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
Cakes & Bakes: Coconut and lime cake
Inspiration for our weekly Cakes & Bakes posts come from all manner of places. This week’s was slightly out of the ordinary – a scrap of crumpled old paper with Justin’s handwriting on it, that fell out of a book whilst we were tidying some shelves.
He’d jotted down a recipe for a coconut and lime cake. I showed it to him but he couldn’t remember doing it or where he’d, in fact, copied it from; I guessed it might have been an episode of a Rachel Allen cookery program from years ago maybe. I’m probably wrong!
The notes he made were pretty vague. The instructions read thus: “Mix all ingredients together. Bake in cake tins. Gas Mark 3 → 30-35 mins”.
Delia’s All-in-one sponge method is pretty similar; however, with the addition of lime juice, I thought that the mixture would be prone to curdling if I just chucked it all in together. In the end, I did the classic creaming of the butter & sugar, adding the eggs (pre-beaten) a little at a time interspersed with a serving spoon of the flour, then the juice, followed by the sifted flour/baking powder and dessicated coconut.
The other thing I did differently was to use a single cake tin instead of dividing the mixture equally between two. I merely upped the cook time from 30 minutes to an hour, keeping the temperature the same. Sometimes I prefer to simply slice the one cake horizontally through the middle; I find that it sandwiches back together better after spreading the icing.
Oh, and I didn’t have any coconut milk powder (the original recipe calls for 2 tablespoons) – I substituted it with powdered skimmed milk and a little coconut extract. It worked for me!
Finally, I decided against the water icing topping and went instead for a butter icing. I think it turned out brilliantly. It’s an attractive, ‘summery’ looking cake. The combination of coconut and lime is a well established cooking classic – sweet, yet zingy. I can vouch for the fact that it works really well in this sponge cake manifestation!
Click here to save the recipe to Pinterest
- 170g/6oz butter, softened
- 170g/6oz caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- juice of 2 limes
- 170g/6oz self-raising flour
- 1tsp baking powder
- 60g/2oz dessicated coconut
- 285g/10oz icing sugar (powdered sugar)
- 50g/1¾oz butter, softened
- 2tbsp lime juice
- Zest of 2 limes
- Preheat the oven to 160ºC/325ºF/Gas mark 3
- Grease and line a 15cm/6" loose-bottomed cake tin with baking parchment
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and the sugar
- In a measuring jug, lightly beat the eggs
- Pour the eggs into the butter/sugar mixture in 3 stages and mix in, with a serving spoon of the flour (to prevent curdling)
- Mix in the lime juice
- Fold in the dry ingredients (flour/baking powder/dessicated coconut)
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin, levelling out the surface
- Bake for 50 minutes to an hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes away clean
- Allow to cool in its tin for 5 minutes before removing it and letting it cool completely on a wire rack
- Sift the icing sugar into a bowl to remove any lumps
- Add the butter and combine well
- Add the lime juice, a tablespoon at a time, until the required consistency is achieved
- Sprinkle over the lime zest and serve
Cakes & Bakes: Jelly and coconut loaf cake
This week’s Cakes & Bakes fare brings together two of Justin’s favourites; afternoon tea loaf cake and jam & coconut slices. This jelly and coconut loaf cake was bound to be a pleaser!
I used a couple of tablespoons of my mixed fruit jelly and the remainder of a bag of coconut chips that I used to make Dolester Miles’ coconut pecan cake. If you can’t get hold of coconut chips, use a little dessicated coconut.
Of course, this cake has got to be teamed with a pot of tea!
Click here to save the recipe to Pinterest
- 200g/7oz unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease
- 200g/7oz caster sugar
- 4 medium eggs, beaten
- 2tsp vanilla extract
- 200g/7oz self-raising flour
- ½tsp baking powder
- 200g/7oz berry jelly
- 25g/¾oz coconut chips, toasted
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4
- Line the base and sides of a 900g (2lb) loaf tin with baking parchment or pre-made loaf tin liner
- In a stand mixer with the K beater attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
- In a medium measuring jug, lightly beat the eggs and vanilla extract and gradually add to the still turning stand mixer
- Sift together the flour and baking powder and fold into the batter
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 50 minutes to an hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes away clean
- Allow to cool in the tin for a few minutes before letting it cool completely on a wire rack
- Remove the parchment and place on a serving plate
- In a small saucepan over a low heat, whisk the jelly until smooth. Add a couple of teaspoons of water if necessary to thin a little
- Pour the jelly evenly over the top of the loaf before sprinkling with the toasted coconut chips
- Spread jam evenly over the top and scatter with desiccated coconut
- If you can't get hold of coconut chips, simply use about 10-15 grams of dessicated instead
Cacao almond butter fat bombs
My keto diet is still going well, despite being in London for a week. I kept up by eating cheese and mushroom omelettes, salads and snacked on mixed nuts while we were out & about.
Sweet treats and desserts have been proving a little more challenging. I’ve been reading a lot on ketogenic websites about fat bombs. They’re great for swiftly satisfying cravings and helping you over that mid-afternoon energy slump. They’re so quick & easy to make that I just had to try it out.
I made a batch of almond butter a couple of weeks ago which is perfect for using for this recipe. If you prefer, you could always swap it out for peanut, cashew hazelnut or even mixed nut butter. Also, the cacoa nibs aren’t absolutely necessary, they just add a bit of texture and crunch.
I can’t stress enough not to be heavy-handed with the pure Stevia powder, it will make the finished product very bitter. I used a level smidgen scoop (that’s what the manufacturer calls the spoon that comes with the bottle). They reckon that that amount is equal to a teaspoonful of sugar, but it’s always better to err on the side of caution if unsure about how much to use in a recipe.
Thanks to the cacao these are really, really intense; like the purest, darkest chocolate you’ve ever tasted – so a single bomb is all you need. They’re like little petits fours, perfect to have with coffee or after a meal.
Click here to save my cacao almond butter fat bombs recipe to Pinterest for later!
- 4tbsp cacao powder
- 2tsp cacao nibs (optional)
- 2tbsp almond butter
- 2tsp coconut oil
- scant smidgen scoop Stevia
- 2tbsp desiccated coconut
- Combine the cacao powder, cacao nibs (if using), almond butter and coconut oil. Ding the coconut oil in the microwave for 10 seconds or so if it's hard. Add a little more coconut oil if the mixture is crumbly
- Sprinkle over the Stevia and mix thoroughly
- Form the mixture into balls by rolling a teaspoonful at a time between the palms of your hands
- In a separate mixing bowl, add the dessicated coconut before rolling the balls, one at a time, around in it
- Put the balls into a long, flat dish; cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to harden
- I've been having one as a treat with coffee and at the end of my evening meal. You shouldn't want/need more than a couple per day
