A birthday {coconut} cake for Bella

I go red when I drink. It is mildly annoying, but I’ve learnt to live with it. What is more annoying, is having people point it out, as if I didn’t already know. Do you not think I’m fully aware that I am the colour of a beetroot, or indeed that you could warm your hands on my flaming cheeks? I had thought that once people reach late twenties, most would have been exposed to the Asian flush. But apparently not. So here is a quick guide for you.

The Asian flush (or alcohol flush reaction) is a condition in which an individual’s face or body (or in some unfortunate cases, both) go red when alcohol is consumed. Talking from personal experience, the level of redness has nothing to do with how much alcohol has been consumed – I can go red from the mere sniff of wine. I used to think this was because I didn’t have the enzymes to break down alcohol, so in essence, I experience a hideous allergic reaction every time I drink. But no, according to trusty Wikipedia, the redness is a result of an accumulation of acetaldehyde, a metabolic by product of the catabolic metabolism of alcohol. You still with me? Thought not. I did read on to the ‘causes’ section, but to be honest I switched off – if you find this sort of thing interesting, why not have a read.

Today’s recipe is a cake that incorporates booze. I was going to say that this is the first time I’ve baked with alcohol, but that would be a double lie because 1) my fruit cakes have whisky/rum/brandy in, and 2) because I didn’t actually bake the alcohol. But this cake is no less exciting. In fact, I think it is more exciting, because the icing contains MALIBU.

My good friend, Bella, introduced me to Malibu at university. I go mad for coconuts and anything sweet, so it was a no brainer. A few years on I have to confess to finding it all a little too sweet, but for Bels, Malibu remains the drink of choice. It was her birthday last weekend, so it seemed only right that her birthday cake should be coconut based, and obviously, where possible should incorporate Malibu.

This coconut cake recipe comes from Nigella’s “How to be a Domestic Goddess” and it is super duper easy, provided you have a food processor. If you haven’t, I strongly urge you to get one, not least because practically every single one of Jamie’s 15/30 minutes meals incorporates the use of a food processor. Anyway, this is the first time I have ever whizzed up a cake mix and I was slightly dubious. Oh, Nigella, why did I ever doubt you? She may come across as slightly food porny (when she’s not being strangled by her hubbie), but this lady knows her stuff.

I stuck to the recipe, with the exception that I covered the whole cake in buttercream, rather than making a separate icing for the top. This was obviously for aesthetic reasons, and not because I couldn’t be bothered to make a second icing. I have included both icings below in the recipe, but should you want to follow my lead, simply triple the buttercream. It results in A LOT of buttercream, but that is, in my opinion, no bad thing. I only added 2 tablespoons of Malibu to the buttercream (rather than 3) because on tasting I found it pretty pungent, but by the next day the flavours seemed to have mellowed out, so I think you could safely go for the full whack.

Coconut cake
(from Nigella’s “How to be a Domestic Goddess”)

For the cake:

• 225g unsalted butter, softened
• 225g caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 200g self-raising flour
• 25g cornflour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 50g dessicated coconut soaked in 150ml boiling water

For the buttercream icing:

• 25g dessicated coconut
• 75g soft unsalted butter
• 150g icing sugar, sieved
• 1tbs Malibu

For the icing:

• 2-4 tbs Malibu
• 125g instant royal icing

2 x 21cm sandwich tins

1. Preheat your oven to 180C fan and butter and line the sandwich tins.
2. Put all the cake ingredients in the food processor and blitz until you have a soft batter. Alternatively, you can mix this by hand – cream the butter and sugar, add the vanilla extract followed by the eggs a little at a time. Fold in the flour, cornflour and finally the soaked coconut. No need to add baking powder.
3. Pour the cake mix into your lined tins and cook for about 25 minutes – the cake should be coming away from the edges and a skewer should come out cleanish. Leave to cool for a few minutes before turning out onto a cake rack to cool completely.
4. To make the buttercream icing, toast the coconut in a dry frying pan till it’s fragrant and golden. Make sure you shake it around every now and again and keep an eye on it as once it starts turning it can burn quickly. Remove to a plate to cool.
5. Cream the softened butter and icing sugar until you have a smooth paste. Beat in the Malibu followed by the cold, toasted coconut. Use the buttercream to sandwich the cake.
6. Using a bowl and an electric mixer, beat together 2 tablespoons of Malibu and the royal icing powder. You may need to add another 1-2 tablespoons of Malibu to get the right consistency – you are looking for a smooth, runny paste, not too liquidy – you may not need all the Malibu. Pour over the centre of the cake and let it drip over the sides. Leave to set before cutting.

If you like coconuts, this is definitely the cake for you. I mean, come on people, it has Malibu in! You’ve got to give this one a try. Peacocks are optional.