Here’s a cake with an unconventional, but tasty, combination of sweet and sharp flavours.
Serves: 12 or more
Time: 90 mins – 2 hours + cooling
Difficulty: Quite easy
Tins: 2 x 20cm/8” round, loose bottomed
Ingredients
For the syrup
- Juice of two limes (*reserve the zest – see below)
- 30g/1oz caster sugar
For the sponges
- 175g/6oz self-raising flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 50g/1.75oz cocoa powder
- 75g/2.5oz desiccated coconut
- 225g/8oz butter, softened
- 225g/8oz light brown soft sugar
- 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 tbsp milk
For the lime cream cheese filling/covering
- 200g/7oz full fat cream cheese
- 400g/14oz icing sugar
- 50ml/1.75fl oz double cream (optional)
- Zest of at least two limes*
- Green food colouring
Decoration (suggested)
- 30g/1oz – 50g/1.75oz desiccated coconut
- 100g/3.5oz chocolate (dark or white)
- 30g/1oz coconut shavings (optional)
Method
1. First, make the syrup. Gently heat the lime juice and sugar together, stirring to ensure the sugar dissolves fully. Set aside until later.
2. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/Gas 4. Grease and base line the tins and dust lightly with flour or cocoa powder.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl and mix together. Stir in the desiccated coconut.
4. In another bowl, beat the butter briefly then add the sugar and beat some more, until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs gradually, beating between each addition. Add in a teaspoon of the flour mixture with each egg to avoid curdling.
5. Fold the rest of the flour mixture into the wet mixture. Stir in the milk if it seems dry.
6. Spoon an equal amount into each cake tin and bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
7. Leave in the tins for 5 – 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack. Before the sponges have cooled completely, pierce the tops all over with a skewer or fork then spoon or brush the fruit syrup over them. Leave to cool completely, then peel off the baking parchment.
8. To make the lime cream filling/covering, beat the cream cheese until softened then sift in the icing sugar and beat some more, gently at first then more rigorously. Add the double cream (if using) and beat to obtain a firm mixture. Stir in the lime zest and a small amount of colouring.
9. Use some of the cream cheese mixture to stack and assemble the two cakes. Cover the combined cakes with a crumb coat and place in the fridge for half an hour or longer, to firm up. Once out of the fridge use the rest of the mixture to cover the whole cake then add decorations.
10. Options for decorating include covering the sides with desiccated coconut, which could be toasted, or create various chocolate decorations, possibly sprinkled with coconut prior to setting.
I hope you make this cake and enjoy the process, also the product – i.e. eating it. If you’d like to see more lovely chocolate cake recipes then click here.
Of course, you might fancy a non-chocolate cake. Yes, people do occasionally, don’t they? Or maybe some other baked beauty. If so have a look here.
Retired Bloke on Food n stuff 