Coconut and lime loaf

I knew this weekend was going to be a little unpredictable with lots of comings and goings (not to mention one of the greatest Wimbledon finals of all time...sorry for the late posting of this!) so I wouldn’t get my normal, nice, calm baking time.  However, I did still want some homemade cake – obviously!  This recipe is a perfect one to have up your sleeve at such times:  minutes to get in the oven, delicious, and perfect for summer with its tropical flavours.

Coconut and lime is a combination I can be funny about, particularly if the lime is too dominant.  I like the lime in the background to lift the coconut, not as a strong acidic flavour.  To achieve this I used the zest in the sponge, and the juice in the icing.  If you’re a little more hardcore where lime is concerned, add the juice of an additional lime to the cake mix.

Using condensed milk in the cake produces a dense, moist crumb reminiscent of a yoghurt-based sponge.  Condensed milk is very sweet so the recipe does not use any other sugar in the sponge – it really doesn’t need it! 

Next time I make this I might ‘up’ the tropical element and add some Malibu to the batter; it could also be used instead of the lime juice in the icing, although that little kick of zing in the glace icing was one of my favourite elements.  My only regret is that I didn’t have a little cocktail umbrella to decorate the cake with!

Ingredients

For the sponge:

175g unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 eggs
250g condensed milk
80g desiccated coconut
Optional: 1 teaspoon coconut extract
Grated zest of 2 limes – if you want a stronger hit of lime in the cake use the juice of one lime too
175g self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

For the icing:

100g icing sugar
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons desiccated coconut

Optional decoration: lime zest or coconut shavings (or both!)

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C/ fan oven 150°C/ 340°F/ gas mark 3.

Line a 900g loaf tin with baking paper.

Beat the butter until it is light and whippy.

Add all the remaining sponge ingredients and beat until pale and creamy looking.

Pour (the batter will be runny) into the prepared tin and bake for approximately 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the sponge comes out clean.

Check the cake after 55 minutes and, if it is browning too quickly, cover the tin lightly with foil.

Leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack and leaving to cool completely.

Now make the icing: beat together the icing sugar and enough of the lime juice to make a thick, glossy icing.  Add the lime juice 1 teaspoon at a time as it doesn’t take much to make the icing too thin – you might not need the whole lime.

Drizzle the icing over the cake.

Scatter over the coconut shavings or lime zest and leave to set.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.