Our food shopping habits have completely changed; both since moving to rural Wales and since the Covid-19 lockdown. We’ve been driving the few miles into the nearest town to the supermarket (after popping into the hardware store) about once every week and a half to a fortnight… much less often than usual.
I had a look in the store cupboard and fridge to see what needed to be used up before it started deteriorating. I found a few limes that were rolling around the drawer of the fridge; like us, they’ve been waiting for a sunny day to go into a gin & tonic… there hasn’t been one for a while!
Seeing as there’s been only wind & rain in the forecast, I thought that I’d better put them to another use. An afternoon tea-time loaf cake always goes down well in this house, so I whipped us up a lime and coconut iced loaf cake.
It’s very strange, I can’t stand lemons, oranges or tangerines – especially the smell of the zest when they’ve been peeled. However, for some reason, I quite like limes and grapefruit.
The secret to this cake is pre-toasting the desiccated coconut before adding it to the batter. It really brings out the flavour. It’s almost like a piña colada in cake form!
Click here or on the image below to save my recipe to Pinterest
- 100g/3½oz desiccated coconut
- 150g/5oz butter, softened
- 150g/5oz caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- juice & zest of 1 lime
- 150g/5oz plain flour
- 2tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 150g icing sugar
- juice & zest of 1 lime
- Line the base and sides of a 900g (2lb) loaf tin with baking parchment or pre-made loaf tin liner
- Preheat the oven to 170ºC/150ºC fan/325ºF/Gas mark 3
- Lightly toast the desiccated coconut in a heavy-bottomed frying or sauté pan, either on the hob or in the oven. Toss every couple of minutes to ensure it is toasted evenly and doesn't burn. Set aside to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar
- Lightly whisk the eggs in a medium-sized measuring jug. Slowly pour the beaten eggs into the creamed mixture while stirring constantly
- Stir in the juice and zest of the lime
- Mix in the toasted desiccated coconut
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt
- Fold the flour into the batter using a spatula or large spoon
- Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf tin, using the bak for the spoon/spatula to level the top
- Bake for 50 minutes to an hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes away clean
- Allow to cool completely
- Sift the icing sugar into a measuring jug to remove any lumps
- Pour in the lime juice and zest and mix thoroughly. It should be a thick paste consistency - add a couple teaspoons of water/icing sugar if the mixture is too thick/thin
- Pour the glaze evenly over the top of the cake