This cake is pretty straight forward and simple. Lets just get this out in the open, I used a box vanilla cake mix. My main focus with this cake was the frosting rather than the cake itself. Now that I am satisfied with the frosting I'll begin focusing on cake recipes. I hope I'll master some good ones and I pray it won't take me as long as the frosting did... With that being said, prepare your cake mix as directed on the box or use your own personal favorite recipe.
On a side note, I did make a delicious vanilla bean cake using vanilla beans I got from my local coop, but I thought I was so smart I didn't need to write it down. Yea, not that smart...
I found an easy recipe for cake release that I'll put up soon. I like the springform pans, but I don't want them to stick so I cut a square of parchment paper and cover the plate of the cake pan. I then insert the plate of the cake pan into the outer ring from the bottom and fasten in place. Once fastened I cut off the excess parchment paper from the underside leaving my pan level. I then use a pastry brush and coat the side edges of the pan to the top with the cake release mixture.
Now that I have a good stick free pan I layer the pineapple in the bottom of one pan. You could do pineapple in both pans, but I didn't want to overdo it so I stuck with just the one.
Pour your cake batter mixture over the pineapple layer in the pan. The pineapple will not float.
Bake your cake according to the directions on the box taking into account your environment including any peculiarities of your own oven.
If you baked pineapple into only one layer you should end up with two cake halves like mine. Cool completely on racks before frosting cakes. If your cake layers are uneven you may trim them using a knife or a cake trimming tool.
While cooling your cake layers mix your frosting.
Once your cake layers are cool, smooth frosting on top of the pineapple layer, with the pineapple facing upwards. Place the second layer of cake on top of the pineapple layer and coat the cake in a light layer of frosting to secure any crumbs creating a crumb layer.
This layer of frosting doesn't need to be pretty or even hide the cake beneath the frosting as you can see from my photo. This layer is merely meant to hold in the crumbs so that your final layer of frosting will go on smoothly.
Once your crumb layer is complete, place your cake into the refrigerator for one to two hours to allow the frosting to set. This will create a firm layer of frosting so that you can apply the outer layer more easily.
While waiting for your crumb layer to set, lightly toast shredded coconut. Watch carefully while the coconut is in the oven as it goes from toasted to burnt incredibly quickly.
Once your crumb layer has set, remove cake from the refrigerator and frost it fully. I do not know how to get a completely smooth top layer as you can see. I have the outer edge mastered, but the top still eludes me so I have done a nice flower design on top to hide my lack of true skill.
Once the cake is fully frosted apply the toasted coconut mixture to the side edge of the cake by pressing it in. You'll make a mess so you may want to do this on a large cookie sheet or layer of foil.
You may use whichever design you choose to top your cake or no design at all.
For my design I chose a #22 tip and did small swirls around the outer edge. To make each swirl I started from the center looping outward and pulled the frosting back toward the center to swirl it upward over my starting point.
When you're done you should have something that looks like this! You'll probably have something that looks a lot better than this, but whatever it looks like, I hope it tastes great.
I'm told my cake was a success today, but I may have to make it again myself to find out. Perhaps with my own cake recipe!
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