Coconut Pineapple Cake

 

The Duncan Hines Dolly Parton coconut cake mix has become a recent favorite of mine and I'm finding even more ways to incorporate it into my baking.  I wanted to thank a friend for a recent act of kindness and I thought the cake would be a nice and delicious gift.   This time I took a tropical turn and made a Coconut Pineapple Cake.  Who doesn't love the combination of coconut and pineapple?  [You have the right to remain silent if you don't!]

 

 

The first time I made Dolly's coconut cake I filled and frosting it with cream cheese ermine frosting.  While that cake was delicious, to reduce the sweetness on this cake and let the pineapple flavor really come through, I made a small batch of vanilla pastry cream for the filling.  I then added homemade pineapple compote which was spread between the cake layers.  On top of the pastry cream layer I also applied another thin layer of the pineapple compote.  You can never have enough pineapple in my book.

Lightly sweetened mascarpone whipped cream enveloped the cake which was then finished with a flurry of dessicated coconut.  As I was gifting the cake on Easter Sunday I added a few holiday themed sprinkles.  I can attest that this coconut pineapple cake not only looks good, it tastes amazing!

German Chocolate Bundt Cake

 

Did you know November 15th is National Bundt Day?  Any holiday that celebrates bundt cakes is alright in my books.   Serendipitously I recently bought Martha Stewart's latest tome, Martha Stewart's Cake Perfection, and the first recipe I wanted to make was the German Chocolate Bundt Cake.  From the shiny ganache frosting to the decadent coconut pecan filling it was just screaming, "Make Me!"  It was also the perfect excuse (as if I needed one) to buy Nordicware Fleur De Lis Bundt pan.

I diverted slightly from the recipe by using buttermilk, instead of whole milk and white vinegar, because that's what I had on hand and I think it makes for a moister crumb.  The best part of the cake is really the coconut pecan filling; it is absolutely delicious and not too sweet.  I couldn't help but sneak samples of it as I was making the cake batter.  One tip: the instructions say to fill the cake pan with all the batter and then dollop the filling on top,  but I  found the filling didn't sink to the bottom of the pan as the instructions stated.  Next time I'll spread half the cake batter, then add the filling and finally the remaining cake batter.   

The cake baked up beautifully and tasted fantastic.  I can't think of a better way to celebrate National Bundt Day!