Pineapple Mimosa Cake

To prepare the pineapple mimosa cake, start with the sponge cake. In a bowl, sift together flour and potato starch 1. Slice the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a small knife. In the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with a whisk, pour in the eggs, a pinch of salt 2, and the vanilla seeds 3.

Add the sugar and beat everything for at least 10 minutes at medium speed until the mixture is fluffy, light, and frothy 5. Stop the mixer, place a strainer in the bowl and sift the flour and potato starch mixture again 6.

With a whisk or a spatula, gently fold it in with a motion from the bottom to the top to incorporate the powders well 7. Then pour the mixture into a 9.5-inch mold already greased and lined with parchment paper: it's important that the circumference has the parchment paper extending a little beyond the mold, this way it will help the cake rise upwards 8. Bake in a preheated static oven at 355°F for about 40 minutes. At the end of baking, carefully remove the paper and allow the cake to cool completely 9.

Move on to the custard. In a saucepan, pour the milk, cream 1, the scraped vanilla seeds 2, and the pod. Bring to a near boil. Meanwhile, in another bowl, pour the egg yolks and sugar 3,

briefly beat 4, then add the cornstarch 5 and mix again with the whisk 6 until you get a homogeneous mixture.

As soon as the milk starts to boil, remove the vanilla pod from the milk mixture and pour it in a thin stream 7 while stirring with the whisk 8. Transfer everything back into the saucepan and cook the custard until it thickens 9.

Transfer into a bowl, cover with cling film in contact 10, and allow to cool completely at room temperature. Take the pineapple, drain it, and cut it into cubes smaller than half an inch, and let it drain for 20 minutes 12.

Pour the cold cream into a large bowl, turn on the mixers at medium-high speed, and add the powdered sugar one tablespoon at a time 13. Beat until you have a stiffly whipped mixture. At this point, turn the custard into a diplomatic cream by adding half of the whipped cream first and stirring vigorously to temper 14. Then add the remaining part and incorporate more gently with movements from the bottom to the top 15.

Remove 14 oz of cream and transfer it into a small bowl 16, this will be for the coating. In the remaining part, pour the drained pineapple cubes 17 and mix well 18. If you don't use the two creams immediately, cover with cling film and store in the refrigerator.

Now prepare the rum syrup. In a saucepan, pour the water and sugar, stir over high flame 1 until the sugar has completely dissolved. Then off the heat, pour in the rum 2, this way most of the alcohol will evaporate, and mix well 3. Let it cool.

Move on to the assembly. Take the sponge cake, cut about 0.4 inches from the top and set it aside 1. Then with a sharp knife, cut around the cake about 0.8-1.2 inches from the edge 2 and cut into the cake to remove the interior, without piercing the base, leaving about 0.8 inches 3.

Cut the interior of the sponge cake into 0.2-inch cubes and collect them in a bowl 4. Moisten the inside of the cake with a brush 5 and then pour the cream with pineapple cubes in the middle 6.

Carefully level with a spoon 7 and place the previously set aside disc on top: put the more browned side in contact with the pineapple cream 8. Moisten the surface of the cake as well 9.

Transfer the reserved cream onto the cake 10 and cover the cake entirely by smoothing it well 11, sprinkle with all the cubes 12

and gently compact with your hands to entirely cover the whole surface 13. Let it set in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours, and then garnish with edible flowers 14 before serving 15. Your pineapple mimosa cake is ready.