VEGAN COCONUT AND LIME DRIZZLE CAKE

If my carefully stylised photos have fooled you into thinking that all my cakes always come out on point, think again. This coconut and lime drizzle cake was a true labour of love. Apart from some small alterations (I mainly just reduced the amount of coconut oil needed), I based it on my lemon drizzle cake that many of you loved, so I only needed to do one test bake, which went swimmingly and I was ready to shoot. Or so I thought…

On the day of shooting, I had lots on my mind (we are getting married on Monday and even though it’s a very low key wedding, there are still bits and pieces you need to take care of and many of them come as a complete surprise, as I’ve never been the one to know any of the wedding conventions or trends…) I made the cake and was getting my camera ready, but when I took it out of the oven, my heart sank in unison with the cake itself.

Slowly the panic crept in. What have I done wrong? I don’t understand, I made that cake so many times before and so many people have made it and it definitely works. Well, it took me a while to retrace my steps but what I did was this. I was distracted and didn’t measure the baking powder properly, I was using half a teaspoon measuring spoons and I could not quite remember if I put one or two of them in, so I added another for a good measure and it was heaped too! Rookie error. And then I forgot about baking soda and added it at the very end and clearly didn’t mix the batter well enough, which would explain the tiny little pockets of bitterness that ran through an otherwise edible but not quite enjoyable cake. Ugh! I was gutted. What to do, what to do? I had no limes left and if I went out to get limes, I would have no light left to photograph in…

INGREDIENTS

• WET INGREDIENTS
• 240 ml / 1 cup thin plant milk (I used almond), room temperature
• 80 g / 1/3 cup mild coconut oil (measured unmelted)
• 125 g / 2/3 cup caster sugar OR 160 ml / 2/3 cup maple syrup*
• 30 ml / 2 tbsp lime juice (approx. ½ lime)
• DRY INGREDIENTS
• zest of 4 limes
• 80 g / 1 cup desiccated coconut, ground up finely in a coffee grinder or food processor
• 210 g / 1¾ cups GF cake flour mix (I used this one) or all purpose white flour, sifted
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• LIME SYRUP
• 70 g / 1/3 cup caster sugar (fine sugar) or maple syrup, adjust to taste
• juice of 2 limes (about 90 ml / 6 tbsp juice)
• ICING (optional)
• 50-100 g / ½-1 cup icing sugar*
• juice of ½-1 lime
• toasted coconut flakes, to decorate (optional)
• lime zest, to decorate (optional)
• METHOD

LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE

1. Measure out the plant milk and bring it to room temperature ahead of baking or warm it up to room temperature (do not allow it to get warm as it will melt the sugar in the batter) if you are in a rush.
2. Heat up the oven to 180° C (or 160° C fan forced) / 355° F (320° F fan forced). Line a 1 kg / 2 lb tin with a wide strip of baking paper to be able to remove your cake easily.

for full recipes please see : www.lazycatkitchen.com

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