Lime and coconut cake

The second of bake from my mad weekend if baking. A simple lime and coconut loaf that came about thanks to coconut milk and limes lurking in my fridge.

The cake contains desiccated coconut, coconut milk and lime zest and I stopped with a sharp lime glaze.

Lime and coconut cake

150g butter

175g caster sugar

Zest of two limes

3 eggs

25ml coconut milk (or grams if you coconut milk is really thick)

175g self raising flour

40g desiccated coconut

Two (or more) tablespoons of coconut milk

Juice of one lime

Tablespoon if caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C FAN and grease and the base of a loaf tin.

Beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy thn beat in the lime zest. Beat in the 3 eggs until well combined then briefly beat in the 25ml coconut milk. Gently beat in the flour until just combined then add in the desiccated coconut, finally beat in the remaining two tablespoons of coconut milk. If your batter is very thick and you have coconut milk to spare you can add a little more here.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and using a spatula make a gentle grove down the middle, this will help stop it rising too much in the middle.

Bake for 40-50 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool for a few minutes in the tin whilst you make the glaze.

To make the glaze gently heat the lime juice and caster sugar in a pan until thick and syrupy.

Turn the cake out onto a wire rack and while still warm brush the top with the sticky glaze. If you like sprinkle a little desiccated coconut on the top for a pretty affect.

Mark really liked this cake but if I am being brutally honest I think I under baked it just a tad. The flavour was good but I think the texture would be greatly improved from an extra 5 minutes in the oven.

Berry and lime drizzle cake

When asked if he had any burning baking requests last week Mark said 'cake', then he clarified, a 'cake with fruit'. To be clear he did not want a fruit cake, no no, just a fruity sort of cake, i.e orange, lemon, apple, strawberry, that sort of thing.

Clearly the raspberry victoria sponge cake that had just been polished off did not satisfy the cake and fruit craving.

I didn't want anything too complicated and so decide a tray bake would be best, I was not really in a lemon drizzle mood but found a berry lime tray bake on the bbc good food website.

The recipe is here. I made a couple of tweaks. Firstly I substituted half of the butter of an equal amount of apple sauce. Secondly I reduced the sugar in the glaze to 40g and reduced the glaze to more of a syrup. Not only does this make for a slightly healthier cake it also intensifies the lime.

This is a tasty cake, I love the zing the lime syrup gives. It has a soft, moist texture and keeps well for up to 5 days in an airtight tin.

Lime and coconut cupcakes

I made these a few days ago, mainly as I wanted to bake something using the lime curd I had recently made.

They are simply a coconut flavoured cupcake, with a lime curd filling and a coconut buttercream. Sometimes I find that coconut buttercream made with coconut milk a) does not really taste that coconut-y and b) unless I making something else with coconut is quite wasteful. I tried an experiment with a block of creamed coconut and am pleasantly surprised by the results, especially in the buttercream.

Lime and coconut cupcakes

makes 12

125g butter
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
125g self raising flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsps of milk
10g of creamed coconut

Lime curd

80g butter
250g icing sugar
2 tbsps milk
10g creamed coconut


Preheat the oven to 190C/170C FAN and line a cupcake tin with cases. Gently heat the milk with the coconut, with gentle stirring, until the coconut has melted into the milk. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. 

Cream the butter and sugar5 for ~ 5 minutes until light and fluffy. At the eggs and mix for another minute. Add the flour and bicarbonate of soda and beat slowly until just incorporated. Add the cooled coconut-y milk and beat for a final minute. Fill the cupcake case2/3 full, I use an ice cream scoop for ease. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and springy to the touch then transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

Once the cakes are cool, use a knife to take a cone from the cupcake, make sure you keep it! Fill the cupcake with lime curd, place the cone back on top, the cone may need a little trimming to refit. 

To make the frosting gently heat the milk and coconut as before and set aside to cool. Beat the butter and icing sugar together, it should come together after a while. Add the cooled milk and continue beating until light and fluffy. 

Place the frosting in the fridge to set up a little then pipe onto the cupcakes.

These are indulgent little cupcakes with an uplifting zing from the lime curd.

Lime curd

A quick post today. I had eggs to use up before I go away for the weekend and on a whim decided to make some curd, not lemon but lime. I have not made any sort of curd before and wondered if it would be hard. It was not, really very easy indeed.

The end result is lovely, tangy and delicious, later on in the week I will share some recipes containing the curd.

Lime curd

makes one jar

2 eggs
100g butter, cut into small cubes
125g caster sugar
zest and juice of two limes
1/2 tablespoon cornflour (this is optional, some recipes use it others do not)

You will also need 1 jar. I washed an old jam one out in hot soapy water and then dried it in a low oven to sterilise it.

Lightly beat the eggs in a saucepan and then add all the other ingredients. Heat the mix gently over a low heat, stirring all the time. You can use a balloon whisk or wooden spoon, I used a spoon. Keep stirring for about 7-10 minutes until the mixture has thickened up. 

Be patient if after 10 minutes the mixture has not thickened turn up the heat very slightly and it should thicken up. 

Once it has thickened up increase the heat and allow it to gently simmer for 1 minute, keep stirring all the time. 

Pour the curd into the jar and leave to cool. Once cool keep in the fridge, the curd will keep for a couple of weeks.