Yes, I realize they’re a bit overdone and not all that original, but that’s beside the point :). So we held a tropical, Hawaiian-themed Fourth of July picnic at work… and it was a potluck… and so of course I was expected to come bearing sweets. I decided upon the obvious but simple (I was seeing Eclipe with my sister and very close friend the night before and thus needed a do-ahead recipe) and settled on these pineapple cupcakes. They were rather good! There was some confusion, however, as to their assembly: to make transportation easier, I opted to bring the icing (which was, admittedly, fairly runny- more of a glaze than an icing, really) in a small bowl and allow everyone to dunk their cupcakes individually. Unfortunately, despite my having labeled ‘cupcakes!’ and ‘dunking station!’ few seemed to ice their cupcakes. But this is okay – those who understood it, enjoyed it (and ended up with some very sticky fingers aftward). Should you follow this recipe, I’d suggest removing the wrappers prior to dunking… or baking in silicone cups and not worrying about baking cups alltogether.

Tropical Pineapple-Coconut Cupcakes

Adapted from Pineapple Meringue Cupcakes at A Good Apetite

Ingredients:

• 3/4 heaping cup AP organic flour
• 1/2  heaping teaspoon baking powder (make sure it’s fresh!)
• 2 tablespoons soy butter, room temperature/ soft
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg (cage-free, brown)
• 1 teaspoon 2x extra strength vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• Just under 1/4 cup organic skim milk
• 1/8 cup apricot nectar
• 1 small can pineapple pieces (small) in juice (NOT syrup)
• 1/3 cup shredded coconut

Icing/Glaze Ingredients:

• 1 box jell-o vanilla instant pudding mix (weird, I know)
• 1/3 cup low-fat smart balance sour cream
• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1/4 tsp 2x extra strength vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon apricot nectar
• 2 tablespoons organic skim milk
• 1/4 cup pineapple chunks in juice (not strained)

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 36 muffin cups with liners
2. Briskly cream together the soy butter, sugar, egg, & vanilla extract until light & fluffy. Then beat in the milk and apricot nectar.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the liquid mixture in 2-3 portions, being sure not to overmix.
5. Fold in the pineapple and coconut until just mixed. Do not overmix!
6. Fill the muffin tins until they are about 2/3 full. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the tops are lightly golden brown.
7. For the icing, combine all ingredients in food processor and pulse until combined. Chill glaze thoroughly before dipping cupcakes. Top with fresh pineapple chunks and toasted coconut for decoration.

They’re cute, and rather good, if you’re the tropical sort, so try them out! They’re certainly convenient for potlucks or transport if you ice them separately, and for those who catch the hint, dunking stations are quite a bit of fun… interactivity + food = stupendous :).

I fear the titles for these may be becoming increasingly long, but this happened to be a rather complicated cake, so I’ll consider it apt. :) For Office Birthday Cake #2, I had wanted to make something incredibly different for the non-chocolate folk as well as for those who didn’t want so rich a cake (my brownie cakes tend to be incredibly rich and fudgy, which I will admit is not for everyone) and thus thought that a vanilla-based cake would be a smart bet. However, leaving it at that would be boring, and I had been wanting to experiment with pineapple… thus this came about. It was absolutely a hit, and devoured as proudly as the other cake in the office. The boyfriend really enjoyed this one and has requested an encore performance, so I’ll make it again some time, perhaps with some slight variations (as I seem to be incapable of making exactly the same thing twice).

Tropical Pineapple-Vanilla Cake with Fresh Coconut, Mango Glaze, and Mango Whipped Cream

So, again, I shan’t give the exact recipe, but I will tell its contents. The vanilla cake has pineapple tidbits (very small pieces) and chunks (larger pieces). Any moisture used in the cake batter was substituted in favour of pineapple juice. I added 1 cup of fresh shredded coconut to the batter as well. I placed four pineapple rounds in the bottom of a springform pan, upside-down-cake-style, with some brown sugar for browning, then poured in the batter. Once baked, I flipped over the cake and allowed it to cool on a rack while I prepared the glaze. The mango glaze is simply blended mango pulp (Ataulfo) and 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar. Mango is a very thick fruit, so it barely needs any help. You could add a bit of ptoato starch if your mango glaze seems runny. I spread this over fairly thinly onto the cake, then stuck the coconut on while it was still very sticky. The cake was then chilled overnight to ensure the mango would fuse into the cake. The mango whipped cream follows the same process as the blackberry whipped cream, but with mango in the berry’s stead. I piped this (shell-shape) onto the top in circles, but you could decorate in whatever fashion you wish!

