Coconut Cake (gluten and dairy free sponge) with Lime Butter Frosting & Marshmallow Flowers

This week I am celebrating 2 anniversaries………… my birthday and (more importantly) my 1st blogiversary. I cannot believe that my blog is a year old already (well officially it will be on Sunday, anyway). Where did the time go?

In the last year I have learnt a lot (with a lot still to learn), become more inventive,  enjoyed developing a whole load of tasty new treats and loved the opportunity to share my kitchen creations with the world. My primary reason for blogging remains the need to record recipes for my daughter’s future, but I know from experience that cooking (and particularly baking) gluten free can be a tricky learning curve, so it is great to be able to offer my thoughts and recipes to others who are in the same boat. I am also very aware that much of what we eat at home does not come out of recipe books, or is so far removed from the original recipe that if it is not written down, will be quickly lost and forgotten………. Blogging is my motivation for writing it down!

To celebrate my two special dates, I decided to make a new cake……… Coconut sponge with a lime frosting, decorated with marshmallow flowers……….. vibrant, colourful and absolutely made for Spring. The pastel shades and fresh flavours would be perfect for Easter and Mother’s Day too.

The sponge for the cake is completely gluten and dairy free, although I did make the frosting with butter, as I didn’t feel confident with revamping the recipe for coconut oil and didn’t have any dairy-free spread in the fridge. It would be very easy to substitute the spread if you want to do so…….

I have definitely had a bit of an experimental time with coconut this month and made this sponge using four different elements of this amazing wonder food…….. Coconut oil (as a dairy-free healthier substitute for the butter), coconut flour, coconut cream (to enrich the sponge) and shredded coconut (for the distinctive coconut bite).

It is actually the first time that I have used Coconut oil in place of butter, but it certainly won’t be the last. Having looked at the research, eating it is amazingly good for you, with suggested benefits ranging from decreasing the risk of heart disease and potentially improving brain function in Alzheimer’s patients, to helping to reduce body fat. Once I had got my head around how to use the stuff, it was amazingly straight forward and I think, ensured the moistness of the cake without adding an oily texture.

I did consider adding coconut palm sugar as well, in place of the caster and brown sugar, but I wanted the cake to have a paler appearance and decided that the darkness of the coconut palm sugar would probably also over-caramelise the flavour.

The recipe posted here is my second attempt (my first ‘experiment’ resulting in a stodgy brick!), but I have now tested it twice and it has come out amazingly both times.

I confess the marshmallow flowers are not my own idea and were found in the Australian Women’s Weekly book ‘Kids’ Party Cakes’ (2005) that I bought when my daughter was very small…..  I have used the flowers before on cupcakes (for which they were originally designed), but wanted to see how they worked on a large cake. I think they look fab……….. but did have to search around for the ‘right’ brightly coloured marshmallows, eventually finding some in the local farm shop made by a company called Fairco. And beware, ‘Smarties‘ are NOT gluten free, so you need to find alternative safe chocolate beans if you cannot eat wheat or gluten.

The end bake for this cake is deliciously coconutty throughout, with a slightly chewy edge from the pieces of coconut contained within. It is beautifully moist and tastes very natural. Although it is quite dense, it has a lightness which is quite unexpected, alongside a depth of flavour and richness which exudes tropical indulgence. The smooth sweetness of the sponge is contrasted by the lime-citrus tang of the frosting which perfectly compliments the coconut. The marshmallows add a touch of sugar-sweetness and a wonderful extra soft, squishy texture (that only marshmallows can give)………… like eating little sweet pillows………….. a delightful treat on the side!

I am entering my celebratory cake into this month’s Tea Time Treats challenge, being hosted by Janie at The Hedge Combers (alongside Karen at Lavender & Lovage). March’s theme is ‘Decorative Cakes’…………. I think this pretty much fits the bill!

I am also entering it into March’s Love Cake, the theme of which is ‘Giving Up’. Hosted by Ness at Jibber Jabber, we have this month been challenged to bake without at least one of the four basic ingredients (wheat flour, butter, eggs or sugar). I feel a little bit cheeky entering this one on account of using butter in the frosting, but as the bake is entirely gluten and dairy free (and using coconut oil was definitely a new and experimental process for me), I have decided to push my luck! Hope that’s okay Ness……………

Coconut Cake with Lime Butter Frosting

Ingredients

Method

1. Beat the butter with the coconut cream, 100g of the icing sugar, lime zest, lime juice, vanilla extract and salt using either a whisk or a wooden/silicone spoon.
2. Gradually add the rest of the icing sugar until you have a smooth, but spreadable butter icing. If it is too wet, add a little more icing sugar.
3. Carefully spread the icing on the base layer of the cake and sandwich together with the top layer.
4. Spread the rest of the icing onto the cake covering the top and the sides and using a palate knife or icing spreader to smooth.
5. Make flowers with the marshmallows by cutting each marshmallow in half horizontally through the middle. Squeeze together the ‘ends’ of each piece holding it cut side up, so that it forms a petal shape. Arrange the petals into flowers on the cake and place a chocolate bean in the centre of each.

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