Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours | Difficulty: Easy
Hello my lovelies! Let’s get stuck into this gluten free business. Jumping in with a delicious moist coconut cake. Drenched in bright summery passionfruit syrup. Easy to make and easy to eat. As I worked on the structural integrity of this cake I managed to eat almost a whole one myself… Did I mention that it keeps pretty well? I gave away the final one. Minus a slice of course. Testing purposes and all that.
This recipe uses a classic method and contains no hard to find ingredients. It’s a good gateway recipe for people starting to bake without gluten as there are no real tricks to learn. Make sure you use unsweetened desiccated coconut (I’m looking at you America), or the cake will be overly sweet and may not turn out. I happily use frozen passionfruit pulp and if you have access to it then I recommend it – it’s much more affordable and a big bag of cubes can hang out in the freezer for instant summer when needed!
Heat the oven to 170C (335F). Line an 8 inch round cake pan with baking paper and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. It will come together nicely to begin with but after the third egg it will split. This is normal and ok. Beat in the extracts. Add the ground almonds, coconut, rice flour, baking powder and salt. Mix gently until just combined.
Scrape all the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until firm when pressed lightly in the centre. If the cake seems to be browning unevenly rotate the pan after 30 minutes of baking.
Let the cake cool in the pan for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
While the cake is cooling, make the syrup. Heat the sugar and passionfruit pulp in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for a minute or two then remove from the heat to cool a bit. You can either sieve the pulp and put some seeds back in or not bother – it’s up to you if you want super smooth syrup or not.
When the cake is mostly cold but the syrup is still warm pierce the cake all over with a fine skewer or cake tester.
Drizzle the syrup over the top a bit at a time, letting it soak in before adding more. It should only take a few minutes.
This cake is delicious straight away but it really is best after a few hours to sit and absorb the syrup. Serve with whipped cream or yoghurt on the side and dig into a glorious slice of summer flavour.
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Coconut + Passionfruit Syrup Cake
Prep Time : 15 mins | Cook Time : 45 mins | Total Time : 2 hours | Difficulty : Easy
Makes : One 8 inch cake
Rich buttery coconut cake drenched in bright passionfruit syrup.
Ingredients:
For the cake:
- 11 tablespoons (150 grams) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- 1 cup (100 grams) ground almonds
- 1 cup (100 grams) fine unsweetened desiccated coconut
- 1/2 cup (80 grams) brown rice flour
- 1 + 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the syrup:
- 1/3 cup (70 grams) sugar
- 1/3 cup passionfruit pulp
– If using metric cups, reduce volume measures by 1 tablespoon for every cup of dry or liquid ingredients –
Equipment:
- Standing or hand-held electric mixer
- 8 inch round cake pan lined with baking paper
- Small saucepan
- cake tester or fine skewer
Directions:
Heat the oven to 170C (335F). Line an 8 inch round cake pan with baking paper and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. It will come together nicely to begin with but after the third egg it will split. This is normal and ok. Beat in the extracts. Add the ground almonds, coconut, rice flour, baking powder and salt. Mix gently until just combined.
Scrape all the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until firm when pressed lightly in the centre. If the cake seems to be browning unevenly rotate the pan after 30 minutes of baking.
Let the cake cool in the pan for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
While the cake is cooling, make the syrup. Heat the sugar and passionfruit pulp in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for a minute or two then remove from the heat to cool a bit. You can either sieve the pulp and put some seeds back in or not bother – it’s up to you if you want super smooth syrup or not.
When the cake is mostly cold but the syrup is still warm pierce the cake all over with a fine skewer or cake tester.
Drizzle the syrup over the top a bit at a time, letting it soak in before adding more. It should only take a few minutes.
This cake is delicious straight away but it really is best after a few hours to sit and absorb the syrup. Serve with whipped cream or yoghurt on the side and dig into a glorious slice of summer flavour.
Cook’s Notes:
- If you’d like to take decoration a step further make a batch of cream cheese frosting. Split the cake into two layers, drizzle syrup on the bottom layer, top with cream cheese frosting, add the second layer of cake, frost and drizzle the last of the syrup on top.
- Make sure you use unsweetened desiccated coconut for this recipe. Sweetened coconut will not only add too much sweetness but it can upset the structure of the cake.
– This cake is better the day after it is made, and will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 to 4 days –
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