Thursday, March 5, 2009

The Pineapple Express...err...

And a low fat one at that! At 9 PM on a Thursday night, we certainly couldn't eat a rich cake. So, after a regular meal of Dal-Chawal, we craved for some dessert. Like always. I can hear you snickering btw. Go on, snicker. Wait until you see how lowly this cake is...err.. in terms of fat and size only. It tasted pretty good! See?


Thanks to our dessert obsession, we bake very small amounts every night. It doesn't last the night itself ;) This time around, we baked a very simple cake using apple sauce instead of butter. Later, it struck us that we could have used just egg whites to make it more low fat than what it already is. So, here it is.

Ta-daaaaaaaaa



Ingredients


2 slices of pineapple
1/2 cup flour
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp fat-free milk (optional)
8 tsp applesauce
2 tbsp pineapple juice
A pinch of salt


1. Preheat the oven at 35oF

2. Beat the egg at low speed for a minute. Add sugar little by little. Switch to high speed while doing this.

3. After the volume has atleast doubled, add the applesauce, vanilla extract, milk, pineapple juice and salt. Continue to beat for another minute.

4. Sift in the flour, baking soda and baking powder into the wet mixture.

5. Stop beating and fold in gently. Make sure there are no lumps.

6. If you're using canned pineapple, you can grill it for a min to make sure the moisture is gone and those lovely grill marks come on the pineapple. If it is fresh make sure to grill it. If you don't have a grill, but have an electric stove with the coil. Place on it at low heat for about a minute or two until the grill marks appear.

7. To assemble this cake, place the pineapple grilled side down in a greased baking pan or a loaf like us. Then, pour the batter evenly over the pineapples. Bake for 25 minutes or until the toothpick trick works!

8. Once you take it out of the oven, run a knife around the edges and let it cool for 10 minutes. Then flip it upside down. The pineapple on the other side looks gorgeous by the way :) Our really badly taken pictures don't do it justice! *cue to say your pics are good* :D

You could bake these in ramekins also. However, our ramekins were too small for our pineapple slices! So, we baked it in a loaf with dimensions 8.5" x 4.5" and 2 inches deep. Simple and easy to make, you can add some brown sugar instead of regular sugar to caramelize it further :)
P.S.- The measurements of Applesauce are given in a funny, stingy tsp way only because we were experimenting and did not ladle tablespoons of applesauce, but used teaspoons!

40 comments:

amna said...

love the way the pineapple slices look on the cake. It doesn't look like a tiny cake though. Did you mean "tiny" N? ;)

Anonymous said...

takkar recipe... it looks soo lovely and moist :)

Cham said...

So each slice for each one! How could u bake at 9.00 PM, I don't even pop some kernels in my microwave! This kind of recipe fits for us (we re not dessert guys... so i can keep a week)

Deepa Hari said...

Such a lovely cake...absolutely delicious...pineapple slices look great on them.

Raaga said...

:) the pics are lovely... wven without your cue.

sra said...

Love those swirls of pineapple in the last photo - it even looks like tie & dye!

Arundathi said...

that looks really good...even at 10 am! the pineapple makes it look all pretty... :-)

Deeba PAB said...

Delicious! Love the pictures & the crumb.

Indian Khana said...

Looks delicious ...pineapple does looks fab...way to end the day ;)

NKP said...

Amazing that you can make such lovely low fat cakes, very nice!

FH said...

I saw that movie actually, "Pineapple Express". HORRIBLE!! ;D

Your dessert is much much more delicious than that movie. Love the Pineapple rings on top. Good one.

Have a fun weekend, my blog babies! ;D

Anonymous said...

That looks good esp. those 2 rings on the top for each of u:-)... pretty big chunks I must say, or may be the picture came out like that? ;-)

U bake every night??!!!!!!!!!!!!

of all fruits cakes I think pineapple is the most refreshing one...my hubby's fav cake too.

veggievixen said...

mmm this looks so pretty! now i'm craving pineapple.

thanks for your comment! love your blog.

Donna-FFW said...

This looks great, I love the way the pineapple looks, and I so enjoy applesauce in baked goods!

Rachel said...

Baking every night..wish I had that trait :) to staisfy my cravings which simple decide to arise at midnight.

Love the healthy version..

AnuSriram said...

Looks lovely! The pineapple over the cake looks inviting!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

A nice and smooth pineappple upside down! Really delicious looking!

Cheers,

Rosa

Maria said...

I always want something sweet after dinner. I will have to try this one!

Priya Sriram said...

Looks so gorgeous and inviting N! Nice recipe!

suvi said...

looks delicious, I love those pineapple slices!

Deepthi Shankar said...

Loved those pineapple slices .. You guys baked a cake at 9PM on a weekday ?? Looks like you guys seriously have a thing for desserts ..

