My kids have been helping me in the kitchen since they could stand. My oldest daughter, Madeline, especially likes to bake and cook and has an amazingly creative mind. Our cinnamon vanilla caramel sauce was her idea...she wanted a caramel that tasted like a churro! When I brought home a pineapple last week, she immediately wanted to know if plans I had for it, because if not, she did! Well I'm happy I gave it over to her because she made the most amazing pineapple bourbon cake! She originally wanted to make a pineapple upside down cake but when the cake cooked over her pineapple, she got her creativity on and made this rustic beauty instead! It's a dense vanilla cake with a subtle bourbon flavor and the pineapple keeps it so moist! She made a stabilized bourbon brown sugar whip cream for the frosting which was perfect as it was light in comparison to the denseness of the cake. And the drizzle of bourbon caramel sauce was the perfect addition and married well with all of the flavors! What I love most about this cake, besides its amazing flavor, is it's beautiful imperfectness. I think this would be the perfect cake to serve at a backyard bbq or Sunday brunch...it's that versatile!
Ingredients:
For the Cake
- 2 1/2 c all purpose flour
- 2 c sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 c milk (or milk substitute)
- 1/2 c vegetable oil
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 c hot water
- 1/4 c bourbon whiskey
- 6-7 sliced pineapple ring
For the Stabilized Whip Cream Filling/Frosting
- 2 c heavy cream
- 5 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tbsp bourbon
For Garnishing:
Directions:
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Lightly grease two 10 inch round cake pans. Line with the bottom with parchment paper, (I like to place it on the bottom of the pan and then flip it over so that it is greased on both sides), sprinkle the pans with flour and shake around to evenly coat. Tap out any excess flour.
- In a medium bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine.
- Next add the milk, vegetable oil, bourbon, vanilla extract and eggs. Mix well to ensure all of the ingredients are combined.
- Slowly pour in the hot water into your batter and mix on low. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to ensure everything is well combined. Your batter with be very thin.
- Place the pineapple slices to cover the bottom of one pan.
- Divide the batter into the two cake pans and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
- Let cool slightly and then invert onto a cooling rack.
- Set aside to cool completely before frosting.
For the Filling/Frosting
- Whip the cream, bourbon, vanilla and brown sugar together until soft peaks form.
- Add the corn starch and continue to whip until stiff peaks form.
Assembly:
- Place the layer without the pineapple on a cake platter.
- Spread an even layer of whip cream on top all the way to the edge.
- Place the second cake on top of the first layer, pineapple side up.
- Spread a thin layer of whip around the entire side of the cake.
- Place the remaining whip cream in a piping bag with an open star tip and pipe around the top edge of the cake.
- Serve each slice with a healthy drizzle of bourbon caramel sauce.
Cake recipe is adapted from here.
