Eggle$s PiNe@PpLE C@KE

i have many friends who happen to be vegetarians, & trust me, they are strict ones. they even avoid cakes-cookies which has egg in them.though i am strict non-vegetarian, bt still at times stick to vegetarian recipes, like this one. i made this when last Sunday my friends came over for my birthday party, & a couple of  people among them were strict vegans. bt i will have to confess that though vegetarian yet an yummy one.

i loved the consistency of the cake & also that it was so soft from inside. though i had made the sponge a day before, and had put on the icing on the d-day. the came has amazing taste, guess its because of the milkmaid. though soft from inside, it still has an amazing exteriors. and though i most of the time stick to fresh ingredients, but for this i did go to canned pineapples. because that saves time, and when you have a guest list of around 25 people (though many didn't arrive), what you need the most is time. moreover the clean circular rings seems so inviting to me, and viola! it's not very expensive also. the juice /syrup inside the tin, can also be used up.

For the Sponge:

Ingredients:

• 250 gm (1 3/4 cups) plain flour
• 2 tbsp vanilla custard powder or cornflour (cornstarch)
• 4 tbsp icing sugar (confectioners sugar or fine sugar)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda/ sodium bicarbonate
• 1 tin/400gm sweetened condensed milk
• 100 gm (1/2 cup) butter
• 175 ml (3/4 cup)  water/milk
• 2 tsp good quality vanilla extract

Method:

• Grease and line the bottom of an 8” square or 9” round cake tin with greaseproof paper/baking parchment/butter paper.
• In a mixing bowl, assemble the flour, custard powder or cornstarch, icing sugar,  baking powder and baking soda, mix with a spoon and sieve once to make the mixture uniform.
• Preheat the oven at about 150 degrees centigrade.
• Put in the condensed milk,  butter, vanilla extract and water or milk into the mixing bowl containing the dry ingredients. Beat with an electric hand mixer, whisk or spoon  until the mixture comes together and there are no lumps. This shouldn’t take more than 2 to 3 minutes with an electric hand mixer/beater. Be careful not to over beat the mixture as this could result into a hard cake.
• Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for an hour at 150 degree centigrade.
• The cake is done when a knife or cake tester comes out clean when inserted in the centre of the cake. Invert the cake on a cooling rack, cool and use as required.

For the Cream Icing:

Ingredients:

• 800gms  (3 1/4 cups) low fat cream (I used 25% Cream), chilled
• 175 gm (3/4 cup) unsalted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 tbsp powdered sugar

Method:

• Refrigerate the bowl and beater for 15 minutes.
• In a saucepan, melt the butter and  3/4 cup cream, stirring all the while until the butter melts completely. 
• Transfer to a heatproof cup or bowl and allow to cool to room temperature.
• Beat the remaining cream with sugar until you get soft peaks. 
• Now begin adding the butter in a gradual stream, beating constantly on low speed, until stiff peaks are formed.
• Because it was hot and humid I could not get really stiff peaks.
• The next time I plan to use 600 ml cream, keeping the other ingredients the same to get a stiffer consistency.

Other Ingredients:

• 250 ml (1 cup) or more pineapple juice
• Pineapple slices from 1 tin

Assemble the cake:

• Once the sponge cake has cooled, carefully slice it into two halves. 
• Keep the bottom half on the serving plate and sprinkle with pineapple juice until the entire cake is soaked with it. 
• Spread a little cream over the cake and top with finely cut pieces of pineapple.
• Carefully place the other sponge over the prepared cake and sprinkle again with the pineapple juice until the top half is soaked with it.
• Spread the cream over the sides and top of the cake with a palette knife and decoratively arrange some pineapple rings over the cake.
• Chill for 3 to 4 hours before you serve.

this cake was fun. it really was. with my newly purchased piping bag, i tried to put on the icing, but don't think i succeeded much, but never mind. and those who don't have any pineapple juice at home, and are not in a mood to purchase one only for the cake(like me), then they can use up the syrup inside the tin. and those in mood to use fresh pineapple, well they need to work a bit more. they need to make a sugar syrup and then immerse your pineapple rings in them for some time. because the pineapples might turn sour or bitter with time. well, i have used pineapple rings, but you people might go for some other decoration.
if not pineapple, then try it with some other seasonal fruit. but this particular one is 2 yummy, that's not what i say..... thats what the guests said, that they wud like to come back for more.