Pineapple Bundt with Kuih Tat Filling #BundtaMonth

A tender crumbed pineapple Bundt cake filled with pineapple jam, just like the Malaysian kuih tats or pineapple tarts made for Chinese New Year and Hari Raya. What are you celebrating?



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!

Traditional lion dance during a Chinese New Year celebration

When the tropical theme for March’s BundtaMonth was announced, the kuih tat popped into my head, because I wanted to share how easy pineapple jam is to make and how delicious it is as a filling in a Bundt cake.  It’s a great celebration cake, for Chinese New Year or for whatever you happen to be celebrating.

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.

It will turn slightly darker.  Transfer the jam to a bowl and allow to cool.  (You can put this in the refrigerator.)

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.

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

Coconut Pecan Brownie Muffins #MuffinMonday

Rich, chocolately muffins with pecans, coconut, hazelnut spread and chocolate chips, these Coconut Pecan Brownie Muffins as gorgeous as they are delicious.

Once again this week, Anuradha, our illustrious Muffin Monday organizer has given us free reign, prescribing only one ingredient and no specific recipe.  In a lot of ways, I find this even more fun and I hope the trend continues.   Our ingredient for this week is coconut, which I love!  The first thought that popped into my head was the birthday cake I often asked for as a child, German Chocolate Cake, which has a pecan coconut frosting.  But since muffins aren’t really supposed to be cupcakes with frosting, I decided just to take those flavors and add them into the actual muffin.*  They went off to the office with my dear husband and, I am told, were gone in an absolute flash.  Which pleases me no end!

Headed for work, spreading joy for #MuffinMonday on Sunday, which is our Monday, so it works out perfectly.

Coconut Pecan Brownie Muffins

This recipe was adapted from the Chocolate Brownie Muffin recipe in The Australian Women's Weekly Madeleines, Muffins & More, which I received as a Christmas gift from my beautiful, generous daughters.

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
1/3 cup or 26g cocoa powder
1/3 cup or 75g sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup or 165g chocolate hazelnut spread plus extra for decorating
1/4 cup or 60g butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
1/2 cup or 120g sour cream
1 cup or 125g whole pecans (You will reserve 1/4 for decorating.)
1/2 cup or 50g sweetened flaked coconut plus extra for decorating
1/2 cup or 95g chocolate chips

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your muffin tins (one 12-cup and one 6-cup) by spraying with non-stick spray or lining with muffin papers.

Chop pecans and set aside 1/4 cup for decorating.

Combine your flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

In another smaller bowl, whisk together your egg, chocolate hazelnut spread, milk, sour cream and butter.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stop when it’s still quite dry looking.

Add in three-quarters of the pecans, the coconut flakes and the chocolate chips.  Stir until just mixed.

Divide your batter between the 18 prepared muffin cups.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool for a few minutes in the pans and then remove to continue cooling on a wire rack.

Once cool, spread the muffins with a small amount of the chocolate hazelnut spread and decorate with the rest of the pecans and just a little of the coconut flakes.

Enjoy!

Savory Shrimp Cheesecake with Herbs and Garlic

Cream cheese, sheep's milk feta and garlicky herbed shrimp baked into a savory cheesecake is a beautiful appetizer served with bread or crackers.

Things were a little crazy here during the holiday season around Christmas and New Year, what with both daughters in residence, one birthday to celebrate, and our household shipment arriving from Cairo just a few days before Santa. I didn’t have much time for extraneous cooking and baking since birthdays, Christmas, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day have strictly enforced menu requirements but that didn’t stop me from bookmarking recipes I wanted to try when things calmed down. One of them was for a savory goat cheese cheesecake from the very talented +Jennifer Field , or her Super Hero alter ego, Pastry Chef Online .

When this week’s #SundaySupper theme (Cheese, Cake and Cheesecake!) was announced, I knew instantly what I would make. And to avoid the problem Jenni mentions of having to make mean faces at someone who wants to share your savory cheesecake, I decided to make two small cakes so dear husband and I could each have our own. A bit piggish, yes. But so GOOD! (With Jenni's permission, I have adapted her recipe to add shrimp with a few other tweaks so make sure to go check out the original as well.)

Scroll on down to the bottom of my post to see what other lovely cheese, cake and cheesecake recipes the #SundaySupper group has in store for you today. Our sweet host this week is Angie from Big Bear’s Wife . Did you see her Bacon and Shrimp Bisque last week when we did soups? My favorite!

Ingredients
(Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature).
6 large shrimp, peeled and deveined (I left the tails on because they are prettier that way but if your shrimp are already completely peeled, it’s no big deal) With the tails on, these weighed 150g or about 5 1/4 oz.
Small bunch green onions
Small bunch flat-leafed parsley
2 cloves garlic
1 small red chili pepper
1 tablespoon butter
6 oz or 170g full fat cream cheese
3 1/2 oz or 100g goat or sheepmilk feta
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 large egg
1 tablespoon cornstarch or corn flour
Several grindings of black pepper

To serve: one fresh baguette sliced into rounds or crackers of your choice

Method
Preheat your oven to 325°F or 165°C and prepare your pans or ramekins by cutting out circles of parchment paper for the bottoms and spraying the insides with non-stick spray. (My two ramekins each held 3/4 cup or almost 180ml quite comfortably without danger of spillage. Test your volume with a measuring cup and water before preparing your ramekins.)

