Serves: 10

500g very ripe chopped pineapple flesh, (or 2 × 400g cans pineapple, drained),  
125ml maple syrup 
1 cup caster sugar 
2 tsp vanilla bean paste 
150g unsalted butter, melted and cooled 
3 eggs
275g self-raising flour 
150g almond meal 

TOPPING  
250g cream cheese, at room temp 
1/2 cup icing sugar, sifted 
100g crème fraîche or sour cream 
Toasted and chopped almonds 
Extra pineapple slices caremalised in brown sugar**
Extra maple syrup to drizzle

Preheat oven to 160 fan forced. Grease a 22 or 23cm cake pan and line with baking paper. Place the pineapple, maple, sugar, vanilla and 1⁄2 tsp salt in a large bowl then use a stick blender to blend all of the ingredients. Add the butter, eggs then blitz again to combine. Stir through the flour and macadamia meal until well combined then add to the cake pan. 

Cook in preheated oven for 1 hour 10 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean(ish). Keep in mind this is a very moist pudding cake, so as long as the batter isnt raw inside its fine. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely before you ice.

For the icing, combine the cream cheese and icing sugar in a bowl and use electric beaters to loosen. With the motor on low, gradually add the cream to combine and avoid lumps, then increase speed and whisk until thickened. 

Spread icing over the cooled cake then scatter over extra pineapple slices and drizzle over maple syrup with some extra salt flakes and nuts. You can refrigerate this cake as it is quite dense, but remove it 30 minutes before eating. 

**For the caremalised pineapple, melt some (25g) butter in a large frypan and and add a couple tbs brown sugar. Allot is to dissolve and then add slices of pineapple and cook until caremalised. Drain on a tray lined with baking paper.