Light, refreshing and incredibly moist, this pineapple cream cake features two genoise layers soaked in pineapple juice and topped with Chantilly cream and pineapple.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy: No need to make syrup for the genoise. We’ll simply drizzle pineapple juice on the warm cake.
- Small-batch: This recipe is enough to make a 6 inch cake so you won’t have to worry about leftovers. And if you’re expecting a crowd, you can easily make a larger cake.
- Customizable: You can really play around with the proportions of pineapple juice and whipped cream to suit your preference. You could even use this recipe as a starting point and use a different juice, replace the chopped pineapple with other fruits etc.
Ingredients
- Eggs: We’ll be whipping the eggs with sugar to incorporate air which will leaven the cake.
- Sugar: For sweetness, browning and to stabilize the egg foam.
- Flour: To give structure to the cake.
- Flavorings: A little bit of vanilla extract and some lemon zest.
- Canned pineapple: I’m using canned pineapple slices in juice. You’ll need the juice to soak the cake layers and the pineapple slices for the filling and decoration.
- Chantilly: You’ll need heavy cream and powdered (icing) sugar to make Chantilly. Make sure the heavy cream is 35% fat (or at least 30% fat) and cold or you’ll have trouble whipping it.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Let’s start by making a genoise. If you’ve never made one before, I’d recommend reading the detailed tutorial on How to make Genoise.
- Mix the eggs and sugar until lightened in color, thickened and voluminous. Try lifting the beaters to make sure it’s ready. The batter should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon that doesn’t disappear immediately into the remaining batter.
- Add the lemon zest and vanilla and briefly mix to combine.
- Gradually sift the flour over the whipped eggs, gently folding in between each addition.
- Stop mixing as soon as fully incorporated to avoid deflating the batter.
- Pour into a baking pan (lined with parchment paper or greased and floured).
- Bake in a preheated oven until golden then briefly cool down in the pan before unmolding.
- Carefully slice the genoise in half with a serrated knife or a cake leveler.
- Place one cake layer on a serving plate (cut side up) then drizzle pineapple juice over the surface until evenly moist. Drizzle a little bit of juice over the second cake layer. Save the rest for later so it doesn’t get too moist and hard to transfer.
Easy cleanup tip: Line the edges of the serving plate with 4 strips of parchment paper before assembling the cake.
- Spread Chantilly cream over the cake then cover evenly with chopped pineapple.
- Drizzle more juice over the second cake layer before placing it over the first layer. Cover with Chantilly and have fun decorating it!
This was one of my favorite cakes growing up. I always found it so refreshing. I hope you’ll love it too. Enjoy!
You Might Also Like
- Fraisier (strawberry cake)
- Savarin (yeasted cake)
- Vacherin (meringue ice cream cake)
- Greek revani (semolina cake)
- Orange cardamom olive oil cake
LOVE THIS RECIPE? I’d be so grateful if you could leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the recipe card below!
Pineapple Whipped Cream Cake
Light, refreshing and incredibly moist, this pineapple cream cake features two genoise layers soaked in pineapple juice and topped with Chantilly cream and pineapple.
Course: DessertCuisine: French, AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Yield
6
inch cakePrep time
40
minutesCook time
20
minutesChill time
2
hoursIngredients
- For the cake
2 large eggs (100 g/3.5 oz., without the shell), at room temperature
80 g white granulated sugar (2.8 oz., 1/3 cup and 1 Tablespoon)
zest of 1/2 lemon
1/3 teaspoon vanilla extract
60 g all-purpose flour (2.1 oz., about 1/2 cup)
- To assemble
570 g canned pineapple slices in juice (not syrup) (20.1 oz., 1 can)
300 g heavy cream (35% fat), cold (10.6 oz., 1 and 1/4 cups)
30 g powdered (icing) sugar, or to taste (1.1 oz., 4 Tablespoons)
1/3 teaspoon vanilla extract
candied cherries for decoration, optional
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F, conventional setting). Grease and line the bottom and sides of a 15 cm/6 inch cake pan with parchment paper. Then grease once more to smooth the parchment paper. Set aside.
