This Sourdough Pineapple Cake is like Summer In Your Mouth

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This Sourdough Pineapple Cake is bursting with the golden flavours of summer sunshine. With a juicy sweet pineapple flavoured cake, and a thick, creamy, cloud-like frosting, you’ll be skipping for joy as you eat this cake. Not only is this a sourdough discard cake (perfect for when you want to feed your starter), it’s egg and dairy free too, making it suitable for vegans.

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

• One Bowl Recipe: measure, mix and bake – this Sourdough Pineapple Cake recipe is that simple! There are no separate mixes, just bung everything into the one bowl. Easy clean up, minimum fuss!
• The option of fermentation: This recipe has sourdough discard, meaning that if you leave the batter to rest (sans the baking powders), the sourdough will work on the flour, making it easy to digest.
• Great way to use up pineapple: if you’ve a lot of pineapple about to go off, transform them into a cake! This cake recipe has a lovely pineapple flavour, and saves you from having mouldy fruit on your hands.
• Great way to use up Sourdough Discard: if you’re needing to feed your starter or even to resurrect it, this recipe is your best friend! Using 2/3 cup, you’ll be able to give your sourdough starter a decent feeding afterwards.

Ingredients You’ll Need

White or oat flour

I prefer to use white flour, because it gives a superior texture. Plus, I’m not a big fan of grinding oats for flour. When I make this cake, I just want to mix, leave it, and bake. But, if you have a sensitivity to flour and able to tolerate oats, then oat flour is the bomb! I have tried it with oat flour, and it still tastes amazing. To make oat flour, simply measure out the required quantity of oats, and blitz until fine.

Crushed Pineapple

One 425g tin is all you need to flavour this Sourdough Pineapple cake. If you have fresh pineapple you are wanting to use up, use the same number of grams (425) amd make sure to blitz it up before adding to the batter.

Sourdough discard

The sourdough discard allows for fermentation to happen, which tenderises the cake crumb and unlocks the nutrients. This makes the cake more easily digestible.

Oil

Yes, this is an oil-based cake, making it more shelf-stable and infinitely more tender. I’m not vegan, but I prefer to use oil in cakes because it is easier to use, and makes a moister cake.

Truvia, or 2 cups sugar

I sometimes use a mix of Sugar and Truvia, to help with the budget. Sugar is way cheaper to bake with and it actually improves the final texture of the cake. It is fluffier, in my opinion. However, if you have an aversion to sugar (I swing to and fro), Truvia is the next best sweetener for this cake.

Salt

Brings balance to the cake, and makes the flavours sing. Don’t skip this one!

Lemon Juice

Activates the baking soda and baking powder, and enhances the pineapple flavour of the cake.

Baking powder and Baking soda

These are the main rising agents for the cake. They are added at the end just before baking to ensure they do not activate too soon. You do need quite a lot because this is a big cake, and it rises a fair amount in the oven!

Vanilla essence

Slosh it in, baby! Vanilla Essence makes everything delicious.

5 Top Tips For Cake Baking Success

1. Accurate Measurement

Accurate measurement of ingredients is crucial for successful cake baking. Use measuring cups and spoons specifically designed for dry and wet ingredients, respectively. Ensure you level off ingredients like flour and sugar for precise measurement, as even slight variations can affect the texture and consistency of your cake.

2. Room Temperature Ingredients

Bring all your refrigerated ingredients, such as eggs, butter, and dairy, to room temperature before starting the baking process. Room temperature ingredients mix more easily, resulting in a smoother batter and a lighter, more evenly baked cake. Cold ingredients can also cause the batter to curdle or result in uneven baking.

3. Proper Mixing Technique

Use the appropriate mixing technique for your cake batter. Overmixing can lead to a tough and dense cake, while undermixing can result in uneven texture and pockets of unmixed ingredients. Mix the batter just until the ingredients are incorporated and no dry spots remain, using a gentle folding motion when incorporating dry ingredients to avoid overworking the batter.

4. Preheating the Oven

Always preheat your oven to the correct temperature specified in the recipe before placing your cake inside. Preheating ensures that the cake bakes evenly from the start and rises properly. Without preheating, the cake may not cook evenly, resulting in a sunken or dense texture.

5. Proper Pan Preparation:

Properly prepare your cake pans to prevent sticking and ensure easy release of the finished cake. Grease the pans with butter or cooking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper for added insurance. Additionally, dust the greased pans with flour or cocoa powder, tapping out any excess, to create a non-stick surface. This step is essential, especially for delicate cakes with intricate designs or fluffy textures.

Why you should add Sourdough Discard to Cake

Utilizing Sourdough Discard in cakes is a fantastic way to repurpose excess discard from feeding your starter. You get a beautiful cake out of a by-product, and it keeps your starter healthy and active.

Beyond its waste-reducing benefits, incorporating sourdough discard enhances the cake’s texture and lightness. Due to its high acidity, sourdough discard tenderizes the cake crumb, resulting in a more delicate and enjoyable texture. Additionally, its airy consistency makes it an excellent substitute for eggs in egg-free cake recipes.

Personally, I find fermenting the flour portion of the cake before baking particularly beneficial for digestion. Creating a pre-ferment using sourdough discard, flour, and other liquid ingredients has become a standard practice in my baking repertoire ever since I delved into Sourdough Bread making.

The Key to a Successful Egg-free Cake

This Sourdough Pineapple Cake is free from eggs, making it suitable for vegans or those with an egg intolerance.

With egg prices soaring, vegan cake recipes have become my go-to option. From Carrot and Apple to Chocolate, Zucchini, and Coffee cakes, my exploration of vegan cakes has only just begun.

The key to success lies in achieving adequate moisture and using effective leavening agents. Since eggs provide structure and moisture, eggless variations compensate by using alternative liquids such as oil, milk, or yogurt. Additionally, egg-free cakes rely on a combination of baking powder, baking soda, and vinegar to ensure proper leavening. This creates a light and airy texture, essential for achieving the desired height and crumb structure in eggless cakes.

Storing the Sourdough Pineapple Cake

This pineapple cake is oil-based, meaning in can be stored in the fridge without drying out. This is the benefit of most vegan cakes. Because this cake can be stored in the fridge, it lasts longer than cakes made from butter (which dry out in the fridge). This cake will last about 4-7 days in the fridge, and yes, the flavour does improve over time.

Sourdough Pineapple Cake Variations

The pictured cake has been iced with a yoghurt frosting, laced with pineapple curd. It could be topped with chopped nuts or caramelised pineapple, to really enforce that tropical flavour.

The batter would work well with spice. Cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, or mixed spice, would complement the pineapple. However, you would lose that “pina colada” flavour profile.

Or, how about adding glace cherries or even frozen blueberries to the cake batter? That would add little bursts of flavour to the cake and would make the pineapple really sing.