This is a gorgeous and delicate sponge which would go perfectly with a nice cup of tea.
Preparation: 1 hour
Baking time: 30 minutes
Makes: Two eight inch round tins
Ingredients
For the Cake
250g of Caster Sugar
250g of Butter plus extra for greasing your tins (TOP TIP: if you use spreadable butter for the cake it will make it even lighter and fluffier)
5 Eggs
250g of Gluten Free Self-Raising Flour
Zest of three Limes
50g of Desiccated Coconut
4 tablespoons of Milk
2 teaspoons of Vanilla Essence
For the Drizzle
The juice of two Limes
50g of Icing Sugar to sweeten
For the Butter Icing
150g of Butter room temperature (TOP TIP: using hard butter will help your butter icing stay firm)
450g of Icing Sugar
4 tablespoons of Milk
2 teaspoons of Vanilla Essence
50g of Coconut plus extra for decoration
For the Lime Curd
80g of Caster Sugar
12g of Butter
1 Egg
Juice of 1 Lime
Zest of 1 Lime
EXTRA NOTE :) If you would like to make this cake using regular flour to join in on the fun all you need to do is replace the gluten free flour for normal self-raising flour and remove one egg. If you would like to make this recipe Dairy Free all you need to do is replace the butter and milk for a dairy free alternative.
Utensils you will need
Mixing bowl
Spatula
Set of scales
Two eight inch cake tins
Greaseproof paper
Cooling rack
Piping bag (If you don't have any piping bags I have a top tip for using a freezer bag instead)
Zester or grater
Small saucepan
Chopping board
Knife
Sieve
Bread knife
Method
First of all set your oven to 190 degrees or a fan oven to 160 degrees.
Use the cake tins as a stencil to draw two circles onto greaseproof paper then cut them out, butter the cake tins and add the paper to the bottom of the cake tins to prevent the cakes from sticking.
Weigh out the butter and sugar into your mixing bowl and cream together until light and fluffy.
Whisk the eggs and gradually add them and the flour into the mixture a little at a time and mix until fully combined. This is the best way to do this as because of the high egg content in this cake, adding them gradually with the flour prevents your batter from separating.
Add the milk, lime zest, coconut and vanilla and mix until fully combined.
Evenly split the mixture into the two cake tins. Make a dip in the middle of the cake batter in each tin, this stops the cakes from rising too much in the middle.
Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown and springy to touch.
While the cakes are still warm, make the lime drizzle by whisking the icing sugar into the lime juice until it looks like this and is sweet to taste. Prick holes into the warm cakes and spoon the drizzle over the top making sure to get it as spread out as possible.
Leave to cool in the tins for around ten minutes and then using a knife, gently cut around the edge of the tin to unstick the cake from the sides, then flip onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
While the cakes are cooling it's time to make the lime curd. First start by zesting the lime, try not to get too much of the white pith as this will cause your curd to be bitter.
In a small saucepan add the sugar, egg, butter and lime juice. Place on a low heat and whisk continuously.
Whisk the mixture for around 5 minutes until it is thick and you can run a spoon through it to look like this.
Take off the heat and strain your curd through a sieve. Add the zest and leave to cool.
Now it's time to make up the buttercream. This is most easily done with a standing or handheld mixer but if you don't have either of these some elbow grease and a wooden spoon will do just fine.
Whip up the butter until it is smooth with no big lumps and then mix in the icing sugar gradually. Add the milk, vanilla essence and coconut then mix until fully combined.
Once your cakes are cool it is time to assemble! If your cake has formed a slight dome in the middle it is a good idea to create a flat surface by shaving off some of the cake with a bread knife, this stops your cake from toppling over or becoming lopsided.
Now we're going to add our filling, the easiest way I find to do this is to place the buttercream in a piping bag and pipe a circle border around the cake. Then you can fill in your circle with a light layer of lime curd.
TOP TIPS: If you don't have a piping bag you can cut off the corner of a plastic freezer bag and it will do exactly the same job
After your curd has been spread evenly bring out your piping bag again and pipe your buttercream in a round spiral to completely cover the curd (you can smooth over some gaps with a pallet or butter knife if needed)
Carefully place your second cake on top and decorate with the rest of your buttercream in whatever way you see fit. Get Creative! and don't hesitate to share your creations with me on your Instagram stories by tagging @Whip_bakesbyamy. Here is my finished cake if you need some inspiration for your own.
I hope you enjoyed my very first recipe as much as I did!
Happy Baking!
Love Amy x