From cake to cocktail
Well it started out as an experimental cake but resulted in a super tasty cocktail. I wanted to make my own version of pineapple pudding, it’s a classic dessert that’s easy to make at home and looks impressive with very little effort. It was originally a convenient way for housewives to make a cake that was simple but looked pretty. I had the idea of a ‘pirate pudding’ so I added rum and ginger to the recipe. I used wholemeal flour because that obviously makes the cake healthy (let’s just ignore the golden syrup and sugar in the batter). My chef friend suggested dark brown sugar would go best with the rum.
In the end my creation was a ginger pudding with very alcoholic pineapple. I made the cake vegan by using egg replacer and I always cook dairy free anyway. It wasn’t bad but not exactly the amazing creation I had envisioned in my head.
My next thought was using the rum soaked pineapple in a cocktail with coconut milk, I’m not an alcoholic I promise. I blended two of the pineapple rings with 250ml of Alpro coconut milk and I made a nice piña colada. If you more of a smoothie fan I’d say add a banana in there too to make it thicker. So I might not be spending this afternoon eating an entire pineapple pudding however, I am sat here with a cocktail in my pyjamas at 1pm so overall not a bad day.
If you would like to have a go at my pirate pudding find the recipe below but maybe take a shortcut and go straight for the cocktail.
Pirate pudding cocktail (otherwise known as a pina colada)
If you do decide to make the cake, a little of the crumbs in the cocktail did make it taste more like a desert and you can just take two of the rings of pineapple from the top.
Soak 2 pineapple rings per person in rum for 30mins. Then add 250ml of coconut milk and the pineapple to a blender (add more of the rum if you would like a stronger cocktail). Blend until frothy. Pour over ice in a glass and serve. If I was having this cocktail later in the day I would definitely add more rum but for a holiday feel mid afternoon the rum in the pineapple is enough.
Pirate Pudding
4 tablespoons Golden Syrup
3tbsp Rum
1tsp Ginger puree
227g can Pineapple Rings (drained)
110g Margarine
110g Sugar
2 Eggs worth of egg replacer
110g Wholemeal Self-Raising Flour, Sifted
Drain the pineapple rings and put them in a shallow bowl. Cover them in the rum and leave to soak for half an hour (make sure to keep the rum afterwards). Preheat Oven to 180 degrees. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin. Spread the golden syrup into the tin and arrange the pineapple. Cream together the margarine and the sugar until fluffy. Beat the eggs in a little at a time and alternate with a little flour. Fold in the remaining sifted flour, add 1tsp of the rum used to soak the pineapples and the ginger. Spread the mixture over the fruit. Bake for 35 minutes until golden and a knife comes out clean. When cooled turn onto a large plate and be careful because the syrup will run. Serve warm or cold.
