Going (Coco)nuts!

The other day, when I was thinking about what new #flavour combinations I could try in my bakes, I realised that I had never attempted, or even heard of, a brown sugar butter icing. Obviously, it does exist, but I was very excited that this would be the first time I have ever tasted it. At the ripe old age of nearly-30, I have eaten a lot of #cake at this point and don't often find something that is a completely new concept to me! So I began to think of flavours that could go well with it. I always think of brown sugar as even sweeter than regular sugar as it has that rich caramel taste. I wanted something that would both compliment this but wasn't too sweet so, naturally, came to the conclusion of #citrus fruit. I didn't think lemon was quite right, nor was lime if it was by itself, but it struck me that lime and coconut is already a delicious combination and the thought of it with the brown sugar butter icing made me think of a fancy #tropical cocktail and the decision was made!

The cake is a #simple recipe and is essentially a two-step process which makes it nice and easy. As usual, when I have multiple components in a cake, you can make some components in advance to shorten the time even more for your convenience. Even if you decide to do this all in one day, it won't take long and can be all baked and decorated within 3 hours. The flavour combination is delicious and this is certainly a recipe I will be adding in to my repertoire. The cake is light and fluffy with a sweet coconut taste and contrasts beautifully with the sharpness of the lime curd. The brown sugar butter icing is sublime, its light and fluffy and has the occasional crunch from the bigger sugar crystals. This may sound odd but the texture really works. If you want you can even make the icing a day in advance as the sugar with soften and dissolve more in the moisture of the butter to give a smoother finish the next day so this is completely up to you.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. As always, comment below to let me know what you think and how your bake turned out!

Happy baking! X

Time: Total: 2 ½ hours

Serves: 16 slices

Ingredients:

For the cake:

290 g sugar

150 g flour

150 g shredded coconut + a little for decoration

150 g mascarpone cheese

300 g butter

5 eggs

1 lime- zest and juice

2 tsp baking powder

For the lime curd:

2 limes; zest and juice

150 g sugar

60 g butter

Pinch salt

2 eggs

For the brown sugar butter icing:

300 g butter

200 g brown sugar

325 g icing sugar

Juice of a lime

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C and grease and line 3 baking tins

2. Cream together your butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add your mascarpone and mix for a further minute until well incorporated

3. Mix in your eggs, one at a time, adding a little bit of your flour between each one to stop your mixture curdling

4. Add the rest of your flour, shredded coconut and lime juice and zest and mix until combined

5. Add your baking powder and fold into the mixture

6. Separate into your tins and bake for 30-35 minutes

7. Whilst your cakes are baking make the lime curd. Add your sugar, butter, lime juice and zest and salt into a saucepan and heat over a low-medium heat until all the butter has melted.

8. Whisk your eggs in a bowl and slowly pour into the mixture, whisking continuously as you pour

9. Continue to whisk for a further 10 mins as the curd thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon

10. Pour into a bowl or sterilised jars and set aside to cool (any leftover will keep for 2 weeks in the fridge and be delicious on your morning toast!)

11. Remove your cakes from the oven when a fork comes out clean if you put it in the centre of the cake and leave to cool on cooling racks

12. While your cakes are cooling, make the butter icing by beating together the brown sugar and butter for 5 minutes until very well incorporated and a little fluffy

13. Beat in your icing sugar and the juice of a lime until you have a light consistency. If you find your icing looks a bit thick and dense, add some milk, a spoonful and a time and beat into the icing

14. To assemble, spread some butter icing onto your bottom layer of cake, making it slightly higher at the sides to contain your lime curd

15. Add a few spoons of curd and spread over the icing

16. Repeat for the next layer

17. Cover your cake in a layer of butter icing and put any leftover icing in a piping bag with the nozzle of your choice (see picture below for the one I used)

18. Pipe a complete ring of icing around the outside of the cake and pour a layer of lime curd in the centre

19. To finish, sprinkle a little shredded coconut on top of your piped circle and around the outside at the bottom of your cake

Whip the butter icing well so it is light and fluffy

Your lime curd should leave a trail from the whisk when it is ready

Create a dip in the centre of your icing for the curd to sit in

Cover the cake with a layer of icing

Pipe a circle of icing around the outside of the cake to fill with your curd

Sprinkle coconut on top and around the sides to finish off!