Banana Coconut Pineapple Bundt #BundtBakers

This tropical cake is a wonderful mix of banana and pineapple, with a hint of coconut from coconut cream. Perfect for a tropical vacation cake. 

This month my Bundt Baking group is taking a tropical vacation and we are traveling by Bundt pan. Our lovely cruise director is Christiane from Taking on Magazines. Climb aboard as we cast off for sunny climes and don’t forget to check out the aft end of this post for all the tropical vacation inspired Bundts we have baked for you today.

Mine comes to you by way of South America and was adapted from this recipe on My Colombian Recipes.

Ingredients
For the cake batter:
1 cup or 200g sugar
1/4 cup or 60g butter
2 ripe bananas
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups or 190g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup or 240ml unsweetened coconut cream (not milk)
1 small can (8 oz or 227g) pineapple chunks in light syrup

Pineapple glaze:
3/4 cup or 95g powdered sugar
Pinch salt
1 tablespoon + pineapple syrup from can till desired drizzling or pouring consistence is reached

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C.  Grease and flour a 10- or 12-cup Bundt pan. The 10-cup will give you a taller cake than mine as I used a 12-cup.

Drain the pineapple chunks and save the syrup. We will use some of it for the glaze.

Chop the chunks up into small pieces. Tip the cutting board up on one end and let the extra juice drain off the other side. I put some paper towels there to catch the runoff but you can put a plate or put the whole thing in a clean sink.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl with electric beaters or in the bowl of your stand mixer. Add in the bananas and beat again to mash and combine.

Add the eggs and beat again.

In a separate bowl, sift together your flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the pineapple bits to the flour mixture and stir it about lightly to coat the pineapple with flour and separate the bits.

Add the flour/pineapple to the mixing bowl along with the coconut milk. Beat to combine.

Pour the batter into your prepared Bundt pan and bake in your preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until a wooden toothpick or skewer comes out clean.

Leave to cool for about 10 minutes and then turn out on a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the pineapple glaze, measure your powdered sugar and a pinch of salt into a small bowl and add one tablespoon of the light syrup reserved from the can of pineapple. Mix well.

Add more pineapple syrup a little at a time, stirring well with each addition, until the glaze reaches the consistency you prefer.

Drizzle or pour the glaze over the cake when it is completely cool.

Enjoy!

Check out all the lovely tropical Bundts we have for you this month!

• Banana Coconut Pineapple Bundt by Food Lust People Love
• Banana Pineapple Mini Bundt Cakes by I Love Bundt Cakes
• Banana Rum Cake by Jane's Adventures in Dinner
• Bounty Bundt Cake by Baking in Pyjamas
• Bundt Cake Tropical by La mejor manera de hacer …
• Chocolate Coconut Tres Leche Bundt Cake by The Whisking Bowl
• Drømmekage (Danish Dream Cake) Bundt Cake by Brooklyn Homemaker
• Golden Tropical Coconut Bundt Cake by Faith, Hope, Love & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Key Lime Bundt Cake by Taking On Magazines
• Lava Flow Bundt Cake by All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Lime-Coconut Bundt Cake by Palatable Pastime
• Piña Colada Rum Bundt Cake by Making Miracles
• Pineapple Upside Down Coconut Cake by Adventures in All Things Food
• Speckled Tropical Bundt Cake by I Camp in my Kitchen
• Tequila Sunrise Bundt Cake by Los Chatos Chefs
• Tres Leche Bundt with Pineapple and Strawberry Whipped Cream by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Tropical Hummingbird Bundt Cake by Tartacadabra
• Tropical Supreme Cake with Rum Cream Cheese Glaze by Sew You Think You Can Cook

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving Bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest Board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme or ingredient.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers can be found on our homepage.

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Pineapple Macadamia Nut Shortbread #CreativeCookieExchange

Candied pineapple and macadamia nuts bring a little tropical flair to traditional, rich buttery shortbread.

This month my Creative Cookie Exchange friends are channeling the tropics to bring you cookies that remind us of sun and surf and swaying palms trees. And I got to reminiscing about a long ago holiday to Hawaii.

When I was still in school and my father moved to southeast Asia, he used to book tickets for my sisters and me to visit him from Texas. No one flew that far in one go at the time so there were several stops. Often one of the layovers was in Hawaii so we’d break up the trip by staying a few days on Waikiki. One year I was going to be traveling on my own so I twisted a friend’s arm (hard task, right?) to come with me. Her father worked for Delta so her ticket was heavily discounted and since Daddy was already paying for the hotel room, all she needed was spending money. We had the best time, hanging out on the beach and soaking up the sun together.

