Pistachio, Lime & Coconut Cake

Last weekend I decided to experiment with flavours and baked a pistachio, lime and coconut cake. I made a lime butter cream to cover the cake - but as you can see from the picture I didn't make enough to cover the cake thickly - the sides could have done with another inch of frosting.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

Cake

• 175g shelled, unsalted pistachios (if you need to shell the nuts yourself a 400g bag should be enough)
• 75g desiccated coconut
• Zest and juice of 2 limes
• 125g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 225g unsalted butter (softened)
• 225g caster sugar
• 4 medium eggs (beaten)
• 1 tsp rosewater

Frosting

• Zest and juice of 2 limes
• 200g sifted icing sugar
• 250g unsalted butter
• Food colouring (optional)

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C (or 170C with fan). Put pistachios into a food processor and grind until finely chopped. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt together. Cream butter and caster sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy (the mixture will turn light yellow in colour after about 3 minutes). Gradually add the beaten eggs, mixing well after each addition. Next, mix in the rose water. Add the grounded pistachio nuts, coconut and lime zest and mix until smooth. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients, making sure they are all well combined. Lastly add the lime juice and stir through. Pour the mixture into a prepared cake pan (23cm), and bake on the middle shelf for about 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool in its tin for about 5 minutes, then carefully turn it onto a wire rack and leave it to cool completely. Once the cake is cooled, you can either cut it in half and put frosting in the middle (a layered effect) or you can put frosting on the top of the cake, or in my case - you can do both!

To make the frosting, mix butter and icing sugar on a low speed of an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add lime zest and juice and mix well. If you wish to colour the frosting, add a liquid or gel paste colour to the frosting last and mix well.

To decorate, place the cake on a serving plate and spread the frosting on the top (and sides if desired) using a palette knife or spatula. I made little sugar paste flowers for the centre of the cake, but any decorations could be used. Perhaps try using crushed pistachios and rose petals.....

Happy baking!

National Cookie Challenge - November Entry

The theme for the November round of the National Cookie Network Baking Challenge was cranberries, so I attempted to turn my favourite cocktail - Vodka, Cranberry and Lime - into a cookie. Although the cookies may not look as exciting as a cocktail, they taste delicious, and are super easy to make.

Here's the recipe if you want to have a go at making them:

Vodka, Cranberry and Lime Cookies

Ingredients (makes 20 large or 35 small cookies)

• 265g softened unsalted butter
• 1 cup icing sugar (sifted)
• 1 1/2 cups plain flour
• 175g dried cranberries
• zest and juice from 1 lime
• 1/2 cup vodka

Method

Preheat oven to 175C. Pour vodka into a bowl and add cranberries. Allow them to soak until all the vodka has been absorbed. In the meantime, using an electric mixer, beat butter and icing sugar together until smooth and fluffy. Add flour and continue mixing until the dough is formed. Sitr in zest and juice of lime and vodka soaked cranberries. Place small balls of mixture onto lined baking trays, then bake for about 10 mins until they are just start to turn golden. Cool on wire racks (cookies harden when cool), and store in an airtight container to retain freshness.

Happy Baking x

Ironcupcake UK - October Challenge

On Monday I entered the 5th round of Ironcupcake UK. This month, the theme was "alcohol" and there were 19 entries from 14 bakers. There were so many great cupcakes this month, it was really tough choosing a favourite! I made a batch of mojito cupcakes, and ended up coming 2nd which was such a thrill. Here's my recipe for anyone who wants to try it out for themselves:

Mojito Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes (makes ~20 cupcakes)

• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tbsp. dark rum
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 cups plain flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 225g unsalted butter (room temp)
• 2 cups caster sugar
• 4 medium eggs

Rum Syrup

• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 55g unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup dark rum
• Zest and juice from 1/2 a lime
• 1/2 cup fresh mint

Lime and Rum Buttercream

• Zest from 3 limes
• Juice from 1 lime
• 250g unsalted butter (softened)
• 600g sifted icing sugar
• 1/4 cup dark rum

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 175C. Combine butter and caster sugar in a bowl and mix on a medium-high setting with electric beaters until light and fluffy (about 5 mins). Reduce the mixer speed and add the eggs, one at a time, remembering to scrape the sides of the bowl after each addition.

In a separate bowl, sift in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside. Combine buttermilk, rum and vanilla extract in another bowl and also set aside.

Using the mixer on a low speed, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and mix well. Next add half of the buttermilk mixture and mix well (about 2 mins). Add another third of the dry ingredients (on low speed) and mix well before adding the remainder of the buttermilk mixture and mixing. Add the remainder of the dry ingredients (on low speed) and mix for a few minutes, until the batter is smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that all of the flour has been mixed in well.

Fill a 12-hole muffin/cupcake pan, lined with paper cases, with the batter and bake for approximately 20 mins. Before removing the cupcakes from the oven, test that they are cooked all the way through by inserting a skewer into the centre of the cupcakes. If it comes out clean, they’re done. If not, bake for another 5 mins. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes before poking holes in them with a skewer or toothpick. Immediately spoon the rum syrup over the warm cupcakes and let them soak it all up. Once they’ve cooled completely, you can ice them with the lime and rum buttercream.

To make the rum syrup, put butter, caster sugar and water in a saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often. Once the butter has completely melted and the sugar has dissolved, remove from the heat. Carefully add the rum. The mixture will bubble so take care not to burn yourself. Once you’ve mixed in all the rum, add the lime zest and mint and let the syrup infuse for 5 minutes before spooning over the cupcakes.

For the lime and rum buttercream, beat sugar on high speed for about 5 mins until light and fluffy before gradually adding sifted icing sugar (about 200g at a time) on a low speed. Once all the icing sugar is incorporated into the mixture, increase the mixer speed to high again and mix for another 2-3mins. The buttercream should be light and fluffy. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the rum and the lime zest and mix on a medium speed until well incorporated. If you wish to colour your buttercream, you can also add a few drops of green food colouring to make it a lime colour. Add buttercream onto cupcakes once they are completely cool and the rum syrup has been soaked in. You can spread the buttercream on with a knife, or you can use a piping bag to pipe a swirly design.

For my cupcakes, I made lime pieces from green sugar paste to add as decoration. Here's the final result:

More pictures from the competition are on the ironcupcake website.

Next month, the theme is 'spice'. If anyone has any suggestions on spices I should try, I'd be happy to hear from you :)

Happy Baking!