A Tropical Delight; Pineapple Basil Cake with Mango Coconut Bavarian Cream

Great news everyone;

“Cakes are special. Every birthday, every celebration ends with something sweet, a cake, and people remember. It’s all about the memories” -Buddy Valastro. I have exciting news to share with you all 😊 I am so happy that few of my recipes and some photography is being featured in the Spring Issue – ‘Sow’ of The HocSupper Club magazine. It absolutely feels amazing to be one of the contributors among so many other wonderful creatives around the world. I might have said this a million times in my posts and I will say it again; food is the medium that connects the world together into one. By now most of you agree with me on this. Thank you all so much for following my flavorful journey and giving me so much love🙏🏼. I had to celebrate this wonderful news, and no celebration is complete without a dessert. Cake to be precise 😊.  So here I have the Pineapple Basil Cake with Mango Coconut Bavarian Cream infused with Lemon Grass. In short ‘A Tropical Delight’.

Tropical Dreams;

Remember my Island Vacation post few weeks ago? Ever since I edited half the photos from my trip, I have been dreaming about islands and the tropical climate. No kidding! I know I still have my second part to finish, but to edit and select the best photos from thousands that I clicked, is quite a task. Hopefully I will be done soon. My dreams have been happy tropical stuff like lying by the ocean under palm trees, or me roaming in the farm lands full of tropical fruits. Strange right! I do dream about weird stuff, but then if I wake up smiling thinking of warm sandy beaches, then I don’t mind😊. I hear things you dream about usually happen right?? Maybe I will be on the islands soon. Until then, to keep my A-L-O-H-A spirit alive, I decided to make a cake with all the tropical happy flavors that would literally scream Summer. What better than pineapple Basil Cake with Mango Coconut Bavarian Cream. Doesn’t these flavors sound cheerful and summery to you? They definitely do to me.

Snowy Spring;

Someone needs to pinch me, as I still can’t believe its April. I mean seriously! Its almost time to plan the garden now. I am so ready with my plants list. Now its just the matter of few weeks before I can actually start planting. Wohooo!! How exciting! But wait a minute, I did talk about white spring in my Thandai Post, remember? Yes, that’s exactly my reality right now🙄 I woke up to a snowy April 1st, that was on Easter. It was also April Fool’s day, for a second there I thought to myself, “Mother nature has got quite a sense of humor”. Lol. I guess mother Nature Fooled us all. Since then we have had quiet a few snow days.

I sometimes wonder, is Spring still a season anymore 🤷🏻‍♀️? May be for the world it is, but not in MN I guess. When I see all the people posting their garden photos, it makes me jealous. Here we have below freezing temperatures I mean C’mon! It’s time to give up jackets and boots already. I keep dreaming flowers, gardens, beaches, and all the fruit trees. Few of my friends from India are even sending me Mango photos. They are ready with their summer produce, and we still haven’t gotten a chance to enjoy spring produce. Well, I will not let this grey and white climate get to me; and rather I will try and cook everything vibrant and fresh to keep me going and enjoy some spring and summer flavors through cooking. 

Tropical Blend;

Mangoes were my childhood favorite fruits. It’s also the National fruit of India. There are about hundreds of varieties of mangoes grown back home. No Kidding! And every variety varies in taste, color and size. According to Indian beliefs, mangoes symbolize life. It is said that Lord Buddha meditated in a grove under a mango tree. The fruit tree carries a lot of religious significance. Mango trees are also considered auspicious and the leaves of the plant are used in wedding ceremonies or religious prayers. From the fruit itself, to curries, to pickles, to cakes, this fruit is so versatile, no wonder it’s one of the favorite fruits not for me but also for most people back home. 

However, I haven’t eaten mangoes in fruit form for over a decade. Whenever I ate mangoes, I developed acne all over my face 😬. Some say that it causes heating effect in the body if eaten as is. Not sure if that’s true, but instead of eating it as a fruit, I always ate it in my milk or yogurt. To get the cooling effect, I drank coconut water which balanced it all out. I do miss eating the fruit, but I compensate by making desserts out of it like this tropical cake. 

