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Coconut and lime cake

Ingredients grown together seem to go together. Just as apples and blackberries are a perfect match, so too are coconut and lime. The coconut flavour in this recipe comes from both desiccated coconut and coconut milk. The coconut milk is an unusual addition, but it is nonetheless an excellent baking ingredient that helps make the cake lovely and soft due to its high oil content. If at all possible, serve this cake outside on a summer’s evening, ideally accompanied by piña coladas or margaritas!

Prep time: 20 minutes

Baking time: 30–35 minutes

Ready in: 1 hour 45 minutes

Serves: 8–12

150ml (5fl oz) coconut milk (see the tip)

50g (2oz) desiccated coconut

25ml (1fl oz) milk

250g (9oz) butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

250g (9oz) caster sugar

3 eggs, beaten

Juice and finely grated zest of 2 limes

275g (10oz) self-raising flour

50g (2oz) coconut flakes, toasted (see the tip), to decorate

For the icing

15ml (½fl oz) coconut milk

250g (9oz) icing sugar, sifted

Juice of ½–1 lime

20cm (8in) square cake tin with 5cm (2in) sides

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4, then butter the sides of the cake tin and line the base with a square of baking parchment. Pour the coconut milk into a saucepan and place over a high heat. As soon as it boils, remove from the heat and stir in the desiccated coconut and the milk.

Cream the butter until soft in a large bowl or in an electric food mixer. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Whisk the eggs together with the lime juice and zest in a small bowl, then gradually add the eggs to the creamed butter mixture, beating all the time. Sift in the flour and fold in gently to mix.

Tip the batter into the prepared tin and smooth the top with a spatula or palette knife. Place in the oven and bake for 30–35 minutes. When the cake is ready, a skewer inserted into the centre will come out very slightly sticky.

Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then use a small, sharp knife to loosen the edges and carefully remove the cake from the tin before leaving on a wire rack to finish cooling.

As the cake cools, make the icing. In a bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, icing sugar and the juice of half a lime, adding more if the mixture seems too stiff. Carefully pour the icing over the cake, to cover it in an even layer, then sprinkle over the toasted coconut flakes.

Tip This recipe uses a small (165ml) tin of coconut milk. If you can’t get a small tin, then use a larger one and store any leftover milk in the fridge, where it will keep (in an airtight container) for up to four days, or it can be frozen. Coconut flakes can be toasted in a dry, hot frying pan for a few minutes.