Birthday Feast, Part 3

And now, in the last of the birthday feast installments, I’m sharing the recipe for the gorgeous Coconut Cake with you. Although, it’s not much of a recipe because I committed one of biggest culinary ‘faux pas’ ‘ of my life. I used a pre-mix. Also known as Box Cake. I was very eager to bake my own vanilla cake but as I stood in the baking aisle of the supermarket packing the flour into my shopping basket, I spotted the box cakes and just instinctively grabbed 2 boxes. I mean, I’ve had it before and it’s pretty darn good AND I had so much to do. Lamb and chicken to marinade, egg whites and cream to whip and Naan to make. I didn’t have the time to mix my own 3 layer cake. And after all, the icing and the filling is what makes it ‘Coconut Cake’. So I manipulated my brain to think that the box cake was the better choice and carried on without any guilt. (Ok, maybe a little guilt!)

I used 2 boxes and it gave me 3 layers (I used a 20cm pan, I think) and then, EVEN WORSE, I used the pre-mix icing it comes with. Instead of adding milk, I just added coconut milk. I know, I KNOW! It’s terrible. But you know what? It actually wasn’t. It tasted pretty darn good. So here’s my ‘recipe’ for coconut cake.

Makes 1, quite large cake

2 boxes of ‘Box Cake’, mixed and baked according to the instructions
1 can Coconut Cream
250ml Double Cream
4tbsn Caster Sugar
1 cup Dessicated Coconut
2 cups Shredded Coconut

• For the filling, mix the thick coconut cream (it sits ontop of the milk in the can of coconut cream) with the double cream, dessicated coconut and the sugar and spread on the first layer of cake. Place another layer ontop, followed by another few dollops of the filling. Place the last layer ontop.
• For the Icing. Mix the pre-mix Icing you get with the box cake according to the instructions, just use a little less butter and the coconut milk to make a thick-ish icing.
• Spread the icing all over the cake and sprinkle the shredded coconut all over. Press it onto the sides. It really looks quite impressive.
• For a finishing touch, I just sprinkled some white, edible glitter over the top to add some “bollywood bling”.

Ps. This cake really is gorgeous and I have never gotten as many compliments for my baking as I did with this cake!