Along with mangoes, coconuts too are very popular back home. From coconut oil, to water, to coconut milk, to coconut cream; it’s used in cooking and beverages too. The coconut fruit is savored by most Indians. It adds so much sweetness and a rich creamy taste to the dishes. If you haven’t used coconut in your cooking, then it’s time to give it a try. You will be addicted. The best way to use it is of course in desserts. Mangoes and coconuts pair so well together to give a tropical summery feel.

Cake for all occasions;

Are you all ready for summer and mothers day that is in a few weeks? This Pineapple Basil Cake with Mango Coconut Bavarian Cream infused with Lemon Grass is full of summer flavors and would be perfect to bake for your mom. I absolutely love playing with flavors, especially herbs. Basil being one of my favorite herbs, I thought to add a touch of it in the cake with pineapple juice; this moistens the cake. This combination also intensifies the flavors in the cake. The blend will be green in color, and might look like green juice. So don’t let that color turn you off. Always remember, that all the fragrant herbs are green and green is also the color of spring and summer. So why not!! I infused the coconut milk with lemon grass to get that refreshing lemony notes. And lastly, I did mango mirror glaze just on top of the cake. 

This bright yellow cake will not only taste heavenly, but will look so vibrant and cheerful. This will be summer served on a plate, which I also consider a vacation in a form of cake. And not only just mother’s day, but fathers day or rather every occasion, this mango coconut Bavarian cream cake would be a hit.

Hope you all are having a real gorgeous spring so far! I would love to also hear about your favorite spring and summer flavors! Let me know if you make this cake for your mom this mothers’ day and how she likes the flavors. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram or Facebook or leave a comment below.

Happy Spring.

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Pineapple Basil Cake with Mango Coconut Bavarian Cream

A Tropical Delight

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: cake

Keyword: mango, tropical cake, pineapple cake, mango bavarian cream

Servings: 10 inch

Author: Esha

Ingredients

For Pineapple Basil Cake

• 10 inch cake
• 330 grams all purpose flour or cake flour
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1.5 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 75 grams butter room temp
• 275 grams sugar
• 2 eggs large
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 200 ml milk room temp
• 100 ml pineapple juice I used the juice from the canned pineapple
• 10 grams fresh basil

For Pineapple Basil Syrup

• 100 ml Pineapple juice
• 20 grams basil leaves

For Filling

• 1 can of sliced pineapple

For Mango Coconut Bavarian Cream

• 115 ml whole milk
• 115 ml coconut milk
• 240 ml mango purée
• 110 grams sugar
• 1 whole lemon grass
• 145 grams egg yolks
• 28 grams gelatin powder
• 1/4 cup water for gelatin
• 473 ml 1 pound heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp coconut cream
• 1 tsp powdered sugar

Mirror Glaze

• 120 ml mango puree
• 1 tsp gelatin powder
• 1/8 cup water

Instructions

For Pineapple Basil Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C), and grease a 10 inch round spring form baking pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. Sift all the dry ingredients except sugar.
3. In a mortar and pestle crush Basil leaves using some pineapple juice. The basil should be crushed fully, similar to pesto.
4. Mix the crushed basil into the pineapple juice.
5. Cream butter, sugar and vanilla extract until well incorporated and the mixture is creamy. This might take 2-3 minutes.
6. Add eggs one at a time while keep whisking.
7. Then add the sifted flour mix, milk and pineapple juice mix in 3-4 batches.
8. Whisk until the batter is combined to a smooth consistency.
9. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
10. Bake until done and the toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, for about 30 - 40 minutes.
11. Cool the cake completely before assembling.

