Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Perfect Party Cake and Coconut-Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise (TWD)


This week's Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD) recipe was chosen by Carol of mix, mix... stir, stir: Perfect Party Cake. I actually made this cake last year as part of one of The Daring Bakers' challenges. The first time I made it, I frosted it with white chocolate whipped cream because I don't particularly care for buttercream frosting. I made it again at the end of last year for my mother-in-law's birthday party and used Dorie's buttercream recipe and loved it. It was not until I tried this buttercream recipe that I realized not all buttercreams are created equal. So if you make this cake, I urge you to try it with the buttercream because it is delicious. You can read more about my experiences with this cake and see more photos of it here. This would be a perfect cake for a Fourth of July celebration, topped with blueberries and raspberries!



I'm sorry Carol, but I did not have time to make this cake again. I barely got the June Daring Bakers' challenge posted at the last minute this weekend, and then had some catching up to do as well. Last week, Andrea of Andrea in the Kitchen chose the Coconut-Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise (pronounced da-kwaz). I did not have a chance to make it due to the passing of my grandmother, but promised I would get to it soon.

I have wanted to make Coconut-Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise from the moment I got the cookbook. There is a lovely picture of it in the book that just jumps out at you. I grew up in southern California, only thirty minutes from the beach. During the summer, we'd always stop at Thrifty's on the way home from the beach for some ice cream. One of my favorite ice cream flavors there was pineapple coconut. So I knew that with roasted pineapple, coconut, and white chocolate ganache, this was going to be one really great dessert.


The recipe was fairly straightforward, though extremely time consuming. First, there's the coconut almond meringue layer made with ground almonds, coconut and egg whites. Though it can be made one day in advance, it takes three hours to fully bake.



The white chocolate ganache is made with white chocolate and heavy cream. You boil the heavy cream, then pour it over the white chocolate, and mix until the chocolate is completely melted. Then the ganache needs to be refrigerated for three hours before it is whipped up for the final dessert.



The roasted pineapple is probably the quickest part of this recipe, though cutting and slicing the pineapple does take some time. Simply quarter your pineapple, slice it into 1/8-inch thick pieces, sprinkle with some confectioners' sugar and place it under the broiler. After a quick 8 minutes in the oven, you've got some delicious, roasted pineapple.


Aside from the three hour bake time required for the meringue and the three hour refrigeration time for the ganache, after the dessert is assembled, it needs to chill in the refrigerator for at least four hours! So needless to say, if you're going to make this, plan ahead.


I had already read about how many people loved this dessert last week so I was excited to take my first bite. It absolutely lived up to all the hype I had heard about it. There is just something so great about pineapple and coconut together. It was a bit sweet, so if you don't like overly sweet desserts I would recommend using slightly sweetened whipped cream between each layer of meringue instead of the ganache.

Thanks Andrea, for a great pick. Though a bit late, I am so glad that I finally got to make this. If you would like the recipe, you can find it here. If you visit the TWD Blogroll, you'll see how much everyone else enjoyed this tropical treat!

* Recipes notes:
- While the recipe calls for a 4.25 pound pineapple, I bought a 2 pound pineapple and had just enough.
- I ended up with quite a bit of leftover white chocolate ganache (about 3 cups), so next time I make this I will make 1/2 of the ganache recipe.
- While some complained the ganache was too sweet and recommended using regular whipped cream in between each layer instead, I found the ganache to be just fine. I actually thought the pineapple was a bit too sweet and would probably omit the dusting of confectioners' sugar next time - I'm sure the natural sugars in the pineapple would be sufficient.
- Don't want such a big dessert? Or prefer something easier to serve at a get together? Consider making cute little individual servings like Vibi did here.
- For more tips, click here.

32 comments:

  1. I skipped the dacquoise last week and of course, I've only read rave reviews about it. Your photos look just like the one in the book. Great job! And the party cake with all of the berries? Fantastic!

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  2. These both look delicious! Now I want cake...

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  3. two great desserts! i agree that the buttercream on the party cake is awesome!!

