Recipe: Coconut and Lime Bundt Cake

I don’t know what the weather is like where you live, but here in the Netherlands, we’ve had some pretty gloomy weather for the past couple of weeks. Lots of rain and wind, and pretty low temperatures. Luckily, it’s starting to look up now, and I actually spent some time reading on my balcony this morning!

Anyway, where I’m going with this is that I was craving some summery, perhaps even tropical flavours in my baking. We had some limes leftover, so I decided to try my hand at a coconut and lime cake. Since I hadn’t used my bundt cake tin in absolute ages, I whipped that out again, and that’s how this coconut and lime bundt cake was born.

Now that I’m looking at the pictures, it might have been a good idea to decorate it a bit more, since it looks like a regular vanilla cake – but I promise it tastes very differently. And the flavour is what it’s all about, after all!

You’ll need…

• 200 g sugar
• 125 g unsalted butter, softened
• 4 eggs
• ½ teaspoon vanilla flavouring
• 250 g plain flour
• a pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 100 g dessicated/shredded coconut
• 200 ml coconut milk
• zest of three limes
• 6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• bundt cake tin
• and an oven, of course! This bundt cake needs to be baked at 170 °C (don’t forget to preheat your oven!)

So, let’s get baking!

1. Cream together butter and sugar The first step is to cream together the softened butter and the sugar in a large bowl. Mix until it’s pale and fluffy. I used my stand mixer, but you can also use a handheld mixture or a whisk (if you’ve got strong arms).

2. Add eggs, vanilla flavouring and lime zest Once your butter and sugar are evenly mixed, add the eggs one by one, while mixing in between. Also add the vanilla flavouring and the lime zest at this point and mix it all through.

3. Add the flour, salt, baking powder and dessicated coconut When the eggs are mixed through, gradually fold through the flour, salt, baking powder and dessicated coconut.

4. Add coconut milk and lime juice Time to add the final two ingredients: the coconut milk and the lime juice. I used boxed coconut milk, but I think you can use any type you want.

5. Prepare your tin When your baking a bundt cake, it’s very important to make sure you properly grease and flour the tin, or you might not be able to get the cake out of the tin in one piece, which would be a pity. So, generously grease and flour your tin in every nook and cranny and then transfer the batter into the tin. Tap the tin on your work surface a few times to remove any air bubbles from the batter.

6. Bake!  Put the tin in your preheated oven and bake the cake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. When it’s done, take the tin out of the oven and place it on a cooling rack. Let the cake cool inside the tin for a good long while before trying to take it out of the tin. It’ll be easier to take out once it’s cooled down.

And that’s it! You’ve got your own delicious coconut and lime bundt cake – enjoy!