Pineapple Orange Ginger Cake

Pineapples are in abundance in the part of the world where I am these days.

So when my mom asked me to make something for this small tea gathering she was hosting, I decided to make something pineapple-y.

And since the ingredient was decided, the obvious next step was to search food gawker/ google for some interesting recipe.

Sometime back I had posted a recipe from Soma’s blog ecurry.com. A recipe for Spicy mushroom garlic soup. It was loved and devoured by V and me. So when food gawker showed me a recipe for pineapple cake from Soma, I had to check it out.

And lo behold, with ginger and orange in it, the flavor mix sounded perfect for tea.

The last time I was at my mom’s place, and she had her lady friends coming home for tea, I had made a lemon pound cake. It was a hit! Thankfully! Because my mom had mentioned that I actually blog about food and am great at baking.

Since I had  a reputation to maintain, I only wanted to go with a trusted soul and here’s where Soma came to the rescue and this time too she did not disappoint me.

Now I have not been cooking AT ALL.

And well who can blame me- I am at home, with my parents. There’s a cook who makes great food and it feels great to have someone else do the dishes and cook meals for you when the only work you have to do is sit at the table and eat.

This cake was an exception. And I am glad it was.

PINEAPPLE ORANGE GINGER CAKE

The best thing about this cake is how the flavor of pineapple, ginger and orange play with each other. You can make it in an 9″ inch round pan orin an angel cake pan like I did. Just remember to grease the pan well. For the glaze I just caramel iced some brown sugar with some butter, but you could sprinkle the cake with some sugar in the cake like Soma did or use the icing recipe she gives. Either way, you will have a great tasting cake.

Adapted from here

Ingredients

• 3 cups fresh pineapple, diced
• 1 large orange, peeled and segmented
• 2 inch fresh ginger, grated
• 1 cup sugar + 1/2 cup sugar + 3 tablespoon
• 1.5 cups all purpose flour + 2 tablespoon all purpose flour
• zest of 1 orange
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

For Icing:

1. 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoon confectioners sugar
2. 2.5 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3. 1/2 teaspoon lime zest

Directions

1. Combine the diced pineapple, oranges and grated ginger in a non reactive pan.
2. Add 1/2 cup + 3 tablespoon sugar with  2 cups of water and simmer the fruits for about 12-15 minutes, until the fruits are tender. It took me more time. Keep checking.
3. Cool and drain the fruits, save the liquid.
4. Process the fruits coarsely  in a processor.
5. Combine sifted flour, salt, baking powder. Soma’s suggests to rub in the orange zest into the flour with your fingertips. I have generally seen rubbing in the zest with sugar to enhance the flavor, but this was new to me. I don’t know if it makes any difference, but the cake turned out great so I guess that’s what you should do too!
6. Whisk the eggs in a bowl for about 2 minutes. Slowly add the sugar and beat for another 5-8 minutes.
7. Fold in the flour  mixture into the egg mixture, gradually at first, until the flour mixture combines into the egg mixture; add the melted butter slowly until the butter is incorporated.
8. Add the processed fruits to the cake batter, folding gently to mix throughout.
9. Line a 9 inch round cake pan with parchment paper and grease the pan and the paper. I used an angel cake pan and greased and floured it well.
10. Bake in a preheated 375F oven for about 30 minutes or until the cake is golden and puffed up or until a toothpick comes out clean.
11. Remove from the oven and prick the cake all over with the toothpick; pour the reserved syrup on the cake; let the cake absorb the syrup and cool for at least 30 minutes.
12. To make the icing, whisk together the confectioners sugar, zest  and lime juice. Place the cake on a wire rack set on a tray. Drizzle the glaze over the cake and let it set for about 20-30 minutes.
13. Sprinkle confectioners’ sugar on the cake and sprinkle finely chopped candied ginger if you wish.