Coconut Meyer Lemon Cake
Fluffy soft cake
Just look at the bright sunshine yellow curd. I do love citrus curds - the buttery rich smooth and slightly tart taste... If it wasn't such a calorie bomb, I would gladly eat it by the spoonfuls.
My girlfriend's a fellow lover of anything tart. Her fave is lime, and I was originally going to make her a lime mojito cake, but I couldn't find any limes, nor do I have any white rum at home, so I decided to use what citrus that was in season then - Meyer lemons. Once I decided on the citrus, I knew I wanted to add in a coconut component because something tart and citrusy would totally complement the sweet notes of coconut. The cake recipe used coconut milk (imparting a lovely moist texture), and as I had a bag of sweetened coconut at home, I decided to top the cake with it for some textural crunch.
There were some leftover batter, so I made some mini cupcakes (just so I could taste test it too). Aren't they adorbs in their orange liners?
The cake (I can only assume, since I tasted the cupcake version) was a major thumbs up. The cake was perfectly soft and moist, the curd was tart and sweet, the sweetened coconut added a nice crunch and heightened the coconut flavours, and the coconut lemon frosting was simply lick-the-spoon yums. My girlfriend gave the thumbs up, while I was just glad she liked it. :)
Lemon curd; Cream cheese frosting; Shredded coconut topping
Coconut Meyer Lemon Cake
(makes one 6" four layered cake and 9 mini cupcakes)
Cake (adapted from Hummingbird Bakery 'Coconut and pineapple cupcakes')
240g plain flour
280g castor sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp of salt
1 tsp Meyer lemon zest
85g coconut oil, melted and cooled to room temp
200ml coconut milk
40ml milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Preheat the oven to 170ºC. Grease and line two 6" tins.
Mix the lemon zest with the sugar in a mixing bowl to infuse the sugar with lemon oils.
Sift the flour and baking powder in a bowl, add to the mixing bowl along with the salt and coconut oil. Using an electric mixer, beat the mixture till it reaches a sandy coarse-like consistency.
Combine the milks and vanilla. Add to the mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until everything is just combined. Add the eggs and beat well.
Divide the batter into the greased baking tins.
(*I didn't have three 6" tins, so instead, I filled 9 mini cupcake liners 2/3 full, then divide the remaining batter into the two 6" tins I had. Alternatively, you can divide the batter equally among three 6" tins for a three layered cake.)
Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until light golden and a skewer inserted into the cake should come out clean.
(*The cupcakes took 18-20 minutes, while the cakes took about 25-30 minutes)
Cool cakes completely on a wire rack.
Meyer Lemon Curd
165g sugar
170g fresh Meyer lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
3 large eggs
2 egg yolks
85g unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and lemon juice and bring to a boil.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and egg yolks. When sugar mixture comes to a boil, pour very small amounts down the side of the bowl into the egg mixture while whisking continuously to temper the mixture. Continue to add only a few tablespoons at a time until all has been incorporated.
Transfer egg mixture back to sauce pan and return to stove. Cook on medium heat until thickened, about 8 minutes, whisking frequently.
Remove custard from stove and whisk in butter, adding in one piece at a time.
When all butter has been added, cool curd. Cling wrap it and refrigerate till ready to use.
Coconut Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
200g powdered sugar, sifted
100g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp Meyer lemon zest
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
250g cream cheese, cold and cut into small pieces
4 tbsp Meyer lemon curd
Sift powdered sugar.
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter, powdered sugar, desiccated coconut and lemon zest until thoroughly blended.
Add the cream cheese, a few chunks at a time, beating after each addition (just enough to work it in).
Add the Meyer lemon curd and beat it till evenly mixed.
Also for the cake, am I meant to melt the coconut oil or leave it solid?
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