Fresh Pineapple, Banana, and Pistachio Cake with Rum Icing

Buttercups, bananas, baby chicks.

Apricots, tulips, lemon trees.

Sunflowers, sweet corn, French's yellow mustard.

Peaches, pineapple, polenta.

Warblers, wildflowers, nectarines, and mangoes.

Hope.

These are a few of my favorite (yellow) things. Thanks to Livestrong, the Lance Armstrong Foundation, yellow has become the color of the fight against cancer -- the color of hope.

So this brilliant yellow pineapple is my entry to Bee and Jai's special yellow Click! event on behalf of Bri Brownlow from Figs with Bri who is battling breast cancer.



As most of you know, my husband Jeff is a dermatologist and has a blog called the Derm Blog. At the risk of sounding shamefully biased, his blog really is good. Even O The Oprah Magazine thinks so.

I'm proud to announce that Jeff is honored to be one of a handful of physicians in the country who is helping Lance Armstrong launch Livestrong.com. It's a new internet health and wellness site for all of your health care and fitness needs. You should definitely check it out!

Here's Jeff's profile page which also lists his articles on the site.



Now for the cake. Since my local market recently had large fresh pineapples on sale 2/$3.00, I bought four. I mean, come on, 2 pineapples for $3.00? That's crazy! (Which I actually said out loud to myself in the store). The money I saved almost paid for the gas to get to the store. (Actually, at $4.69 / gallon, maybe not).

Yes, four pineapples is a lot. That's why I made this cake. The tropical flavors of pineapple, banana, coconut, and rum marry beautifully in this moist, richly textured cake. And isn't there something wonderfully old-fashioned about a cake with crunchy white icing and shredded coconut?



Fresh Pineapple, Banana, and Pistachio Cake with Rum Icing
Makes 2 (9-inch) round cakes; serves 16-20
Print recipe only here.

Cake:
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 sticks (12 T) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
2 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1 cup chopped fresh pineapple
1/2 cup golden raisins (or chopped dates)
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pistachios

Icing and Garnish:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons rum extract
several drops of milk
1/2 cup shredded, sweetened coconut, toasted, divided
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped pistachios, divided

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Coat two 9 X 2-inch round cake pans, or five (6 X 2 3/4-inch ) mini-loaf pans with cooking spray.

To toast the coconut, place in a dry skillet over medium heat, and gently stir until aromatic and golden brown, about 2 minutes. Keep your eye on it since it burns quite quickly! Remove from heat and set aside.

In a medium size bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground ginger together.

In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugars and beat at medium speed for a couple of minutes. Add eggs and beat well. Add the honey, vanilla, and coconut milk, and beat until batter is silky. Lower the speed, add the bananas, and beat briefly.

Add the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients, and mix until just incorporated. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir in the pineapple, raisins, coconut and pistachios. Divide the batter evenly between the pans.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the cakes are a deep golden brown. You'll know they're done when a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Transfer the cakes to a rack and let cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans.

Meanwhile, make the icing in a small bowl by whisking together 1 cup confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon rum extract. Add a few droplets of milk and continue whisking until the icing is smooth and thin yet clings to the back of a spoon. Taste it; add more rum extract, if desired. When it's ready, pour it through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any tiny clumps of confectioners' sugar (thanks, Mom!).

Invert cakes onto a rack, then turn right side up. Using a spoon, drizzle the icing over the top of the cakes, and spread it with a thin, metal spatula. Sprinkle each cake with 1/4 cup of toasted coconut, and 1 tablespoon chopped pistachios. Allow to set for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

More yellow foods you might like:

Sauteed Corn with Mint, Butter, and Lemon





Roasted Rainbow Carrots with Chives and Thyme





Potato, Pepper, and Onion Frittata





Grilled Shrimp Skewers with Fresh Pineapple Chutney






Mini Custards with Limoncello-Spiked Raspberry Sauce





I'm also sending this cake to Suganya, of the beautiful Tasty Palettes, for this month's AMAF: Coconut. Here are more wonderful savory and sweet pineapple recipes:

• Cris's Baked T-Bone Steak with Pineapple Sauce
• Deeba's Pineapple 'n Cream Sponge Cake
• Dhanggit's Pineapple, Ginger, and Cinnamon Creme Brulee
• Maryann's Italian Pineapple Salsa (I actually made this the other night with baked halibut, and it was delicious!)

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You Can Make a Lot of Salsa with a Case of Mangoes

If you’re familiar with my blog, then you know I love farmers’ markets. A week without a trip to the farmers' market is like a week without the sun: it makes me grumpy. I can’t remember the last time I bought produce in a regular grocery store. Sure, I go to the supermarket for eggs, milk, and cereal, but fruits and vegetables come from the farmers. So, what I did other day, shocked me. I tell myself it a was just a transgression.

I was at Costco stocking up on bottled water, protein powder, and toilet paper (why two people need 36 rolls of Northern toilet tissue, I’ll never know). On my way to the protein powder, I passed pineapples, tall, fragrant, ripe pineapples each topped with a crown fit for a king. They had no brown spots, no fuzzy fur on the bottoms—they were perfect. Better yet, they were only $2.99 each. I couldn’t believe it! I put two in my carriage and buried them under the toilet paper.

Not 20 feet later on my way to the water, I passed a mountain of mangoes, whose green and yellow skins were taut and unblemished. Having just paid $1.75 each for some (which weren’t even good), I stopped to check the price -- $8 for a whole case! I debated whether or not to buy them. What would we do with a whole case of mangoes? Would they be sweet? What if they all ripened at the same time? Then I heard my father’s voice in my head saying, “Buy them! They won’t go to waste." “But Dad, it’s only the two of us.” “Just buy them!” the voice echoed. After scanning left and right, I picked up a case and placed it in the carriage. What did I think? That the Farm Bureau was watching me on the surveillance camera? Feeling guilty, I wondered if the toilet paper could cover these too.

When Jeff came home from work that night, he saw the behemoth bowl of mangoes and pineapples on the counter and asked, "Costco?" "Costco," I replied.

That night we enjoyed a pineapple-mango salsa on swordfish for Jeff and tofu for me. Fruit salsas are a staple in our house because they're light, healthy, and versatile. This salsa is sweet, spicy, and tangy and tastes even better when allowed to rest at room temperature before serving. Also, the rich golden yellow of both fruits seemed just right to submit to Barbara's A Taste of Yellow event at the famed Winos and Foodies. In addition to raising awareness of cancer, Barbara's event has been approved by the Lance Armstrong Foundation as an official LIVESTRONG Day Event.

Swordfish with Pineapple-Mango Salsa
Print recipe only here.

1 cup fresh pineapple, diced
¾ cup mango, diced
1 small red or green chile, finely diced
3 Tbsp green onions, finely sliced
Juice of ½ lime
1 Tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped
1 Tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped
Salt, to taste

2 (4-oz) swordfish steaks or mahi-mahi
1 tsp olive oil
Salt and pepper

For the salsa, simply place all ingredients in a bowl; allow to rest for at least 45 min- 1 hr. so the flavors will mingle.

Preheat the broiler. Drizzle the olive oil on both sides of the swordfish, and season with salt and pepper. Broil for 4-5 minutes, flip over steaks, and broil another 4-5 minutes, or until opaque. Alternatively, you can grill the swordfish or pan fry on the stovetop. Makes 2 servings.

Serving suggestion: steamed sugar snap peas lightly seasoned with extra virgin olive oil, fresh mint, & salt and pepper are a lovely side vegetable.

If you're unfamiliar with selecting and cutting a mango, then check out Rachel’s tutorial at Coconut and Lime.

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