I’ll tell you honestly that while we ate our share of pineapple there, both at breakfast time and perched on tropical cocktails, I don’t recall trying a macadamia nut until years later. Nevertheless both pineapples and macadamias have become synonymous with Hawaii. And they go beautifully together in buttery shortbread.

Adapted from Recipe.com

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups or 315g all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed or 65g brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup or 227g cold butter
1/4 cup finely chopped or 30g macadamia nuts
1/4 cup finely chopped or 50g candied pineapple

Method
Preheat your oven to 325°F or 163°C and prepare a 8 x 8 in or 20 x 20cm pan by lining it completely with baking parchment. I also use a little non-stick spray just to help it stay in place.

Chop your pineapple and nuts into small pieces.

In a large mixing bowl, combine your flour, brown sugar and salt.

Cut the cold butter into pieces and add them to the mixing bowl. Use a pastry blender to cut in the butter, until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.

Stir in the chopped candied pineapple and nuts. Use your fingers to break up the bits of pineapple so they aren’t all stuck together.

Pour the mixture into your prepared pan and level it out with a spatula or spoon.

Use your hands to press and flatten the mixture as thin as you can manage.

Use a sharp knife to score the top of the shortbread. If it crumbles as you try to score it, press it down again, even more firmly. You can poke 'em with a fork if you want to also. That seems traditional for shortbread.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 18-22 minutes or until the edges are starting to turn golden.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pan for just a few minutes on a wire rack. While the it's still quite warm, use the sharp knife to cut right through the shortbread where you scored it.

Allow to cool completely before removing the shortbread cookies from the pan.

These are melt in your mouth good.

Enjoy!

Check out all the other tropical cookies from my fellow Creative Cookie Exchange bakers this month:

• Chocolate Dipped Macadamia Nut Cookies by A Baker's House
• Coconut Mango Butter Cookies by Oven Delights
• Frosted Pineapple Shortbread Cookies by Magnolia Days
• Guava Lava Cookiess by Flours & Frostings
• Hawaiian Raincoast Crisps by All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Key Lime White Chocolate Chunk Cookies by 2 Cookin' Mamas
• Lime Coconut Bars with Macadamia Nuts and White Chocolate Chunks by The Spiced Life
• Macadamia Nut and White Chocolate Chunk Cookies by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Mojito Sugar Cookies by Upstate Ramblings
• Passion Fruit Curd Shortbread Cookies by Live. Bake. Love.
• Pineapple Coconut Cookies by A Shaggy Dough Story
• Pineapple Macadamia Nut Shortbread by Food Lust People Love

Creative Cookie Exchange is hosted by Laura of The Spiced Life, this month with technical assistance from Renee of Magnolia Days. We get together once a month to bake cookies with a common theme or ingredient so Creative Cookie Exchange is a great resource for cookie recipes. Be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts at The Spiced Life). We post the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month!

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Caramelized Pineapple Blue Cheese Corncake Bundt #BundtBakers

With just enough cornmeal to border on cornbread but almost enough sugar to be cake, this tender crumb Bundt encloses little nuggets of sweet and savory with caramelized pineapple and crumbled Roquefort cheese.

This month’s Bundt Baker challenge, set by June of How to Philosophize with Cake, was to create a Bundt with unusual flavor combinations. Fortunately, I received the perfect Christmas gift to help me out, a handy little book called The Flavor Thesaurus – Pairings, recipes and ideas for the creative cook. <affiliate link

I must admit that I don’t always agree with the author who readily admits that taste is subjective, yet gives her own as fact. She states, for instance, that coffee is used as a marinade for beef in many Latin American cultures, but she tried it once and it’s better avoided. She suggested that one might as well add lit cigarettes as a garnish. Harrumph. Well, I have tried coffee with beef  too and thought it was fabulous. So there.

But in the case of pineapple and blue cheese, she was spot on. They do go very nicely together, especially as I decided to caramelize the pineapples at the last minute and created a batter with some cornmeal and just enough sugar to make what I have christened corncake. We ate thick slices of it with big bowls of spicy beef chili! So good!

