I'm in a very, VERY good mood this week. Why? Well for starters, I finally landed my dream part time job.
The company is a gourmet food producer and I'll be actively involved with promoting their products through food tastings as well as behind the scenes in the office and (hopefully) helping develop their website. I may even get my hands messy in the kitchen sometimes.....
The other reason I'm very happy this week is discovering my ultimate, perfect cake nirvana - this (very) Special Lemon Coconut Cake.
The recipe comes from the Country Women's Association Classics Cookbook. It was contributed by Mrs Elaine Youd from Devonport Branch, Tasmania who shared that it is her "friend Barb Parson's special cake".
Special is definitely the right way to describe this cake. The coconut keeps the cake lovely and moist, making it a great bake ahead affair. It freezes well and the icing......well tangy lemon juice icing with coconut... it just keeps the lemon coconut flavour going on and on and on.
If you (or someone you know) has a prolific lemon tree then this recipe is a definite keeper.
Once again I'm grateful for the wonderful generosity of CWA women who openly share their fabulous recipes. They are, in a word, special.
Recipe: Special Lemon Cake
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Self Raising Flour, sifted
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk
125g butter, melted
grated zest of 3 lemons
Icing
1 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
Juice of one lemon
Method
- Preheat oven to 160C. Grease a 20cm square cake tin and line base with baking paper.
- Place the sifted flour, coconut and sugar into a large mixing bowl and mix through to distribute the ingredients evenly. Make a well in the centre.
- In a separate bowl or large jug (I like to use a big 1Litre Pyrex jug), beat the eggs, milk, melted butter and lemon zest together. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix through. It will most likely be a bit sloppy.
- Pour the mixture into your prepapred cake tin and bake for about 45-50mins or until a skewer comes out clean. The cake will have pulled away a little at the sides and should be a lovely golden hue.
- Allow cake to cool in the tin at least 20 minutes before turning out onto a cake rack lined with a folded tea towel (to avoid unsightly rack marks) and let it cool completely before icing.
To make the icing, mix the sifted icing sugar and coconut together. Gradually add the lemon juice until you get your preferred consistency - you probably won't use all the juice. Spread over the cake and if you like, let it drip down the sides a bit. Allow the icing to set before slicing.
Note - uniced cake will freeze beautifully. Ice when mostly defrosted.
Comments
Di x