Passionfruit Cake with Fluffy Chocolate Frosting | Apt 2b Baking Co

I love a cake that you can stir together in one bowl, and this passionfruit cake fits the bill. It is packed with passionfruit flavor and is mouth-puckering tart, but the *ahem generous* swoops of chocolate frosting balance it quite nicely. You could also add an additional 1/4 cup (50g) sugar for a sweeter cake, but I’m a fan of the contrast. If you aren’t a huge frosting fan you may want to hold a little back when you are topping the cake. The cake is also delicious - tart, floral, and tropical - on its own. If you’d prefer to skip the frosting all together, make a little bit of glaze made from passionfruit and confectioners sugar and drizzle it over the top instead.

Would you believe that I have misplaced my sprinkles? I’m not sure how it happened, but after my Christmas cookie bonanza I managed to hide ALL OF MY SPRINKLES from myself and I didn’t discover it until I went their normal storage spot to grab some to sprinkle this beaut. In the end it was a blessing because I crushed up a handful of dehydrated raspberries for decor instead and they added a nice tart punch to the topping.

p.s. I use a spoon, instead of an offset spatula, to get these deep swoops and swirls.

One Bowl Passion Fruit Cake with Fluffy Chocolate Frosting

makes one 8-inch square cake

Frosting recipe from Smitten Kitchen’s “I want chocolate cake cake”

I used Goya brand passionfruit puree for this cake which I can find easily at most of the supermarkets in my area. Its also very inexpensive and runs about 3 bucks for 7 ounces. You can certainly make your own puree or use a higher end brand, but I’m here to tell you that the inexpensive stuff works just fine. Choose your own adventure. Although, if you can find fresh passionfruit, a few of the seeds and pulp sprinkled over the top would make a beautiful, crunchy garnish. This cake tastes best the day that it is baked, but holds up for a couple of days at room temperature. If you use dehydrated fruit as a garnish it will soften as it sits.

For a less tart cake use 1 cup (200g) sugar.

One Bowl Passionfruit Cake

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar

2/3 cup passionfruit puree

1/3 cup (75g) sour cream

4 tablespoons (55g) melted unsalted butter

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/4 cups (140g) cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

Chocolate Frosting

2 ounces (55 grams) unsweetened (or bittersweet) chocolate, melted and cooled

1 1/2 cups (180 grams) powdered sugar

1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 tablespoons milk, plus more if necessary

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

fat pinch of salt

Heat oven to 350ºF and butter and flour or spray an 8x8 inch baking pan with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, passionfruit puree, sour cream, melted butter, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt until combined and smooth.

Combine the flour and baking powder in a fine mesh sieve and sift it into the large bowl. Whisk the batter until smooth and pour into the prepared pan. Slide the pan into the oven and bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean 20-25 minutes.

Cool the cake in the pan on a rack.

While the cake is cooling make the frosting.

Add all of the frosting ingredients to a large bowl and beat until smooth and fluffy, add a bit more milk if necessary. Alternately, Deb makes the frosting in a food processor.

Spread the frosting evenly over the cooled cake and decorate with a shit-ton of sprinkles. Enjoy immediately! This cake keeps is best the day it’s baked, but will keep for a couple of days, covered at room temperature. The dehydrated raspberries will soften over time.

Please excuse the phone photography here. I baked this pistachio rosewater cake for fun (imagine that) but so many folks over on instagram were interested in the recipe so I am sharing it - along with a very exciting announcement!

Olaiya and I had such a long waitlist for our Paris workshop this Spring (thank you!) that we added another workshop this September 20-24. The format will be pretty much the same as the Spring version - think lots of pastry, delicious wine and cheese, market visits, prop shopping, and some solid photo, styling, and editing lessons in the city of light. This trip is for anyone looking to build their photography and styling skills (all levels welcome) and enjoy lots of beautiful food in one of the most amazing cities in the world. I am so excited to explore Paris in the fall, I am dreaming of the markets already!

Click Here to Reserve Your Spot!

Now for the cake! This comes from Molly's Shortstack all about Yogurt. It is full of sweet and savory recipes using her (and my) favorite dairy product. I grew up eating yogurt as a mostly savory food, but it is awesome in all sorts of sweet preparations too - like cake. Molly uses Labneh, a very thick and tangy type of yogurt as frosting for this pleasantly rustic, but also kinda fancy pistachio cake. If you aren't a fan of rosewater, the cake would be just as good without it too.

Pistachio Rosewater Cake with Labneh Frosting

from Yogurt by Molly Yeh

makes one 9-inch cake

This cake is so simple and tasty, and super beautiful too! I reduced the sugar in the cake and frosting by about 1/3 to suit my personal tastes, and added some strawberries on top because strawberries, pistachio, and rose are a natural paring. Did you know strawberries and roses are in the same botanical family?! The recipe below is as it is printed in the book and when I made it I used 1 cup of sugar in the cake and 2/3 cup sugar in the frosting.

Cake

1 1/2 cups roasted unsalted shelled pistachios

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup almond meal

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

zest of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 tablespoons rosewater

Labneh Frosting

1 1/2 cups labneh

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 tablespoon rosewater

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch kosher salt

Make the cake: Preheat the oven 350º. Grease the bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan with butter and line the bottom with parchment paper, set aside. Place the pistachios in a food processor and pulse until they’re coarsely chopped. Scoop out 2 tablespoons and set them aside for the topping. Blend the remaining pistachios until they’re finely ground. add the flour, almond meal and salt and pulse a few times to combine.

In a stand mixer fixed with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each, then add the lemon zest, almond extract and rosewater. Add the dry mixture ad mix until just combined. Pour the batter into the pan and use a spatula to smooth the top. Bake the cake until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (begin checking for doneness at 50 minutes). Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn it onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the labneh frosting: In a medium bowl, stir together the labneh, sugar, rosewater, vanilla, and salt until the mixture is smooth. Cover the top of the cooled cake with the frosting. Top with the reserved pistachios and a few sprinkles of dried rose petals.