Here’s a simplified version of the ingredients:

• 1 box vanilla cake mix (choose one with no trans fats! or take the long route and take a traditional vanilla sponge cake recipe)
• 1 can pineapple chunks in juice
• 1 can pineapple tidbits in juice
• 1 can pineapple rounds in juice
• 2 cups flaked coconut
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 heaping cup organic canola oil
• 1/2 carton small organic heavy whipping cream
• 2 tsp powdered sugar
• 3 large Ataulfo mangoes, chopped into large cubes

Process:

• Mix vanilla cake batter as directed, but do NOT add water or any other liquid other than oil- substitute all water called for in recipe (or milk) for pineapple juice
• Mix pineapple tidbits and chunks into cake mix along with 1 cup of the shredded coconut
• Generously butter a 9-inch springform pan
• Cover the bottom of the pan with a light layer of brown sugar, then place pineapple rounds on top with another small sprinkling of sugar
• Pour batter on top and bake as directed for a normal vanilla sponge cake
• Remove from oven, flip over, and cool on a cooling rack
• Place 2 mangoes’ worth of cubes in a blender or food processor with powdered sugar; blend until smooth glaze consistency
• Spoon and spread glaze over cake until even; then arrange remaining coconut on top as desired (I did sides and outside of top)
• Blend remaining mango chunks until a smooth glaze forms
• Beat heavy whipping cream by itself or with a sprinkly of granulated (not powdered) sugar as directed in blackberry whipped cream recipe
• Fold in mango puree to whipped cream, then pour into a pastry bag or tube
• Pipe mango whipped cream onto cake in desired fashion; then chill cake thoroughly

It was delicious, incredibly moist, and very good. I’m usually against pineapple, but I liked the cake and was not bothered by the pineapple texture (my usual qualm). It fell apart as you ate it, and the coconut added a very nice sweetness that went splendidly with the vanilla, giving the cake a decidedly island attitude.

So Friday was the boyfriend’s birthday, and upon asking what he’d like to do to celebrate or have as a birthday gift, he cutely replied that he would like me to cook dinner for him. When I asked what that should consist of, he named is favourite meat- lamb- and one of his favourite desserts- carrot cake.

First came the cake, to allow for cooling time. This was my first try at a carrot cake, and I wanted to allow myself plenty of time for potential mishaps. Upon studying a number of recipes- I was glad to see that most recipes didn’t call for butter, and even more glad to have found this one from Eating Well, so that became my base (along with some alterations and some added-in ad-libs from Barefoot Contessa).

• I used 16 ounces of pineapple instead of the suggested 20 and found it to be far too much- I’d cut down to one 8-ounce can- and make sure it isn’t in syrup!
• 1 cup of sugar is really enough if using pineapple, which is naturally sweet, no need for the extra half cup
• I substituted some of the sugar (and made up the pineapple loss) with applesauce- but for the next time will use less- the middle of the cake was too moist and did not cook evenly with the outside edge of the cake
• Grating carrots is eeeeevil… have patience ready for this one… lots of patience… (but I do love carrots, so it’s okay)
• Thanks to a method developed in part by watching Robin Miller on food network (even though I really am not too big a fan of hers) and the boyfriend, it turns out that the easiest way to mash nuts is place them in a sealed bag, place the airtight bag on a wooden board, and smash them with a rolling pin. If you’re angry at someone, it’s an excellent way to let out your anger… consider it a punching bag for bakers.

That said, this one turned out fairly well for a first attempt- I’m pretty sure that I should have it reasonably mastered on the second try, paying attention to removing some moisture and baking for closer to 50 minutes rather than the suggested 45. Also: will try piping some of the icing.