Coconut and Passionfruit Cake

In a recent dinner, organized to celebrate the birthday of a friend, I took this coconut and passion fruit cake, so fluffy and tasty. The vibrant color  and the aroma of passion fruit also contribute to make this cake a true feast for the senses.

Ingredients:

300 g sugar

4 eggs

125 ml of vegetable oil

150 ml passion fruit juice 

150 ml of grated coconut

250 g flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

(for the icing)

1 egg white

100 powdered sugar

2 tablespoons of passion fruit juice

embellishments (optional)

Beat the eggs with the sugar until the mixture is creamy and white. Add the oil and continue to beat. Then add the passion fruit juice. You can use already prepared pulp. In case of using the fruit, remove the seeds and pulp, reduce to pulp and strain to separate the seeds. If necessary, add a little milk to make up 150 ml. Add the grated coconut. Finally, add the flour mixed with the baking powder. Bake in oven heated to 180 ° in a greased and floured baking pan. When cooked, remove and let cool.

When the cake is cool, prepare the icing, beating the egg white with the powdered sugar until it peaks. Add the passion fruit juice and mix well. Cover the top of the cake with the icing and let some drops to go down along the cake. Finish decorating with embellishments of your choice.

A Xmas Cake Fit for a Queen

In this Xmas edition of Bread Baking Day, Cindy from Cindystar challenge us to bake a bread or a cake  that would reflect de Season or that would be tipical of our country in this time of the year. To any portuguese, to think of a cake that reflects the Xmas espirit, brings the King Cake (Bolo Rei) imediatelly to our mind. Nevertheless, my favorite is the Queen Cake (Bolo Rainha).  And is this cake, fit to crown a real queen, that I bring to you today!

These cakes are typical of Xmas Season, specially of Xmas Eve and of the Kings Day (January 6th). Both cakes are made of yeasted dough, with nuts, raisins and, in the case of the King Cake, candied fruits. Inspired in the french Gallette de Rois, is told that the recipe was brought from France to Portugal in the end of the 19th century. Traditionally, each cake have inside a dried  broad been and a small gift. The one who find the been in his piece of cake, would have good luck in the new year and should, in the following Xmas, offer a similar cake.

Ingredients:

100 g butter

150 g sugar

450 g flour

1bag of biological yeast

3 eggs

2 dl milk

2 dl orange juice

2 tbsp Port Wine

2 tbsp aqua vitae or brandy

1 lemon zest

1 orange zest

200 g of mixed nuts (whole nuts, almonds, hazelnuts) and raisins

Dissolve the yeast on the milk. Make a cavity in the center of the flour and add all the ingredients except the dried fruits. Work the dough until it becomes soft and elastic. Ad the nuts and raisins, making sure that they are evenly distributed. Leave the dough to rest in a worm place, for at least one hour. Then, work the dough again, in order to get the air out, and form a crown shaped cake. Decorate with more nuts and raisins. Cover and let raise for another 45 minutes. Swab with a egg yolk and take to the oven to bake until it gets golden brown.

Have a Nice 2012!

Pineapple and Coconut Cake

One of my favourite drinks during my teens was Piña Colada. Even as a soft drink, it had that tropical aura that brought me to a holidays and exotic islands ambience. All that just for the price of a drink!

That's why, for me, and I think for many people in my generation, the pineapple and coconut flavours combined have that magic! So, why not try this winning combination on a cake? I'm sure this is not an original idea, but this recipe come to me from no more inspiration than the one given by a cocktail that I drunk twenty years ago!

Ingredients:
4 eggs
300 g sugar
150 ml vegetable oil
150 ml pineapple pulp
50 g grated coconut
250 g flour with baking powder
Beat the eggs with the sugar until you have an homogeneous mixture. Add the oil and continue beating. Next add the pineapple pulp (I reduce the fruit pieces to a pure with the hand mixer) and the coconut. Finally, add the flour, mixing carefully but without beating. Cook in medium oven in a pan greased and dusted.

Good appetite!!