Ingredients
1 small can (4.95 oz or 140g drained weight) sliced pineapple in light syrup
4 oz or 115g blue cheese
1/2 cup or 65g fine yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 cups or 190g flour
1/4 cup or 50g sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 cup or 184g full fat sour cream
Drained light syrup from canned pineapple, topped up with milk to make 1/2 cup or 120ml
(It's going to look a little curdled. Don't let that bother you.)
2 large eggs
1/3 cup or 78ml canola oil

Method
Drain and save the light syrup from your pineapple slices. Dry off the pineapple with paper towels.

Heat your griddle or non-stick frying pan till it’s smoking hot and toast the pineapple slices till browned and caramelized on both sides.

Leave to cool and then chop into small wedges with a sharp knife. Crumble the blue cheese and set aside.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and butter and flour your 10-cup Bundt pan liberally or use a non-stick baking spray to prepare the pan.

Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

Whisk together your sour cream, pineapple syrup topped up with milk, eggs and oil in another bowl.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Fold in the pineapple bits and the crumbled blue cheese.

Pour or spoon the batter into your prepared Bundt pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before turning it out on a wire rack to finish cooling.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to June for this creative challenge! Want to see what everyone else baked?

• Banana Bacon Bundt Cake by Liv For Cake
• Beet and Beer Red Velvet Bundt Cake by I Sugar Coat It
• Beet and Blood Orange Bundt Cake by Brooklyn Homemaker
• Black Pepper and Red Wine Bundt Cake by Passion Kneaded
• Caramelized Pineapple Blue Cheese Corncake Bundt by Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate Banana Bacon Bundt Cake by The Freshman Cook
• Chocolate Lemon Bundt Cake by I Bake He Shoots
• Chocolate Liquorice Bundt Cake by Baking in Pyjamas
• Chocolate Potato Bundt Cake with Strawberry Glaze by Magnolia Days
• Chocolate Tomato Soup Bundt Cake by SpiceRoots
• Coconut and Rose Syrup Bundt Cake by I Camp In My Kitchen
• Coconut, Cardamom, and Orange Cake by Baking Yummies
• Dark Chocolate Beet Cake by All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Dark Chocolate Stout Bundt by Living the Gourmet
• Junk Food Bundt Cake by Faith, Hope, Love, and Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Lemon Rosemary Bundt by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Lovely Fields Bundt Cake by Los Chatos Chefs
• Mini Mayonnaise and Chocolate Bundt Cakes by I Love Bundt Cakes
• Olive Oil Rosemary Bundt Cake by Tartacadabra
• Orange Bourbon Rosemary Bundt Cake by The Spiced Life
• Peanut Butter Sour Cream Bundt Cake by Basic N Delicious
• Six Flavor Bundt by Making Miracles
• Sweet Potato and Marshmallow Bundt by Jane's Adventures in Dinner
• Triple Rum Black Pepper Bundt Cake by How to Philosophize with Cake

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving Bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest Board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme or ingredient.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers can be found on our homepage.

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Crushed Pineapple Ice Cream #FoodieExtravaganza

Old-fashion ice cream made with a sweet egg custard and crushed pineapple is simplicity itself because sometimes one shouldn’t mess with a good thing.

Not too long back, we were cleaning out the storage space in my laundry room and came across a brand new ice cream maker that had been a gift from my older sister when we were living in Brazil. We never did use it because cream was so dang expensive there, so it got moved to Houston in 1999 and was never really unpacked. It was time to make ice cream! Suggestions were solicited and I expected Mom to ask for peach, her favorite fruit, but she surprised me with the request for pineapple ice cream.

When my mom was growing up in southern Louisiana, family picnics always included hand-cranked ice cream makers filled with the ingredients for pineapple ice cream in the middle, surrounded by rock salt and ice. She says sometimes as many as six were lined up under the shade of the old pecan trees. The menfolk chatted and cranked until the ice cream started freezing and the handles became harder and harder to turn. Then the ice cream machines would be covered with old burlap sacks until the ice cream was hard enough and ready to serve, several hours later. What a great finish to a family picnic!

This crushed pineapple ice cream brought back good childhood memories for her and I am delighted to share it today for our Foodie Extravaganza creative ice cream event, hosted by Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla.

Recipe adapted from the pineapple ice cream in Quick Cooking May/June 2002 issue. (No longer published, more’s the pity.)

N.B.: You need a thermometer to accurately prepare this recipe, as written.

Ingredients
2 cups or 480ml milk
1 cup or 200g sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1-3/4 cups or 414ml heavy whipping cream
1 small can (8 oz or 227g) crushed pineapple in 100% juice - Do not drain!

