Lime & coconut drizzle cake

I’m continuing to ignore the sub-zero temperatures outside by infusing my cooking with the flavours of summer. And I think it’s working. It’s still cold outside of course but I feel like the warmer weather is just around the corner and I’m having a lot of fun imagining my taste buds relaxing on the beach in Hawaiian shirts and sipping pina coladas. Having already crowned mint as my No. 1 summer flavour in my last post, I decided it was time to give lime and coconut a chance to battle it out for second place. Lime is zesty and refreshing: it reminds me of ice cold caipirinhas (too many and too strong!) on a beach in Florianopolis and squeezing fresh lime on a fiery tortilla soup in a smoky cantina in Mexico City. Coconut on the other hand is deliciously creamy and soothing; it smells of Thailand and sun lotion and summer holidays.

I have decided it’s a draw and have baked this lime and coconut drizzle cake to celebrate these exotic flavours. It’s both sharp and sticky from the lime, and fragrant and sweet from the coconut; in my mind (and probably mine alone) it’s lemon drizzle cake wearing a grass skirt and playing the steel drums.

Lime & coconut drizzle cake

Ingredients:

For the sponge:

– 190g unsalted butter
– 190g caster sugar
– two unwaxed limes (zest and juice)
– 3 large eggs (free range please)
– 190g plain flour
– pinch of salt
– 1 teaspoon baking powder
– 50g dessicated coconut
– 50ml coconut milk

For the drizzle:

– 40g caster sugar
– 100ml coconut milk
– two unwaxed limes (zest of one, juice of both)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a 8.5cm x 17.5cm loaf tin with baking paper. If you prefer to grease the tin with butter, it’s still best to line the base with baking paper – there is nothing more upsetting than a greedy tin that refuses to surrender its contents!

Beat the butter, sugar and lime zest together (I used my electric mixer but you could do this by hand) until pale and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and making sure the ingredients are fully incorporated after each addition.

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together in a separate bowl. Fold into the wet ingredients, half at a time. Mix in the dessicated coconut, lime juice and coconut milk.

Spoon into the loaf tin and bake for about an hour, or until golden brown and firm in the middle. Mine took longer than an hour but my oven is both ageing and ailing and is not as hot as it once was. I suggest you check the cake after an hour and pop it back in for another few minutes if it still looks a bit soggy and pale.

Whilst the cake is baking, prepare the drizzle. Heat the caster sugar and coconut milk on a low to medium heat and simmer until it reduces by about half. You should be left with a syrupy viscous consistency (a bit like runny glue!). Take off the heat and stir in the lime juice and zest. Set aside to cool.

When the cake is still hot, poke holes all over the cake with a skewer and gradually feed your cake the drizzle. If you often find drizzle cakes too wet, consider using less drizzle – this version is pretty sticky! Allow the drizzle to soak in for a couple of hours (if you can wait that long…) and enjoy with friends.