This retro pineapple cake and cherry ice cream is a wonderful treat to bring the New Year in with!
Cooking notes: plus (overnight) freezing, cooling and softening
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For the spiced pineapple
- 1 vanilla pod
- 2 star anise
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 75 g light brown soft sugar
- 1/2 ripe medium pineapple (500g), peeled and cut into 3-4mm thick semi-circles
For the sponge
- 125 g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease
- 100 g light brown soft sugar
- 100 g self-raising flour
- 50 g ground almonds
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
For the ice cream
- 250 ml double cream
- 200 g condensed milk
- 2 Tbsp. icing sugar
- 200 g coconut cream
- 3 Tbsp. coconut rum
- 125 g maraschino/cocktail cherries (drained weight), roughly chopped
- Step 1First, make the ice cream. In a large bowl, using a handheld electric whisk, whip the double cream, condensed milk and icing sugar to soft peaks. Fold in the coconut cream and rum, followed by the cherries. Scrape into a 1 litre freezer-safe lidded container, cover and freeze for 6-8hr, or ideally overnight, until firm.
- Step 2Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4. Grease a 20.5cm round cake tin and line base and sides with 1 large sheet of baking parchment, smoothing it out as best you can. For the pineapple, split the vanilla pod in ½ and scrape out the seeds. Put pod and seeds into a small frying pan with the star anise, butter and sugar. Cook over medium heat for 5min, stirring until melted and bubbling. Scrape into lined tin; cool for 5min.
- Step 3Arrange pineapple semi-circles on top of the caramel, overlapping them slightly and pressing down in the centre to level.
- Step 4In a large bowl, beat all the sponge ingredients and a pinch of salt using a handheld electric whisk until light and fluffy. Scrape on top of the pineapple, gently smoothing to level. Bake for 35-40min, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10min before carefully inverting on to a cake stand or plate. Peel off parchment paper.
- Step 5Allow ice cream to soften at room temperature for 5min before serving in scoops with the warm cake.
To store
Keep any cake leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. Store ice cream in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Per serving:
- Calories: 726
- Protein: 8g
- Total fat: 47g
- Saturates: 29g
- Carbs: 64g
- Total sugars: 53g
- Fibre: 2g
The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time
