A Caribbean Coffee Cake

I knew I was going to be making a coffee cake with some of my left over fruit, from when I made our church Super Bowl spread. Cooking At Home Again I used up the rest of my pineapple. I combined it with some macadamia nuts and toasted coconut, and the result was a deliciously tropical Caribbean coffee cake. Yet again, it was a big success. It disappeared very quickly. The Caribbean coffee cake are the squares around the edges, and in the center. I added some raspberry tarts to my platter and then sprinkled a few chocolate covered Acai berries around for added color and decoration.

I have officially used up all the fruit that I had leftover. And Larry didn’t think I could do it. HA HA HA!!!!! He should never underestimate my abilities to recreate from leftovers. When will he ever learn? 🙂 Strawberry-Kiwi Cake

For this cake, I started off with a basic coffee cake recipe, then added the rest. I knew I was going to use up the pineapple, then as I was going along, I decided to add the chopped macadamia nuts as well. As I continued, I thought, “let’s add some toasted coconut too”, and voila! The result was a Caribbean coffee cake.

Caribbean Coffee Cake

The Streussel

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup coconut flour, optional

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

4 TBSP cold butter, cubed

1/4 cup toasted coconut

Mix everything together either by hand or with a pastry cutter, until it resembles coarse sand. Set aside.

The Cake

Preheat the oven to 350* F or 190* C.

Spray cooking spray in a 9×13 baking pan and then coat with a light coating of flour or coconut flour.

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup coconut flour, optional

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup or 1 1/2 sticks butter, softened

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup milk

1 1/2 cups diced pineapple

1/2 cup toasted cocaonut

1/2-3/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Like with most cake recipes, combine all the dry ingredients together and mix well, then set aside.

Then mix together the sugar and butter until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time and blend in between each addition. Add the vanilla and 1/2 the milk, and blend together again. Then add 1/2 the flour mixture and blend. Repeat again and blend until everything is just blended.

Once the batter is mixed, add the coconut, pineapple and macadamia nuts and fold into the batter.

Evenly spread the batter into the prepared pan. The evenly spread the streusel mix over the batter.

Bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick that has been inserted in the middle comes out clean and the streusel topping is golden brown. Let cool completely before cutting and serving.

All the is needed to do now is to sit back and enjoy and let every bite transport you into a little bit of the tropics. A little tropical excursion like this is a much needed and appreciated break from the cold, harsh winter weather.

Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.