When we moved to Kuala Lumpur for the first time in late December of 2001, we arrived as preparations for the Chinese New Year’s celebrations for the Year of the Horse got underway. The whole month of January was filled with special offers and big sales in all the shops and the opening of many road-side stalls selling specialties of the season.
The one that caught my eye the most were small pineapple tarts, or kuih tat in Malay, because they seemed so exotic. (The full name is kuih tat nanas, or pineapple cake tart, with nanas meaning pineapple but it is often left off since everyone knows that kuih tat is pineapple.) Sure, I had eaten pineapple a thousand times but not in baked goods or jam. I discovered that pineapple jam is as common in the supermarkets of Asia as the ubiquitous strawberry spread you find in the rest of the world. But it was new to me!
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| Traditional lion dance during a Chinese New Year celebration |
Make sure you scroll down to the bottom of this post to see all of the fabulous (and I am not even joking a little bit) tropical Bundt cakes that the group has created this month.
Ingredients
For the pineapple filling or jam:
1 fresh pineapple, about 1 lb 3 oz or 550g, after peeling and coring
3/4 cup or 175g sugar
Pinch salt
(Some Malaysian recipes call for spices or yellow food coloring but I prefer the natural flavor of the pineapple and the coloring is unnecessary. This filling or jam turns the most amazing golden yellow color without it.)
For the cake batter:
2 1/2 cups or 310g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 rounded 1/2 cup or 125g soft unsalted butter
3/4 cup or 175g sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup or 120ml sour cream or crème fraîche or whole fat yogurt
1/4 cup or 60ml pineapple filling or jam
For the glaze:
1/4 cup pineapple filling
Pineapple juice to loosen the filling (maybe one or two tablespoons)
1 tablespoon butter
Method
To make the pineapple jam filling, pulse the pineapple in your food processor until it is cut into small pieces. You don’t want it completely smooth so there should be small chunks.
Pour the chopped pineapple into a strainer over a small bowl or measuring cup to catch the juice. Once the pineapple has stopped dripping, cover the juice and refrigerate until needed.
Cook the drained pineapple in a small covered pot for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add in the sugar and cook over a low heat until the jam is sticky and pretty dry, stirring frequently.
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| Look! Pineapple jam! Also great on toast. |
When your pineapple filling is cool, preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your Bundt pan by greasing or spraying liberally with non stick spray and adding a tablespoon or two of flour and shaking it around till the pan is coated.
To make the cake batter, measure your dry cake ingredients into a small bowl: the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix well.
Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl with beaters or in your standing mixer.
Now mix in 1/4 cup or 60ml of the pineapple filling, avoiding any liquid that has settled around the bottom in the jam bowl.
Then beat in a couple of tablespoons of the flour mixture, with one egg.
Then beat in another couple of tablespoons of flour mixture with the second egg.
Add the rest of the flour mixture and the sour cream and beat again. (I actually used yogurt this time.) The batter will be very thick.
Spoon just more than half of the cake batter around the Bundt pan. Make a channel of sorts in the middle of the batter for the filling. This should prevent the filling from leaking out while baking.
Use a small spoon to fill the channel in the batter with your pineapple filling, once again, using the driest bits. Make sure to leave behind about 1/4 cup of the filling with the runny bits to use for the glaze.
Cover with the remaining batter and smooth the top.
Bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes or until the cake starts to pull away from the sides a little bit.
Let the cake cool for 10-15 minutes and then loosen the sides with a small spatula or knife. Turn the cake out on to a rack to finish cooling.
Meanwhile, warm the remaining filling to loosen it and add in a couple of tablespoons of reserved pineapple juice, if necessary. When it’s all warm and shiny, add in one tablespoon of butter and stir well.
Once the cake is cool, use a pastry brush to add the glaze.
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| The national flower of Malaysia is a beautiful red hibiscus referred to there as Bunga Raya. |
Enjoy!
Here are the links to the great round-up of tropical Bundts we have for you this month:
Bananas Foster Bundt by Anita from Hungry Couple
Blue Hawaiian Bundt Cake by Tara from Noshing With The Nolands
Chocolate Bundt With Coconut Cream Cheese Filling by Karen from In The Kitchen With KP
Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake by Kim from Cravings Of A Lunatic Coconut and Rum Tea Cake by Anuradha from Baker Street
Coconut Banana Bundt Cake with Rum Glaze by Lora from Cake Duchess
Coconut Bundt Cake by Holly from A Baker’s House
Coconut Lime Bundt Cake by Kate from Food Babbles
Hummingbird Bundt Cake by Heather from Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks
Hummingbird Bundt Cake by Jennie from The Messy Baker Blog
Lime Glazed Bundt Cake by Carrie from Poet In The Pantry
Mini Pineapple Bundt Cakes with White Chocolate Ganache by Alice from Hip Foodie Mom Pina Colada Bundt Cake by Renee from Magnolia Days
Vanilla Orange Bundt Cake with a Hint of Coconut by Laura from The Spiced Life
Very Vanilla Bundt Bake by Dorothy from Shockingly Delicious
White Chocolate Guava Cake by Kim from Ninja Baking