Method
In a bowl large enough to hold the pot you plan to make your ice cream base or custard in, cover the bottom with ice cubes two layers deep. Set aside.

In a large pot, heat your milk to 175°F or 80°C. Add in the sugar and stir till it is dissolved.

Whisk a small amount of the hot mixture into the eggs.

Return all to the pot, whisking constantly.

Cook and stir over low heat until the mixture reaches at least 160°F or 72°C and coats the back of a metal spoon.

Remove from the heat. Add some water to the ice bowl and place the pot in the ice water to cool quickly. Stir constantly for two minutes.

Now stir in the whipping cream and the can of crushed pineapple.

Pour the mixture into a Ziploc bag and press the air completely out of it. Pop it in your freezer until chilled through, about one hour.

Pour into your ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions. Depending on your ice cream maker, you may have to transfer the ice cream into an airtight container to freeze completely before serving.

After about 30 minutes of churning in an electric ice cream freezer.

Enjoy!

Check out all the great frozen treats we have for you this month! Thanks for hosting, Camilla! 

• Chocolate Decadence Ice Cream by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Chocolate Malted Whopper Ice Cream by My Daylights
• Crushed Pineapple Ice Cream by Food Lust People Love
• Custard Cream & Strawberry Swirl No Churn Ice Cream by Baking in Pyjamas
• Éma’a (Syrian Ice Cream) by Tara's Multicultural Table
• Fruity Fruit Popsicles by The Freshman Cook
• Lemon Basil Ice Cream by Our Good Life
• Lemongrass Ginger Coconut Ice Cream by The Joyful Foodie
• Maple Bacon Ice Cream by Cooking With Carlee
• No-Churn Chopped Macaron Vanilla Bean Ice Cream by Rhubarb and Honey
• No Churn Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream by Fearlessly Creative Mammas
• No Churn Reese's Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream by NinjaBaker.com
• Oat and Dulce de Leche Swirl Ice Cream by Passion Kneaded
• Peach Cobbler Ice Cream by Cherishing a Sweet Life
• Rhubarb Ice Cream by From Gate to Plate
• Root Beer Barrel Ice Cream by Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Tahini and Lemon Curd Ice Cream by Sew You Think You Can Cook
• The Bees' Knees Semifreddo by Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays or cook and bake together with the same ingredient or theme each month. This month - Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla is hosting - she invited bloggers to come up with creative ice cream creations.

So during this first full month of summer, it's all about ice cream. But that can include gelato, semi-freddo, and even popsicles! We hope you all enjoy our delicious frozen creations this month and come back to see what we bring for you next month.

Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

If you're a reader looking for delicious recipes check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out HERE.

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Christmas Ham Muffins #MuffinMonday

For just a little taste of Christmas any time of the year, make ham, pineapple and brown sugar muffins, topped with pineapple in just a little brown sugar mustard glaze.

One of the early recipes I shared on this blog was for a baked Christmas ham, covered all over with pineapple slices and maraschino cherries and slathered with brown sugar mustard glaze. Just like my grandmother used to make. I was cooking with a friend in Cairo while I was there on a house-hunting trip before our move, so the photos were pretty sad, but I can tell you that the ham was spectacular.

I give you exhibit A.

These muffins are a little sweet and a little savory and the little drizzle of brown sugar mustard glaze on top is divine.

Ingredients
For the muffin batter:
2 cups or 250g flour
1/2 cup or 100g dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 120ml milk
1/2 cup or 120ml pineapple juice
1/2 cup or 120ml canola oil
2 eggs
2 slices canned pineapple in juice (about 1/2 cup when chopped or 110g)
3/4 cup or 100g sliced or chopped ham

For topping:
12 small chunks pineapple
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
6 cocktail cherries

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease your muffin tin or line it with paper liners.

Cut your pineapple into small chunks and put 12 pieces in a small bowl for the topping. Add the tablespoon of brown sugar and the teaspoon of yellow mustard. Mix well.

Cut your cherries in half and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.  Mash the brown sugar lumps out with a fork, if necessary.

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, pineapple juice and oil.

Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them together until just mixed.

Fold in the pineapple and ham.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Put one piece of the pineapple topping on each, along with a drizzle of the brown sugar mustard glaze. Add one cherry half.

Bake in the preheated oven about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool on a rack for a few minutes and then remove the muffins to cool completely.

Now aren't those festive?

Enjoy! Early Merry Christmas to you!