Pineapple Coffee Cake

I sometimes take treats to work on Mondays as well as Fridays, but I have been a bit out of practice doing that since the New Year. This time of year had a lot of Monday holidays plus the weekends have been busy but the other day I really wanted to bake a treat for Monday. For the start of the week I like to make breakfast treats: coffee cake, muffins, that sort of thing. This was a tradition that my now-retired colleague started.

I was looking for something refreshing, and this pineapple coffeecake looked perfect. I love pineapple and can’t really get enough of it. This has you cook the crushed pineapple to thicken it, and then use it as a filling layer for the cake. The original recipe called for crushed pineapple in heavy syrup, which I couldn’t find at my grocery store. Just use crushed pineapple in juice; pineapple is plenty sweet by itself.

This is a great little coffee cake. I added a simple glaze to add a little something extra. I liked this coffee cake a lot; it wasn’t too sweet and had the great flavor of the pineapple. You could certainly try this with different fruits or even with fruit preserves or butters.

20 ounce can crushed pineapple
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9” x 13” baking pan with cooking spray.

Make the filling: Combine the crushed pineapple, sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Heat on medium until bubbly. Set aside.

In a large mixer bowl, beat together the oil and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Spread 3/4 of batter into the prepared pan. Top with the pineapple mixture and then carefully spread the remaining batter on top. The pineapple does not to be completely covered. Bake for 30-32 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Make the glaze: in a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar and enough milk to make the glaze thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle on top of cooled cake.

Recipe from Coffee Fun