I crave ‘tropical’ baking
When the weather is grim outside and you need an extra dose of sunshine in your day, get in the kitchen and whip up this zesty little number.
When it’s cold outside, this coconut lime cake with lime curd has such lovely warm flavours. The lime curd is extra tart, and a particular favourite – it can also be added to fruit tarts, pikelets and muffins, on to icecream or yoghurt and gives extra zing when served alongside baking. The cream cheese icing is great on banana and carrot cakes.
Lime & coconut cake
Serves 6-8 Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 50 minutes
This is light and moist, and FOOD given a mighty flavour boost with the tart lime curd.
1 cup caster sugar 3 eggs Grated zest of 2 limes cup freshly squeezed lime juice cup flavourless baking oil cup coconut yoghurt 1 cups self-raising flour 1 cup desiccated coconut
Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
Line a 23cm loose-bottomed tin with baking paper. In a large bowl beat sugar, eggs, zest, juice, oil and yoghurt. Sift in flour, add coconut and stir to combine.
Pour into a tin and cook for 50-55 minutes until golden and gently risen in the middle. While the cake is cooking, make the lime curd and icing.
Lime cream cheese icing
cup lime curd Finely grated zest of 1 lime 50g cream cheese, at room temperature 2 cups icing sugar Passionfruit halves to serve (optional)
Whiz together until smooth. To serve, top the cake with icing and put a lovely big blob of lime curd on the side – passionfruit halves optional.
Lime curd Makes 1 cups Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 12-15 minutes
cup caster sugar 110g butter, chopped into chunks Finely grated zest of 2 limes
cup freshly squeezed lime juice 3 fresh eggs, free-range, whisked
Have a 1 cup-capacity sterilised jar at the ready. Heat sugar, butter, zest and lime juice in a heat-proof glass bowl over a saucepan of simmering water – making sure the bowl doesn’t actually touch the water.
Once the butter has melted, whisk the eggs into it. Continue whisking over the heat for 8-10 minutes, until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
Pour into the jar and seal if storing. Cool and use within 10 days. (This curd is extra limey and quite tart.)
Recipes, food styling and photography by Sarah Tuck