Waiting for Spring

Spring, I can't wait... because then summer is next. I love spring in it's own right. The smell of the snow melting is just as intoxicating as driving down bakery road up in St. Cloud in the morning. (E. St. Germain where the Hearth bakery lives) Spring is all about the scents. It's as if one can actually smell the grass growing and turning green.
Now that I have established how spring starts up the ole olafactories... it also, as stated first, gets me jonsin' for summer!! Summer. The pool. The scent (there it is again) of coconut and pineapple. Oh bring it on please! Enough of this winter goo. And no, I don't want to skip over spring, but I need to remember summer actually does happen in Minnesota!
Once again, my favorite blogger www.smittenkitchen.com has timed my need for a connection with summer to food. She posted a recipe today for Pina Colada Cake. The ultimate drink of pool time summer.
I of course proceeded to bake it and it turned out just beautifully. Very moist, wonderful quiet flavors of pineapple, coconut and rum!!!
My husband said nothing but garbled "mmm,num, num, mmm" the entire time he ate it and of course didn't want to waste that half piece my mom left behind. Because of course, after Mom ate the first piece she stated "you know I don't usually eat sweets, but I'll take another 1/2 piece" Why does she say that after everything sweet I bake???
Enjoy... make this cake... close your eyes and picture summer!!!
piña colada cake

Piña Colada Cake
http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/02/pina-colada-cake/

Note: Cream of coconut is different from coconut milk; it is a very sweet, thick white liquid while coconut milk is unsweetened, just water and pressed coconut flesh. I used cream of coconut because it had a stronger coconut flavor. If you can only find coconut milk, however, in one test of the cake (that was delicious but didn’t have the coconut oomph I wanted) I used a cup of it instead, used all of the brown sugar and added 3/4 cup granulated sugar.

If you cannot get fresh pineapple, grab a small can of pineapple (in 100% pineapple juice, not syrup). The juice in the can can be used for the glaze. You’ll get a sharper flavor, of course, from fresh pineapple.

Cake
2 cups (250 grams or 4 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (113 grams or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup light (55 grams or 2 ounces) brown sugar
1 tablespoon (15 ml) dark rum
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup (237 ml) cream of coconut
1/2 cup (72 grams or 2 1/2 ounces) finely chopped fresh pineapple (or pineapple from a can, strained, juice reserved)

To brush over the cake
1 to 2 tablespoons rum (optional)
2 tablespoons pineapple juice (optional)

Glaze
1 cup (120 grams or 4 ounces) powdered sugar
Pinch of table or fine sea salt
1 1/2 to 3 tablespoons pineapple juice

2 tablespoons dark rum for sprinkling over cake (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper, then butter parchment. (Alternately, you can use a cooking spray, either with just butter or butter and flour to speed this process up.)

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat eggs, one at a time, and rum. Add cream of coconut and mix; the batter will look curdly and worrisome but will all work out in the end. Add dry ingredients, half at a time, mixing and scraping down bowl between additions. Mix only until flour is just incorporated. Using a rubber spatula, fold in bits of pineapple.

Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes, then run a knife around edge of pan. Invert onto rack and discard parchment.

For extra flavor, while the cake is still hot you can brush it with rum or pineapple juice.

Cool cake completely at room temperature, or in the fridge if you are impatient for cake (who isn’t?). Once completely cool, place powdered sugar and salt in a small bowl with 1 1/2 tablespoons pineapple juice and whisk until a thick glaze forms. Thin glaze only as needed, adding additional pineapple juice a teaspoon at a time until glaze is just thick enough to pour. Pour glaze into middle of cake and if it’s too thick to crawl to the edges itself, nudge it with a spatula until the top is covered. Serve immediately or let it set in the fridge for 20 minutes or so.