Dibs said...

I can't even bake water at that time of the night!!! I can imagine the taste though! How about serving low fat healthy pineapple desert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream ..or may just whipped cream..yummy!

Anonymous said...

Looks so good! The pineapple slices make it very inviting.

Chitra said...

looks deish,pineapple on the cake is juz superb!!First time here,u have a wonderful blog,will be around!! do visit my blog when u r free;)

Unknown said...

looks so delicious...Great Baking!

Archana said...

Very very nice looking cake, those pineapple slices look so neat ! And you bake every night - WOW !!

Jaishree Iyer said...

Lovely recepie!Looks so gorgeous and inviting N:) will have a try..

Cakelaw said...

Yum! A low fat pineapple upside down cake that doesn't compromise on taste - what more could a girl want?

Kitchen Chronicles said...

beautiful low fat pineapple cake

lubnakarim06 said...

Wow baking at 9...Gr8 dear. Cake looks luscious...

Usha said...

Wow, this looks absolutely scrumptious...and pretty too :-)

Manju said...

pretty cool...loved that pineapple impressions! first time here..glad to have found your blog..adding to my blogroll!

Lavanya said...

first time visit here..amazing blog you have..coming to dish ..it looks yummy n delicious!!

Madhavi said...

Awesome pics and everything looks scrumptious, yummyyyyyy spread!!!

A_and_N said...

@ Nags: This is A on N's behalf. What she meant was she ate a 'tiny' portion. The rest was devoured by me :)

@ Indhu: Thanks :) Grilling the pineapple was N's idea.

@ Cham: I can bake anytime, any day as long as I have the stuff :) And as far as the number of slices are concerned, the loaf pan wouldnt fit more than two :)

@ Deepa Hari: Thanks! Like I said, it was N's idea to grill those pineapple slices.

@ Raaga: N is funny, isnt she :)?

@ Sra: N concurs :) Anything colorful and she'll devour it...

@ Arundathi: A good cake can be eaten anytime :) And this one is a low-cal cake so it shouldnt matter at all!

@ Deeba: Thanks a lot :) I was happy with the golden color this time....it came out well for a change :)

@ Priti: Absolutely :) It was a nice way to end the day.

@ Natashya: Thanks. Your Semlors are certainly in my future plans :)

@ Asha: We havent seen the movie but we'll take your word for it :) Thanks for saving us time and money ;)

@ Soma: Actually they were entire pineapple slices. So I guess they were big...for a cake. Thanks for the comment :)

@ Veggievixen: Thanks for stopping by. You have a wonderful blog as well :) I've added it to my reader so you can expect frequent visits :)

@ Donna: Well, we're trying to cut down on butter and cholesterol. Adding eggs doesnt help in that regard but well, it tough to bake a cake without eggs AND butter :)

@ Rachel: Actually N exaggerated a bit. We bake about 3 times a week...on an average ;)

@ Anu Sriram: Thanks a ton :)

@ Rosa: Thanks :) I'd have liked the cake to be a bit more spongy but cant complain much with applesauce.

@ Maria: Welcome to my world! I HAVE to have something sweet after dinner too. Even if it means a teaspoon of honey :)

@ Priya Sriram: Thanks :)

@ Aquadaze and Deesha: Thanks. That was totally N's idea :)

@ Dibs: Nobody can bake water ever...ok that was a bad PJ :) N did suggest whipping up some cream but I had to tactfully decline the offer ;)

@ Juliana: Thanks a lot :)

@ Chitra: Thanks...you have a nice blog as well :)

@ Ramya Bala: Thanks :) I must confess that N is the one who got me into this whole baking thing.

@ Arch and Jaishree: Thanks a lot for stopping by and your encouraging words :)

@ Cakelaw: Whipped cream on top of it!

@ Lakshmi, Kitchen Flavours, Usha: Danke!

@ Superchef: You are on ours too! :) Thanks for coming here!

@Lavanya, Madhavi: Thanks a ton, you guys!

Anonymous said...

Mmmmmm, pineapple cake!! Looks delicious :)

Elle said...

What a sweet little cake and a great way to have a treat that is fairly good for you too. It does look gorgeous!

A_and_N said...

@madcapcupcake: Oh, it was! :)

@Elle: Thanks so much!

PG said...

I was so sure I had left a comment here. The pineapple cake looks so delicious. Love that brown caramelized crust on the pienapples. yummy!
One more thing, before I forget it again:
I found this and thought of you:
floury potatoes

Manju said...

Cake for two is a genius idea! I tried this today using agave nectar instead of sugar and pineapple pieces mixed in the batter since I didn't have slices and cake flour. It turned out fantabulous and I am now a fan of this blog! It came out even better than some other cakes I've made using butter/oil. Thanks!