- Preparing the batter: Place the eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed (with a hand mixer) until lightened in color, thickened and voluminous (about 4 minutes). When you lift the beaters, the batter should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon that doesn’t disappear immediately into the remaining batter.
- Add the lemon zest and vanilla and briefly mix to combine.
- Gradually sift the flour over the whipped eggs (in 4 additions), gently folding in with a spatula between each addition. Stop mixing as soon as fully incorporated to avoid deflating the batter. Tip: Make sure to fold in the flour that might have sunk to the bottom of the bowl.
- Baking the cake: Immediately pour into prepared baking pan and carefully smooth the surface. Gently drop the pan onto the kitchen counter once or twice to get rid of any large air bubbles. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for about 17-21 minutes or until golden (no pale streaks left). A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. Tip: Do not open the oven door too soon so the cake doesn’t collapse.
- Remove from the oven. Let cool for about 10 minutes in the pan before inverting onto a flat surface (ideally lined with parchment paper to prevent sticking).
- Peel off the parchment paper from the top of the cake. Carefully slice the warm genoise horizontally in half with a serrated knife or a cake leveler.
- Line the edges of a small serving plate with 4 strips of parchment paper if desired (for easy cleanup). Place one cake layer (save the best one for the top) on the plate cut side up. Tip: If you didn’t manage to cut the cake in a straight line, just try to remember how to position the top layer back as it was so you don’t end up with a lopsided cake.
- Transfer the pineapple juice from the can (about 200 mL/6.8 fl oz) into a measuring cup. Drizzle over the cake (in serving plate) until evenly moist. Drizzle just a little bit of juice over the second cake layer. Save the rest for later so it doesn’t get too moist and hard to transfer.
- Prepare the Chantilly cream: Whip together the cold heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract just until stiff peaks form. Tip: If piping decorations, save some in a piping bag fitted with desired tip before spreading on cake to avoid crumbs in the cream.
- Spread about 3/4 cup of Chantilly over the cake then cover evenly with chopped pineapple. Note: If the cake hasn’t cooled down yet, wait a bit longer before topping with Chantilly so it doesn’t deflate.
- Drizzle the remaining juice (or as needed) over the second cake layer. Carefully place over the first layer (cut side down) and gently press down. Cover the top and sides of the cake with Chantilly. Decorate with leftover Chantilly, pineapple slices, and cherries if desired. Carefully remove parchment paper strips if using. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours or until cold before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- Make-ahead tips: The assembled cake will keep in the fridge, well covered, for about 2-3 days.
- Pan: I’m using a 15 x 5 cm (6 x 2 inch) round cake pan lined with a 6 cm/2.4 inch parchment paper strip to ensure the cake rises straight and doesn’t go over the edge.
- Greasing the pan: The genoise has a tendency to stick to the pan. It’s best to line the pan with parchment paper to unmold easily. Alternatively, you can use a greased and floured springform pan. Invert and tap over the sink to get rid of excess flour.
- Pineapple juice: You can use as much as you’d like depending on how moist and sweet you’d like the cake to be. Just note that if you use a lot, you might want to use a rimmed serving plate to catch the juice that leaks with time. Feel free to add a little bit of rum in the juice before drizzling.
- Chantilly: Make sure the heavy cream is 35% fat (or at least 30% fat) and cold or you’ll have trouble whipping it.
- Slicing the genoise: It’s best to pour the juice over the warm cake but if you have trouble slicing the genoise, refrigerating it first (well covered) might help.
- Decoration: If placing the pineapple slices and cherries on the sides as in the featured image, it’s best to place the cherry first. Then pat dry the pineapple with a paper towel before placing over the cherry so the Chantilly stays intact.
- Cup measurements: Please note that these measurements are approximate. For best results, I’d recommend weighing the ingredients.