Coconut and raspberry cake

I had been looking forward to making this coconut and raspberry cake for a while so admit to having a minor meltdown when it started to go horribly wrong...

The cakes looked good, and the raw batter was insanely delicious. Once stone cold on went the jam, so far so good. Then I made the coconut butter cream, was my recipe wrong, was it the fact I used lactofree spread instead of butter or was it that my kitchen was too warm? Who knows but the second the cakes were sandwiched together the top one started to slip and slide, there was coconut buttercream everywhere. I shoved it in the fridge muttering about wanting to throw it out of the window.

I should note that I have made buttercream many a time and have sandwiched together many a cake, the buttercream did not seem too loose. maybe the weight of the top cake was just too much?

An hour or so later and the buttercream had firmed up, I ran a palette knife around the edge and the cake was not a complete disaster. It was only for me and Mark to eat anyway, I would not have given it to anyone in that state.

The cake does taste very good and I imagine it tastes even better with slightly more filling, I guess I lost at least a 1/3.

If you like the sound of this cake please do not be put of by my mishap. Just make sure your buttercream is very very firm indeed, refrigerate it before sandwiching cakes if need be.

Leaking buttercream!!

Coconut and raspberry cake

175g butter

175g caster sugar

175g self raising flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

3 eggs

50g desiccated coconut

30ml coconut cream

140g icing sugar

50g butter

20ml coconut cream

Raspberry jam

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C FAN. Grease 2x 20cm round cake tin and line the bases.

Beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the flour and baking powder 1/3 at a time until just incorporated, do not over beat. Fold in the coconut and coconut cream.

Divide the batter between the prepared tins and smooth..

Bake for 25 minutes until golden. Loosen the edges and allow the cake to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack and allowing to cool completely.

Beat the butter, icing sugar and coconut cream together. Sandwich the cakes together with the jam and the buttercream.