Or Adventures in Sheet Cake 1
I (think) I have decided that sheet cakes are my new thing. I’m going to be making everything as a sheet cake now.
It all started yesterday, when AK & I had to attend his aunt’s birthday dinner. I wanted to take a cake but I had exactly 1 hour to make it. Racking my brain for the shortest baking time, I thought I would make cupcakes (usually 15-20 mins for a 12 muffin pan) but to my dismay, I was out of cupcake liners. So I decided to try a sheet cake. My estimation was for 15-20 mins of baking time! And oh, it saved my life!
Sorry I only have some phone pics for this one – since AK was busy wrapping up work while I baked – but here it is, my very first Pina Colada Sheet Cake….
What I LOVED about the sheet cake is that it’s just about 1″ high, and you can take bigger and more frequent helpings without feeling guilty! Hence, it’s going to be my new thing.
I used half of a standard yellow cake recipe (substituting milk with coconut milk, and vanilla essence with lemon zest+Malibu Rum+Lemon Liqeuer/ Limoncino). This fit perfectly in my 9×13″ baking tray/ cookie tray/ sheet pan. Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients:
2 small eggs (Full recipe says 3 large eggs and I couldn’t figure how to do 1.5 eggs!)
1-1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
1-1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
Pinch salt
1/2 cup coconut milk (Original Yellow Cake Recipe says whole milk)
Grated zest of 2 lemons
1 tbsp Malibu – coconut rum (this is just for flavour and you can use 1 tbsp of dessicated coconut if you don’t have Malibu)
1 tbsp Lemoncino – lemon liqeuer
(If you want the cake to be more pineapple-y, then use 1 tsp pineapple essence instead of the Lemoncino. I kept it more lemon-coconut because I was using a coconut glaze and topping with canned pineapples)
For the glaze:
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp cream
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp dessicated coconut
1 tbsp Malibu
1 Can Pineapples to top
Cake Method:
- Pre-heat oven to 150 C/ 350 F and prepare the tin, i.e. grease with butter, line with butter/parchment paper, grease again and dust with flour.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt 3 times and set aside.
- Beat the butter, sugar and zest (and pineapple essence if using) together on high speed with an electric beater, until light and fluffy. About 2 mins.
- Add the eggs, one by one, beating well after each addition.
- Then add the flour mix and the coconut milk, alternatively, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat on the lowest speed only for a few seconds between each addition. We don’t want to over-beat at this stage.
- Add the Malibu & Lemoncino and stir in using a spatula.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Using a spatula, spread it out as evenly as you can.
- Bake in the centre of the oven for 15-20 mins, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre emerges clean. Remove from the oven and cool completely in the pan.
Glaze:
- Beat the sugar and cream on high speed for 2 minutes until it comes together. Add the coconut and the Malibu and beat for another 15 secs. Add the butter and beat for another 15 secs.
- Spread this on the cake when it is completely cooled. If you spread while the cake is still warm, it will absorb all the glaze instead of forming a layer.
- Top decoratively with pineapples (and some canned, pitted cherries if you have) and cut into squares to serve!
All done!