Smash your garlic cloves with the side of your knife and split the chili up the middle, then mince both. Chop your parsley and green onions.

Set aside just a tiny bit of the parsley, chili pepper and green onions for garnish later.

Put the rest of the parsley, chili pepper, green onion and all of the garlic in a saucepan with the butter and shrimp. Cook until the shrimp are completely done.

Remove the shrimp from the pan and take the tails off of four of them. Chop the four shrimp with a large knife. Wrap the two remaining shrimp and refrigerate. These will be garnish later.

In a big mixing bowl, mix your cream cheese, feta and chopped shrimp, adding in the cooked herbs and garlic from the saucepan.

Scrape the sides of the bowl down and then add the sour cream, egg and cornstarch. Give the whole thing a few good grinds of fresh black pepper. Mix well.

Meanwhile, Polly, put the kettle on, because you are going to need some hot water here shortly.

Spoon the batter into your prepared baking dishes and smooth the tops. Place those baking dishes inside a larger baking pan.

Put the whole thing into your preheated oven on the middle rack. Quickly fill the bottom pan with hot water up to the middle of the ramekins.

Bake for about 25-35 minutes or until the cheesecake is set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before covering in cling film and refrigerating for several hours or even overnight.

When you are ready to serve, warm a knife in hot water and run it around the inside of your ramekins. You can turn it over directly on to the serving plate or onto your hand covered by some cling film, then place it where you want it on the serving plate. Smooth the sides with your warm knife, if necessary.

Garnish each cheesecake with your reserved chopped parsley, red chili pepper and green onions. Top each with a cooked shrimp.

Serve with bread or crackers. Try not to hunch protectively over the plate. The honest truth is that they are both big enough to share.

Enjoy!

The #SundaySupper group have outdone themselves with this theme! Click on the links to see their fabulous recipes.

Cheese

Baked Mozzarella Sticks by Mama’s Blissful Bites

Basil Balsamic Strawberries & Whipped Feta Grilled Cheese by Cupcakes & Kale Chips

Buffalo Cream Cheese Stuffed Chicken by In The Kitchen With KP

Cheeseburger Soup by Dinners Dishes and Desserts

Cheesy Spinach and Artichoke Dip with Parmesan Crisps by BigBearsWife

Cherry Blossom Crescents by The Ninja Baker

Chevre Torte with Mango and Sweet Pepper Salsa by Noshing with the Nolands

Creamy Meyer Lemon Pasta with Homemade Ricotta and Broccoli by The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen

Crepes with Strawberry Mascarpone Cream Filling by Soni’s Food

Garlic and Goat by Supper for a Steal

Homemade Velveeta Cheese by Juanitas Cocina

Irish Cheese Soufflés by girlichef

Lox and Cream Cheese Mini Omelettes by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings

Pan-Fried Halloumi Cheese Salad by The Catholic Foodie

Paneer Indian Cottage Cheese Pancake by Masala Herb

Paneer Tikka Masala by Kimchi Mom

Quick and Easy Homemade Cottage Cheese by The Meltaways

Ricotta Croquettes by Basic N Delicious

Roasted Pears with Pecorino by Happy Baking Days

Saag Paneer! Golden Roasted Ricotta In Savory Spinach Sauce by Sue’s Nutrition Buzz

Sourdough Cheese Crackers by Curious Cuisiniere

Cakes

Almond Polenta Cake by Shockingly Delicious

Banana Split Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze by NeighborFood Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting by Hezzi D’s Books & Cooks Dairyfree Ice Cream Cake by Galactosemia in PDX Dense Chocolate Cherry Cake by What Smells So Good? Flourless Chocolate Bean Cake by Vintage Kitchen KitKat Chocolate Cake by The Urban Mrs. Old Fashioned Caramel Cake by There and Back Again Peanut Butter Banana Bundt Cake with Chocolate Chips by Gotta Get Baked Salmon Cakes by Family Foodie Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cake by Gourmet Drizzles Tequila Lime Cupcakes by Mama Mommy Mom

& Cheesecakes

Cheesecake au Baileys by Baker Street

Chocolate Cheesecake Bites by Mom, What’s For Dinner?

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cheesecake by Magnolia Days

Grasshopper Cheesecake Bars by That Skinny Chick Can Bake

Individual Strawberry and White Chocolate Cheesecakes by Small Wallet Big Appetite

Kit Kat Cheesecake Brownies by Chocolate Moosey

Lime Cheesecake Bites by Peanut Butter and Peppers

Mini Raspberry Cheesecakes with White Chocolate Crusts by Cupcakes and Pearls

Mini Toddler Cherry Cheesecakes by In the Kitchen with Audrey and Maurene

Mocha Cheesecake by The Lovely Pantry

No-Bake Banana Sundae Cheesecake by The Messy Baker

Nutella Cheesecake Brownies by The Foodie Army Wife

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Mini Cheesecakes by Cookistry

Reese’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Bundt Cake by Daily Dish Recipes

Tiny Turtle Cheesecakes (No Bake) by Cravings of a Lunatic