This vegan pineapple cake is rich and fruity with a lightly crumbly texture.
There is always a risk when using a juicy fruit like pineapple that your cake will turn into a pudding. This recipe side-steps the issue by semi-drying the pineapple in the oven so that it’s still juicy, but doesn’t exude lots of moisture during baking. I’ve used frozen pineapple, here, which is exceptionally wet when it thaws.
Allspice is added, not to make the cake spicy but to add a faint toasty, bonfire flavour in the background which is especially good with pineapple. Together with the treacly dark brown sugar, I find the allspice creates a taste like burnt sugar or honeycomb.
The pictured cake was made with half the ingredients in a 6″ tin. The quantities below are enough for an 8″ cake.
Vegan pineapple cake…
INgredients
- 250 g frozen pineapple (see note below if using tinned or fresh pineapple)
- 2 tbsp finely ground golden flaxseed
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 120 ml oat (or other non-dairy) milk
- 170 g soft vegan margarine
- 180 g dark brown sugar
- 130 g white/unbleached self-raising flour
- 130 g wholemeal plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp ground allspice
- 70 g desiccated coconut
method
- Set the oven to 120°C/250°F.
- Chop the pineapple fairly small (no larger than 1cm across) and place in a shallow oven-proof dish. Space the pieces out so that they are not touching. Place in the oven and gently roast until the chunks are still juicy but not leaking juice. Depending on how much liquid there was to begin with this may take anywhere from half an hour to around an hour. Tinned and frozen pineapple will both take a bit longer than fresh pineapple. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- Turn the oven up to 180°C/360°F and lightly oil/line the base of an 8″ round cake tin.
- In a small bowl or jug, whist together the milk, flaxseed, vanilla, and vinegar. Set this aside to thicken.
- In a large bowl, beat the margarine and sugar with an electric hand whisk until light and fluffy.
- Give the milk mixture an extra whisk before adding it to the margarine mixture and beating again until well combined.
- Add the chopped (cooled) pineapple and stir through.
- Sift the flours, baking powder and allspice into the liquid mixture. Add the coconut and then fold through with a metal spoon until evenly combined. It should be a bit thicker than dropping consistency. If it feels unworkably thick, stir in a tablespoonful of water.
- Transfer the mixture to the baking tin and level the top. Bake for around 45 minutes until it is a deep brown on top and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely before removing from the tin and cutting.
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