Tropical Coconut Cake with Citrus Curd - In The Shape Of A Pineapple!

​OK, I have to tell y’all that this cake is for my mom. Not only is her business, Park Lane Jewelry, sponsoring it, but she, well, she just LOVES the beach and everything beachy! Sand, surf, sun, and FLAMINGOS! (You’ll have to watch the video to meet our flamingo friend, Ringo, who helps consult in the baking!)

 She also loves cool summer treats like coconut and citrus and pineapple. The more the better. So I decided to make this cake in her honor, full of coconut flavors in the cake, citrus flavors in the filling, and shaped and decorated like a pineapple. And it’s easy enough for anyone with a little piping skills to do it, too!
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Here we go:
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​Recipe

Cake
This makes one 8-inch cake. If you want your pineapple to be as big as mine, you’ll need three of them:

​⅔ c. buttermilk
1 ¼ tsp baking soda
2 c + 1 T sugar
½ c butter
⅓ c shortening
5 egg yolks
½ c unsweetened coconut milk
2 c flour
1 c coconut flakes
1 t vanilla
½ t almond extract
5 egg whites

First combine the buttermilk and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. NOTE: I warn everybody in the video to use a bowl much larger than you’ll think you’ll need. Remember the science experiment volcano with vinegar and baking soda? Well, the same thing will happen here. It will EXPAND!

Next, in another bowl, whip the egg whites and 1T sugar to medium peaks. Set these aside, too.
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Now, cream together sugar, shortening, and butter in a stand mixer with paddle attachment on medium speed until light and fluffy. It will about double in size. See how everything is fluffing up? This is going to be one light cake!
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Now, add egg yolks one at a time, with mixer on medium speed. Next combine extracts with coconut milk, then add coconut milk, buttermilk mixture, and flour alternately until all have been incorporated. The video shows this really well. Add in coconut flakes and mix.
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Now, remove the bowl from the mixer and gently fold beaten egg whites into batter in 2 batches. There’s a special technique for this and the video shows this really well, too. Pour into a tall 8 inch pan and bake 25 min at 350 degrees. Cool completely. 

​Now, we’re going to make curd.
Yes, curd. It doesn’t sound very appetizing, does it? But oh my! It is absolutely delicious! At least it is the way we make it today! 

When it was first invented, in England some time in the 1800’s, it was really different - just lemon juice poured into cream until it separated into curds, then drained - but now, well now it’s a thick, creamy, rich pudding absolutely full of sweet and tangy citrus flavor. 

And there are TONS of things you can use it for! As a spread for your breakfast scone or muffin, layered in a parfait, as a complement to berries, or cheesecake, or chocolate, as a pie or tart or crepe filling, or just like we’re using it today, to fill the middle of a fabulous summer cake! So if you’ve never had a citrus curd, hold on to your hat! You’re in for something special!
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Citrus Curd
3 c. + 2 T sugar
Zest of 3 lemons
1 c. fresh squeezed lemon / orange juice
7 whole eggs
7 egg yolks
8 oz chilled unsalted butter, cut into Tb sized pieces

Warning: This isn’t too complicated, but will take some time, about an hour and a half, and much of it involves a bit of elbow grease. 
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First, combine the lemon zest and sugar. Now, you could just stir it together, or just zest the lemons right into the bowl containing the sugar, like I do it in the video. Watch your fingers with that zester! 
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Now, to get the juice, just squeeze the lemons you just zested and top their juice off with the juice of some fresh oranges. Two should do it. Now, add the sugar, zest, and juices to the mixer bowl, and whisk by hand until it’s mixed. Soak this mixture for 30 minutes.

​Now, after 30 minutes, add the eggs and egg yolks, and whisk again until combined. OK, remember that double boiler technique we’ve used so often? Well, here we go again. Put the mixer bowl over slowly simmering water and stir - yes, all the time - for about 45 minutes until it thickens. While it’s still warm, it will still be a little runny, but will thicken as it cools.
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​Before it does cool, though, add in the butter chunks, one at a time. As they melt in, keep stirring, then let the curd cool completely.

​And that’s it! The technique is really in the gentle cooking, so maybe this is a patience lesson more than anything else. But it doesn’t matter what we call it. The result is delicious!

Now, what to do with it? Well, I’ve already given you a lot of suggestions, but it should be no surprise that I’m putting mine into a cake!

But first, we have to make some frosting. It’s Italian Meringue and if you’ve been watching, we’ve done this before.
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​Italian Meringue Frosting
6 egg whites
½ cup sugar
3 T light corn syrup
½ c + 1 T water
½ tsp cream of tartar
¼ tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp almond extract
Yellow food coloring

​Heat egg whites in a double boiler until they reach 100 degrees.  Move bowl to mixer, then add cream of tartar and salt and whip until frothy.  In another pan, heat sugar, water, and corn syrup and bring to a boil.
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​Boil about 2 minutes until they form a syrup. Don’t splatter it. It burns!  Now, start beating egg whites at high speed and while they’re beating, stream in the syrup slowly. Beat 3 more minutes or until stiff. Add extracts and mix just until combined. Now, because it’s going to be a pineapple, get out your yellow food coloring! Add just enough to get the color you want. Remember, a little goes a long way! If it gets too thick, mix it in by hand and it’s okay to leave some streaks. 
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Decorating
1 Pineapple top

Add a dab of frosting to the surface of a turntable and add the first chilled layer. With another spoonful of frosting, crumb coat the first layer. (See my crumb coating technique video if you need a little hint for this)

Fill a piping bag with frosting and, using a large, open tip, pipe one line around the edge to act as a dam, because the next thing you’ll do is fill the middle of this layer with half the citrus curd.
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​Now, add the second layer and do the same with the frosting dam and the rest of the curd. Top with the third layer and don’t fret if a little leaks out. Crumb coat the whole thing now and put in the freezer for a few minutes.

​There are a few different ways to finish the decorations and I show them all in the video, but basically, you’ll need to load a piping bag and, using a Wilton 4B or similar star tip, or a round 2A tip, pipe small dots of frosting in consecutive rows all around and up the sides.  Finish by adding the same dots in circles around the top.

Trim the pineapple top and place it in the center of the top, using toothpicks for stability if needed.

​Whew! That was quite the project, but I’m sure you’ll agree it was worth it! Looks beautiful, tastes delicious, and fun besides! Ringo even agrees! I sure hope you enjoyed this as much as I did! And it goes to show how much you can do if you just try!

Thanks for coming along with me! See you next time!​