Pineapple and almond cake

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 250 g butter
• 150 g sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 250 g ground almonds
• 4 tbsp cognac
• 1,000 g pineapple, pieces
• 8 tbsp pineapple juice
• 400 g ladyfingers
• 400 g cream
• 1 bag of brittle
• Fat, for the shape
• Breadcrumbs, for the mold

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Rest period approx. 1 day; Total time approx. 1 day 1 hour 30 minutes

Refrigerator cake, but a bit complicated

Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl using a hand mixer or food processor until fluffy. The butter should be at room temperature. Then add 4 egg yolks one at a time and mix. Important: Add the eggs one at a time, whisking continuously. When everything is fluffy, add 250g of ground almonds and mix, then add 4 tablespoons of cognac and about 1kg of canned shredded pineapple and mix in with a hand mixer. I usually use 2 medium-sized cans; that’s usually enough. The cake tastes better if the canned pineapple pieces are further shredded with a kitchen knife. It’s a bit of work, but worth it. Finally, add a little pineapple juice, not too much. Divide the pineapple and almond filling in half. Grease a 26 or 28cm springform pan well, including the edges. Spread some breadcrumbs on the base to make it easier to remove later. Then, split the sponge fingers roughly in half, and line the base in a star shape with the sponge fingers. Fill the gaps with small pieces of sponge fingers and breadcrumbs. Line the edge with sponge fingers, too, with the rounded edge facing down and the broken part facing up. Spread half of the butter, pineapple, and almond mixture on top. Spread another layer of sponge fingers on top in a star shape, filling the gaps just as with the first layer. Then spread the second half of the filling on top, then spread another layer of sponge fingers on top in a star shape, filling the gaps as well. Then, the cake, which now fills the entire springform pan, is covered with parchment paper on top of the last layer. Place a pan of cold water on top to weigh the cake down and help the sponge fingers soften. The pan must, of course, be the right size. It’s best to leave it in the fridge overnight so it can be finished shortly before eating. The next day: The cake needs to be turned out, as the top layer is the bottom layer. When the cake is turned out, the rounded sponge cakes will be facing upwards, as they should be. Turning the cake out is easier than it sounds. You hold a metal cake lid on top and turn the lid with the cake in the springform pan upside down so that the lid is on the bottom and can be placed on the kitchen table. The sponge cakes, which have now softened, now form the base and there is also a layer of sponge cake on top. Now decorate with a cup of whipped cream. To do this, spread the cream evenly on top and around the sides. Then spread the brittle on top and around the sides of the cake. Then use a cake divider to mark out the pieces. This should be done before decorating with the cream. You can pipe the cream along the marked lines using a piping bag, then add another dollop of cream to the end of each piece on the wide side. You can also add a thick dollop of cream to the middle of the cake and decorate each piece with a piece of pineapple at the very end. You can also make the cake very early in the morning if you plan to eat it in the afternoon. But refrigerating it overnight is a tried and tested method. It’s been tried many times and always tastes good. If all that seems too complicated, you can bake a sponge cake instead of ladyfingers and divide it into three pieces.