RECIPE | COCONUT AND LIME POLENTA DRIZZLE CAKE

I love to bake with polenta and having not made a polenta cake in a while I thought I would try out with a new recipe.

The grittiness and nutty texture of the polenta compliments the bite of the dessicated coconut. When both are combined and drenched in a lime syrup drizzle it makes for a super moist cake.

 

Ingredients:

Cake:

200g Caster Sugar

200g Butter

3 Eggs

1tsp Vanilla Essence

Zest of 2 Limes

100g Polenta

140g Self-Raising Flour

1tsp Baking Powder

70g Dessicated Coconut

4tbsp Milk

Drizzle:

Juice of 2 Limes

40g Granulated Sugar

50g Caster Sugar

Icing:

6tbsp Icing Sugar

1tsp of Water

2tbsp Toasted Dessicated Coconut

 Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 180C and grease and line a loose bottomed 8" cake tin.

2. In a bowl, place the milk over the dessicated coconut and set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar until it is light in colour and fluffy in texture.

4. Add the eggs, vanilla essence and lime zest and beat the mixture together until it is well combined.

5. Add the flour, polenta and baking powder to the wet ingredients and fold them together.

6. Add the milk soaked dessicated coconut to this mixture and fold together until a smooth cake batter is formed.

7. Place the mixture into the cake tin and place on the centre shelf of your oven to bake for 30-40 minutes.

8. To make the drizzle, take the juice of 2 limes and stir together with the granulated sugar and caster sugar. Once the cake has been removed from the oven, immediately pierce it with a skewer all over and then pour the lime drizzle mix on top of the cake.

9. Once the cake has cooled and the drizzle has set you can remove the cake from the tin. Make up the icing mix by sieving the icing sugar and adding the water to create a thick drizzling consistency. Drizzle this over the cake in lines and then scatter with the toasted dessicated coconut.

RECIPE | COCONUT, LIME AND COURGETTE CAKE

This is my recipe for a birthday cake I made for my sister last week.

It's a mixture of several recipes I found on the internet and then adapted to make one that suits my families tastes.

Very easy to make...and also very handy for using up the abundance of courgettes we have produced from our allotment this month!

COCONUT, LIME AND COURGETTE CAKE

Ingredients:

Cake:

350g Self-Raising Flour

250g Caster Sugar

250g Butter

1tsp Vanilla Essence

4 Eggs

350g Grated Courgette

60g Dessicated Coconut

Zest + Juice of 1 Lime

Frosting:

200g Cream Cheese

60g Butter

250g Icing Sugar

Generous portion of Dessicated Coconut for sprinkling.

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line two 25cm cake tins.

2. Beat the sugar and butter in a bowl until smooth and creamy.

* A tip from Mama Wood is to use an electric whisk and wait for the mixture to become lighter in colour.

3. Add the eggs individually, beating them into the mixture.

4. Add the flour, vanilla essence, grated courgette, lime zest, lime juice and dessicated coconut.

5. Pour the mixture into the two cake tins and place on the middle shelf of the oven and cook for 30-40 minutes.

6. When the cakes are cooked, remove them from the oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes. Remove the cakes from the tins and allow them to cool for a further hour on wire cooling racks.

7. To make the frosting: Mix the cream cheese, butter and icing sugar together until smooth and fluffy. Spoon the mixture over the top of one of the cakes.

Place the other cake on top (like a sandwich!). Then use the rest of the frosting to cover the whole cake. Once the cake is covered, sprinkle generously with dessicated coconut.

The Result:

A lovely, moist and flavoursome sponge cake with a generous layering of cream cheese frosting.

And trust me, you won't even taste the courgette!