Tropical Cake

This cake makes my mouth water! It is inspired by the beautiful weather in the north of Portugal. Most of my friends are at beach but I stayed in and baked this delicious cake. It is very moist, full of tropical flavours. Very easy to make.

For the cake: 5 eggs - 350 g plain flour (without a raising agent) - 175 g sugar - 2 tablespoon butter - 1 tablespoon honey - 100 ml milk - 1 can pineapple chunks (565 ml of pineapple chunks with juice) - 1 flavourless gelatine leaf

For the topping: 3 tablespoon grated coconut - 150 g black chocolate - 100 g white chocolate - 50 ml cream - 150 ml coconut milk

Preheat the oven to 180°C and butter a baking pan (I used a round baking pan Ø25 cm). Dissolve the gelatine leaf soaking it in cold water for five minutes and then remove and squeeze out the leaf. In a bowl blend 500 gr of all pineapple juice with some chunks (save the rest of the pineapple chunks for later).

Separate the eggs. In a bowl, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks (meaning the bowl can be held upside down over your head and the egg whites will not fall out). Fold in the sugar, honey, yolks, butter, milk, flour, gelatine and pineapple puree. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and sprinkle the rest of the pineapple chunks on top. It will be delicious to bite the cake and taste these little chunks! Bake for 45 minutes or until the point of a knife comes out clean when inserted in the centre.

To make the topping crush into pieces and melt the black chocolate in a bain marie (a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water; it is important that the water in the pan does not touch the bowl), stirring occasionally. Add the cream and the coconut milk. Stir vigorously. When the chocolate is completely melted, pop it on top of the cake and spread it with a spatula. Now crush into pieces and melt the white chocolate. Pour it over the black chocolate the way you like it (you can even make drawings), sprinkling grated coconut on top. Leave to cool.