best wishes for 2008.

x Nora

Anonymous said...

Well I am 100% sure I'll love it!
It looks amazing. I love the combination of coconut and pineapple.

Anonymous said...

Hello Valentina,

My name is Shannon and I'm the editorial assistant at Foodbuzz.com. Following up on a recent email invitation to be a part of our newly launched Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program, I just want to reiterate that I am very impressed with the quality of your posts. I would love to send you more details about the program, so if you are interested, please email me at Shannon@foodbuzz.com.

Cheers!

Shannon Eliot
Editorial Assistant, Foodbuzz.com
shannon@foodbuzz.com