JUNGLE BIRD UPSIDE DOWN CAKE
the cocktail cakes keep on coming
SWEET TEETH
Summer! Is!! Here!!! And I’ve spent most of the days thus far dripping with sweat as I stare into my oven, fantasizing about sitting poolside with a cocktail in hand.
The past few days in New York have hit 100 degrees, which did leave me desperate enough to fill my bathtub with ice water and sink into it, clutching a Toasted Coconut Jungle Bird. It managed to cool me down, though my windowless bathroom does leave a lot of ambiance to be desired.
As I sat in the tub sipping my cocktail, I thought about how much fun it could be to turn the drink into a cake, especially after I had so much fun working on the Aperol Spritz Cake I published earlier this month. And so this Jungle Bird Upside Down Cake was born!
The base of the recipe is a classic pineapple upside down cake, with a few tweaks to get the other crucial Jungle Bird components into it. I started by adding a splash of rum into the caramel topping and swapping in cocktail cherries for the classic fire-engine red maraschinos, which gives the sweet pineapple topping a deeper flavor. When it came to the cake itself, I added lime zest and juice, and a good bit of Campari, to balance out the sweetness of the caramel with bright bitterness. I also swapped in coconut oil and milk for neutral oil and whole milk, to double down on the tropical summer vibes I was going for. The result is so delighfully delicious, it may be worth turning on your oven amidst a heat wave.
Stay cool!
THE RECIPE
JUNGLE BIRD UPSIDE DOWN CAKE
makes one 9-inch round cake
Ingredients:
For the topping:
3/4 cup (150g) brown sugar
4 tbsp (57g) unsalted butter, melted
2 tbsp (24g) dark rum
1/4 tsp (1g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt*
6-7 (280g) canned pineapple rounds**
Maraschino Cherries (preferably cocktail ones i.e., Luxardo)
For the cake:
2 cups (256g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp (3g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt*
1 tsp (4g) baking powder
1/2 tsp (2g) baking soda
1/2 cup (109g) unsweetened full-fat coconut milk, shaken well
1/2 cup (96g) unrefined coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup (79g) Campari
1/4 cup (61g) lime juice from ~two limes
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
1/4 cup (50g) brown sugar
~2 tsp (4g) lime zest, from one lime
2 large (100g) eggs
1 tsp (4g) pure vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat & prep: Preheat your oven to 350° and set a rack in the middle of the oven. Grease the sides and bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan with neutral oil, cut a round of parchment paper to fit the bottom, and line the pan.
Prepare your topping: In a small bowl, whisk together your 3/4 cup brown sugar, melted butter, rum, and salt. Pour into the bottom of your lined pan and spread into an even layer. Press your pineapple rounds into the brown sugar mixture in your desired pattern. Press maraschino cherries into the center of each round and into any other gaps you want to fill.
Whisk together your dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together your flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
Whisk together your wet ingredients: In a bowl or measuring cup, whisk together your coconut milk, coconut oil, Campari, and lime juice.
Make your cake batter: In a large bowl, whisk together your white and brown sugars. Add in your lime zest and massage it into the sugars until it is fragrant and resembles wet sand. Add in your eggs and whisk vigorously until the mixture has thickened slightly, about 1 minute. Add your vanilla and whisk until incorporated. Whisk your wet ingredient mixture into the egg and sugar mixture until homogenous, 1 minute. Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredient mixture into it. Whisk until just combined. Transfer the batter to the 9-inch cake pan, holding your pineapple topping, and spread into an even layer overtop it.
Bake: Bake on the oven's middle rack until deeply browned and a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean, 44-47 minutes, rotating 180° halfway through the bake time.
Cool, flip & serve: Let the cake cool for 20-30 minutes in the pan. Then carefully flip onto a serving plate. Slice and serve.
Leftovers?: Store in an airtight container in your refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes:
*If you’re using any other type or brand of salt (i.e. Morton, or sea salt), I suggest scaling back by 1/2.
**Canned pineapple rounds will vary in size and thickness. You can even slice them in half and arrange them that way if you want a more unique pattern.