basil, lime & coconut cake

I tend to feel like baking on Mondays. Something about the flour on my nose and the butter in my fingernails makes me feel like the weekend is back again, if only for a couple of happy hours. Not that I ever end up with flour on my nose or butter in my fingernails. Oh no. The best part about Monday evening baking is figuring out what to make. It may involve flicking through a book, leafing through a magazine, or, as happens most Mondays, working it out on the fly and hoping for the very best. As for inspiration? Well that comes from all over. And on Monday, it came in the form of our herb plot.

The bugs had gotten to the basil again. And I wasn't going to allow them the pleasure of chomping down on the rest of the leaves. We had some shredded coconut in the fridge. And oh! The limes from my house cooling. From the cocktails that we never ended up drinking. So, all of them? In a cake? Sure, why not?

shredded coconut in a pan

This cake is absolutely lovely. The sour lime glaze cuts through the rich butteriness of the cake and, when that's done, you're left with the lovely warmth of coconut and a subtle hint of basil on your tongue. Also, the cake, it looks a little green. And that's kinda cool.

basil, lime & coconut cake

ingredients for the cake:

1/4C shredded coconut
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1 lime
handful of vietnamese basil (about 2tbsp once chopped)
125g softened butter
3 eggs
1.5C self raising flour
1/2C white sugar
60ml milk

ingredients for the glaze:

50ml lime juice (about 1.5 limes)
rind of 1 lime
3/4C icing sugar

method:

1. The hardest thing about this cake is probably toasting the coconut. Which isn't hard at all. All you do is put your shredded coconut in a frying pan over a low heat. Stir it around a bit. Oh! The fragrance! And then *bam!* all of a sudden, it will start to go brown, and your kitchen will smell like the Bahamas. Bikinis optional.

toasted coconut!

2. The second hardest bit about this cake is zesting and juicing the limes. Remember. Zest first, juice second. Do not do this the other way around. It's messy. Also sticky. And if you're anything like me, you will lick your fingers and pull a most awful face. Then you will look around to make sure noone you like saw you make that face.

zest the limes & chop the basil

3. You will also need to chop the basil up finely. Shred it, if you will. With a knife please. You do not need to food processor such a small amount of greenery.

everything straight in the bowl!

4. Now put all of the cake ingredients into the bowl of a cake mixer. You heard me. All of them. None of this fluffing around and separating this and pre-mixing that. Go go go. Then beat slowly (because otherwise you will end up with flour in your hair) and, as it comes together, beat a little quicker (like your heart, when he walks into a room) until it is smooth and creamy.

whip it good, then into a tin

5. You've pre-buttered your pan, right? Probably best to line it with greaseproof paper as well. Springform tins are best because you don't have to pry the cake off the bottom of the tin. Lots of butter. Think sunscreen.

6. Now dump the cake mix (smooth and creamy) into the tin and smooth it out a bit. Doesn't have to be perfect. It will melt before it sets anyway. Because of all that butter. Do not think too hard about the butter lest you eat only a smidge of cake later.

letting the cake cool

7. The cake will take about 50 minutes in a 150C oven. Such a low temperature? Yes. It helps with the not-rising-like-a-maniac-and-then-burning-at-the-top part. When it is done, let it sit for 5 mins then take it out of the pan (if springform) and let it cool down somewhere pretty. Here, you can sit and watch tv. Away from the cake. Lest you eat it all at once sans glaze.

lime juice, rind & icing sugar

8. Wait until the cake is mostly cool (but not totally cool) and then zest & juice your limes for the glaze. Dump the icing sugar in and stir frantically until the lumps are gone. I use chopsticks as I don't have one of those cool little whisks. Also because I like chopsticks.

pouring onto the cake

9. Pour the glaze over the cake. Let it sit and drip, then pour all the dripped off glaze onto the cake. Repeat a couple of times, with a couple of minutes between each coating. And Voila! Green, tasty, herby cake.

(note: a good vanilla ice cream mutes the sharpness of the lime nicely but may hide the flavour of the coconut & basil somewhat.)