Raspberry, Coconut & Passionfruit Cake

Yesterday I was faced with a cake dilemma. We had more family coming to stay, to join the throng of us already here, and we're all thoroughly overfed by now. What to bake that would be suitably celebratory but taste light and fresh after all the christmas excesses of chocolate and cream, rich fruit cake and spicy gingerbread? In the end I created a simple raspberry and coconut cake with a pretty passionfruit glaze. It is so gorgeous, in both taste and looks, that I've had to hide some to feed friends tomorrow, otherwise my greedy family would have had the lot!

Recipe
Cake base & Passionfruit glaze recipe my own.

Serves 10

200g unsalted butter, room temperature
200g caster sugar
200g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 eggs
2 and a half handfuls of raspberries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 and a half handfuls dessicated coconut

1. Turn oven to 180C (160C fan ovens). Grease and line a 20cm round baking tin.

2. Cream the butter and sugar by beating thoroughly together.

3. In a large bowl break in the 1st egg, and beat well. Add the 2nd egg, plus the baking powder and a spoon of the sieved flour and beat again. Do the same with the 3rd egg. Finally, fold in the 4th egg along with the rest of the sieved flour and the vanilla extract. Stir until the batter is totally combined.

4. Stir in the dessicated coconut.

5. Roll the raspberries in a little extra flour, before mixing them gently into the batter using a metal or wooden spoon. Be careful not to over mix, just a gentle slow stir once or twice is enough.

6. Pour the batter into the cake tin, smoothing it down with a spatula, and bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes. You'll know it's done when the skewer comes out clean.

for the passionfruit glaze:
3 passionfruit, pulp scooped out
4 tablespoons of caster sugar
juice of half a lemon


8. When the cake is cool, stir together the sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan.


9. Add the passionfruit pulp, and place the saucepan over a low heat hob, letting it simmer for about 10 minutes. If the mixture is too thick then add a little water to thin it.


10. Carefully spoon the glaze over the cake, letting it drip down the sides. Leave it to settle a little for about 15 minutes.

This cake was idly baked to the sounds of Kate Bush's album 50 Words for Snow