Coconut Cakes

I love when food invokes a memory. A memory buried so deep in the back of your consciousness that you didn’t even know it was hiding there. One bite transports you right back to that time and you wonder how you ever forgot such a precious experience.

I shared these cakes with Mama Sweet as a little thank you for allowing us to borrow their car. A swift exchange of keys for cake and Mr Sticky and I were out the door. As Papa Sweet says, (and I whole heartedly agree), they are the best parents in all the world.

Later, when I was talking to Mama Sweet she told me that one bite of these cakes and she was transported straight back to her childhood. Apparently Grandma Sweet used to buy very similar Coconut Cake from David Jones during the 1960s. It was a light and airy tasting coconut cake, but it felt so much heavier to hold in your hands. Grandma Sweet would make my Great Aunt carry it home from the shops as it was quite a heavy bag. She swore it was so heavy that one arm became longer by the end of the trip! Oddly, the light as a feather texture somehow made for a heavy weight cake. It was a funny little memory that Mama Sweet didn’t even know she still had but was so happy to remember.

These cakes have a similar quality. They are much like a banana bread in weight but with a texture of a much lighter butter cake. This is an ideal cake for a sweet little afternoon tea party. And the best news? You don’t have to force anyone to carry it home for you on the long walk back from the shops!

I was inspired by vegeTARAian’s Chocolate Coconut Bread which was a vegan adaptation of Bill Granger’s Coconut Bread. I changed some of the ingredients (to non-vegan), added a few twists of my own and changed the general method.

Coconut Cakes

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

35 mins

 

Author: the sticky and sweet

Recipe type: Cake

Serves: 16

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 150ml milk (skim or full fat)
• 150ml light coconut milk
• 2½ cups plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 150g desiccated coconut
• 1 lime, zested
• 80g unsalted butter, melted
• Juice of 1 lime
• ¾ cup icing sugar
• ½ cup shredded or desiccated coconut to decorate

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees fan forced. Grease 16 mini loaf pans and line with baking paper.
2. Lightly whisk eggs, milk, and coconut milk and set aside.
3. In a seperate bowl, sift flour and baking powder. Stir through caster sugar, coconut and lime zest.
4. Make a well in the centre of the bowl, gradually add egg mixture and stir until combined. Add melted butter and stir until combined.
5. Divide among loaf tins and bake for 20-25 mins, or until lightly golden and a skewer poked into cake comes out clean.
6. Leave in tin to cool for 5 mins and then move onto wire rack to cool completely.
7. To make icing, combine lime juice and icing sugar in a bowl. Pour spoonfuls of icing over individual cakes, then sprinkle with coconut to decorate.

Notes

You can also cook as 12 cupcakes (bake for 25 mins) or in a standard loaf tin (bake for approximately 60 mins).

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Is there a sweet treat that brings back a happy memory for you?