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  4. Love the close up of the perfect party cake! The other cake wouldn't be too sweet for me. It looks perfect too!

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  5. Thanks for baking with me. That is a lovely dacquoise.
    Sorry to hear of the passing of your grandmother.

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  6. The Perfect Party Cake was delicious! My mother is still talking about it. Your cake looks great. And the dacquoise! YUM. I miss it.

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  7. Jaime your dacquoise looks wonderful! I wanna slice!

    I never thought to roast pineapple under the broiler. Here I've been passing up recipes that call for roasted fruits because my grill bit the dust! Oven, DUH! Thanks for the info!

    Btw, how are you (& baby) feeling?!
    ~ingrid

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  8. Yeah! well... I can understand you didn't have the time to make it again! ...you're such an overachiever! WOW! Two cakes in one post... and two beautiful cakes on top of it! Well done Jaime... now relax, have a piece of cake!

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  9. All of that fruit looks beautiful.

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  10. i remember your party cake--i bookmarked it because it was so astoundlingly beautiful. your dacquoise is particularly lovely too--i love the roasted pineapple displayed on top!

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  11. Wow, I love the Perfect Party Cake from your DB challenge! It looks perfect for a summer celebration with all of the fresh fruit!
    Your Coconut-Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise looks perfect too! I loved that one and would like to make it again!

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  12. I've also made the Perfect Party Cake more than once :) It is such a fabulous cake. Glad you got to mkae the Pineapple Dacquoise. It looks beautiful!

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  13. oh! Thank you for the mention! I hadn't even noticed! ...amongst the tons of work you do!!! Lol

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  14. Wow they both look absolutely perfect!

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  15. Both your desserts look beautiful, I love the idea of the party cake with berries. I'm glad the dacquoise lived up to the hype from last week, it certainly exceeded my expectations.

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  16. I saw your perfect party cake post last year and it was the inspiration for me making it for my grandmother's birthday! It's gorgeous! We all really enjoyed it. Your dacquoise is amazing - your pineapple is incredibly envious, I wish mine had roasted that well. Glad you enjoyed it - it's one of my Dorie favorites now :)

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  17. Your cake is beautiful (how great that you had already made it last year!) And I loved the dacquoise, which I didn't expect that I would. I "cheated" and bought fresh pineapple spears from Trader Joe's, which cut down on the work just a little.

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  18. Absolutely beautiful photos. 1st. Love the fruit filling its so much prettier than the jam, way more vibrant. I'm sure more delicious. Great job even if it was a previous bake. NBD. 2nd now I really want to get cracking and get to the pineapple dacquoise. lovely photos
    AmyRuth

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  19. Very very very beautiful dacquoise and your cake looks so festive!

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  20. All buttercreams are not created equal. This (swiss merengue) is my absolute favorite. I like it so much I've considered spreading it on toast. Glad you liked it too.

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  21. Your Perfect Party Cake looks so fantastic that it deserves to be posted again! I think the buttercream recipe is a winner as well. I am glad my pick gave you a break on a busy week.

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  22. I want both of them! They look gorgeous!

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  23. Wow, this cake look really delicious Jaime!

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  24. Both your cakes look so delicious! I really like all those fresh berries in the party cake.
    Glad you got to enjoy everything!

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  25. What a beautiful cake! The effort seems to be well worth it - at the very least for the pictures!

    I am new to the world of baking blogs, but yours was one of the first I ever came across over a year ago, and eventually inspired me to start my own blog a few months ago! Thanks for all of your beautiful recipes!

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  26. Both cakes are fantastic but that Perfect psrty cake is a knock out!

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  27. Both recipes looks just gorgeous! You can cook for me any time.

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  28. Great job on both. I LOVE your cake with the berries. Your daquoise looks just as good as the photo in Dorie's book.

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  29. Everything looks beautiful! I especially love the caramelization on the pineapple. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

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  30. Such beautiful photos! I totally want to do TWD but I'm way too nervous because you guys are all awesome!!

    Sues

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  31. Both beautiful cakes, and both winners. I'm particularly inrigued by the roasted pineaple one. Brilliant!!

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