For Pineapple Basil Syrup

1. Blend pineapple juice and basil in a vitamin or high powered blender until fully blended.
2. Keep aside.

For Mango Coconut Bavarian Cream

1. Split the lemon grass in half, length wise. In a heavy bottom sauce pan, combine milk, coconut milk, lemon grass and half of the sugar.
2. Warm the milk on stove until it's slightly Luke warm. Take it off the heat, cover the pan and let it sit for 30-45 minutes. This will infuse the lemon grass flavors in the milk.
3. After 30-45 minutes, put the milk pan back on the stove on medium heat and bring to boil. Make sure all the sugar is dissolved completely. Take out the lemon grass and discard.
4. Meanwhile whisk the egg yolks with rest of the sugar until creamy, smooth and pale yellow color.
5. Temper the hot milk with the whipped yolk while whisking vigorously. Do the tempering in 2-3 batches, to avoid the yolks from scrambling.
6. Put this tempered mix back into the sauce pan and cook on low heat to make Cream Anglaise. Keep stirring to avoid scrambled eggs and scorching. Cook till it reaches the Nappe consistency (Nappe Consistency is when the mixture thickens up to the stage when it coats the back of the spoon evenly and creates a clear clean line in the middle when you slide the finger through it).
7. Take it off the heat. Put the pan on ice bath to cool the mix and whisk occasionally to avoid any lumps. In-case the cream anglaise develop lumps, strain it through the sieve.
8. Meanwhile whip the heavy cream, coconut cream and powdered sugar to medium peak.
9. While the cream is whipping, bloom the gelatin in water and let sit for 3-4 minutes. Warm up the bloomed gelatin mix till the gelatin is dissolved and is clear (8-10 seconds in microwave). Do not over heat it.
10. Add the dissolved gelatin in the mango puree and mix well.
11. Pour this mango puree and gelatin mix into the creme anglaise and stir/ whisk nicely. Let this cool to room temperature.
12. Fold the whipped cream into the cream anglaise mix and keep aside. This will be the Bavarian Cream for the cake.
13. For Mango Mirror Glaze: (This will be required after the assembled cake has been set and frozen)
14. Bloom gelatin in water for 3-4 minutes.
15. Warm the liquid to dissolve the gelatin and pour this into the mango puree. Pour this over the frozen cake so it sets immediately.

Assembly

1. Take the cake out of the pan and remove the parchment from bottom. Now put the cake on the board. Slice a thin top layer of the cake (about 1 inch) to make the surface flat.
2. Cut the cake horizontally in half. Now you will have 2 layers of cake. Each cake layer should not be more than 2- 2 1/4 inches of height.
3. Put 1 layer back into the cake pan. Make sure the sides of the cake mold is clean, so when you pour the Bavarian cream on the cake, the sides come out clean and smooth.
4. Moisten the 1st cake layer (the cake that is in the cake pan), with half of the pineapple basil syrup. This will add lots of herb and fruit flavor to the cake while making it moist.
5. Cut the pineapple slices in half. Now leave 1 inch from the edge of the moistened cake and evenly place the sliced pineapple on top, just to cover the circular cake.
6. Pour half of the Bavarian cream on the pineapple covered cake.
7. Cut 1 inch edges (vertically) along the sides of 2nd cake layer. Gently place this circular cake on top of the 1st cake that is covered with the fruit and Bavarian cream.
8. Moisten this layer with the rest of the pineapple basil syrup. Be careful while moistening the cake edges, as you do not want the syrup to drop on the Bavarian cream.
9. Pour rest of the Bavarian cream on the cake. Place this uncovered in the freezer for at least 5 hours to overnight. This can remain in freezer until the day you want to serve. if you want to freeze it for few days or weeks, then cover the cake with cling wrap after its been frozen for few hours.
10. Take it out of the freezer and pour the mango mirror glaze on top of the frozen bavarian cream cake. Make sure the top is evenly covered with glaze. Let it sit in refrigerator for 10-20 minutes. Do not let it sit for over 30 minutes, as you do not want to thaw the cake in the cake pan.
11. To release the finished frozen cake from the mold, place the cake pan on any cylindrical shaped cup or glass. Using the blow torch, warm up the sides of the cake pan/mold, just enough, so the side ring gets loose. Slide the mold down leaving the cake on the cylindrical glass.
12. Thaw the cake in the refrigerator for 4-5 hours before serving.

Recipe Notes

You could use chopped pineapple too if you don't have sliced ones.
For the pineapple juice, I just used the juice that came out of the can with sliced pineapples.