Developing this recipe for a tropical cake has been interesting and fun.
Deciding which fruits, spices and essences grown in the tropics would complement each other has sparked lot of thought and discussion.
My kitchen has been full of the warm, slightly sweet licorice scent of star anise.
It is available in powdered form but quickly loses its flavour. I wanted the amazingly pungent perfume this spice has when freshly ground so I have been experimenting with grinding whole star anise.
I have a small hand-held grinder a bit like a pepper mill.
I break the petals off the star anise and cut them into smaller pieces with kitchen scissors and then put them into the grinder. It works efficiently.
I am quite addicted to star anise and had hoped to include it in my tropical cake so I was delighted to read that it grows in the tropics.
Star anise's spicy, licorice-like sweetness works well with fruit and both pineapple and really ripe bananas have a great affinity with strongly spiced flavours.
Although vanilla is often a background flavour, it too has a fruity spiciness and the coconut adds a nutty sweetness.
I have combined them all, I think successfully, in one luscious cake.
This cake does not need icing but the lime frosting is delicious.
The sharp acidic lime off sets the sweet spiciness of the cake, making it somehow seem sweeter and spicier.
Tropical Cake
Ingredients
220g plain flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ to ¾ tsp ground star anise
1 tsp ground cinnamon
180g dark cane sugar
60g thread coconut
425g can crushed pineapple in juice
1 cup mashed banana, (2 large bananas, about 400g)
¼ cup neutral oil, such as rice bran
2 large eggs, size 7, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla essence
Method
Choose overripe bananas for this cake; the skin needs to be a mottled brown. To hasten the ripening process, place the bananas in a brown paper bag with a ripe apple and put somewhere warm. The hot-water cupboard works well.
I have given two measurements for the star anise. If you really love its sweet licorice spiciness, use the larger quantity.
Line the base of a 20cm round cake tin with non-stick baking paper and lightly oil the sides.
Preheat the oven to 180degC.
Sift flour, baking soda, star anise and cinnamon into a large bowl. Add the dark cane sugar and stir.
If the sugar is lumpy you may want to rub it into the flour with your fingertips. Add the coconut and stir.
Drain the pineapple in a sieve, pressing with the back of a spoon to extract as much juice as possible. (The juice is for drinking). Place the pineapple in a medium-sized bowl. Mash the bananas and add to the pineapple. Add the oil, eggs and vanilla essence to the fruit and stir to mix.
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the fruit mixture. Stir to combine. Tip into the prepared tin. Bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour 5 minutes or until it is golden brown on top and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack for about half an hour.
Slide a knife between the side of the tin and the cake to loosen it. Invert the cake on to a wire rack and peel off the baking paper. Turn right side up.
Store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 5 days.
Makes a 20cm cake that cuts into 16-20 pieces.
Lime frosting
Ingredients
220g icing sugar
2 Tbsp extra light spreadable cream cheese (I use Philadelphia)
2 Tbsp lime juice
Method
Sift the icing sugar into a medium-sized bowl.
Combine the cream cheese and lime juice in a small bowl and stand in a bowl of hot water. Once they are warm, stir together and tip into the bowl with the icing sugar. Stir to combine, adding a drop or two of extra juice if required. Swirl over the top of the cake and decorate with lime zest.
