A mouthful, I know! But don’t be fooled, this one is hassle-free while playing on all your tastebuds at once. I believe that this is usually one of those cakes where you either love it, or you don’t like it at all. Please, allow her to prove you wrong!
INGREDIENTS
CAKE 3 large eggs 375ml sugar 125ml oil 40g poppyseeds 90g coconut 250ml cake flour 5ml baking powder 5ml bicarbonate of soda 2,5ml salt 5ml vanilla essence 250ml plain/coconut yogurt 1 lemon, juice and zest 1 orange, zest CREAM CHEESE ICING 100g butter, room temperature 300g icing sugar, sifted 15-30ml coconut milk/cream 5ml vanilla essence pinch of salt 230g cream cheese, room temperature
METHOD
CAKE 1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. 2. Prepare a bundt pan (ring shaped with hole in the middle) with non-stick spray. Do not be shy, spray enough! 3. Roast the coconut in the hot oven for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. This will add a lovely nutty flavour to the cake. 4. In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer, whisk together the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. 5. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until well combined. 6. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. 7. Bake in the middle of the oven for 35-40 minutes. 8. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to rest for 10 minutes. Loosen the sides with a small pallete/butter knife and demould onto a cooling rack. CREAM CHEESE ICING 1. In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer, cream the butter until light, fluffy and pale in colour (8-10 minutes). This is the most time consuming step, but will ensure the icing to melt in your mouth. 2. Add the icing sugar, one tablespoon at a time. 3. Add the coconut milk and vanilla. Mix until well combined and smooth. 4. Add the cream cheese and pinch of salt. Mix until well combined and lump free. Do not overmix, or else the icing might split. 5. Ice the cooled cake with your delicious icing and store in an airtight container/cake holder.
TIPS 1. If you don't have a bundt pan, use a 20cm square/round cake pan. 2. You can substitute the coconut milk/cream with cow's milk or cream. 3. When making the icing, I use a stand mixer with the whisk attachment for all the ingredients, except the cream cheese. Before adding the cream cheese, switch to the paddle attachment to ensure a smooth end result. The whisk attachment can easily overmix your icing. 4. If you want to add any toppings to the cake, repeat the ingredients that are already in the cake, such as roasted coconut/ poppyseeds/lemon zest/grilled lemon slices. Fresh flowers are also a winner, on everything!