Pina Colada cake

A light, fluffy and perfectly moist Pina Colada cake, perfect for spring. A simple and quick buttery cake made with pineapple syrup and pieces of pineapple, with a delicate hint of lemon, finished with a coconut liqueur icing. Enjoy!

Ingredients for Pina Colada cake:

• 125 g butter
• 150 g caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• finely grated zest of 1 small lemon
• 25 ml lemon juice
• 150 ml pineapple syrup (from a tin)
• 225 g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• tinned pineapple, cut into smaller pieces (1 small tin*)

All ingredients should be at room temperature.

Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the lemon zest and beat again. Sift the flour and baking powder directly into the bowl, then add the lemon juice and pineapple syrup. Mix with a balloon whisk just until combined.

Line the base of a 25 cm round cake tin with baking paper. Pour in the batter and arrange the pineapple pieces over the top.

Bake at 160°C for 40–45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. The batter is quite runny, so the pineapple pieces will sink to the bottom during baking. Once baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly, then turn the cake out onto a serving plate upside down (the pineapple pieces will then be on top).

Once completely cool, drizzle the Pina Colada cake with the coconut icing and sprinkle with desiccated coconut.

Ingredients for the coconut icing:

• ⅔ cup icing sugar
• 2–3 tbsp coconut liqueur (or boiling water or coconut milk)
• additionally: desiccated coconut, for sprinkling

Place the icing ingredients in a small bowl and mix with the back of a spoon until smooth. If the icing is too runny, add more icing sugar; if it is too thick, add a little more liqueur.

A small tin of pineapple weighs 435 g; after draining, the pineapple weighs 260 g.

Enjoy!