Lime & Coconut Traybake

It’s glorious Cake week on the Bake Off and boy oh boy have I been inspired!

And who doesn’t love a traybake right? I mean they’re so straightforward to make, versatile and extremely portable! They’re perfect little squares of delight for lunchboxes, charity bake sales, parties, alongside a cuppa - the list goes on. A pocket sized cake – Genius.

I had a load of desiccated coconut getting lonely in my baking cupboard, (yes I have a cupboard (or two) full of baking ingredients & equipment that takes up half of my kitchen- priorities people) so a coconut bake was overdue. And who is coconut’s partner in crime do I hear you ask? Lime. So that was that. A coconut and lime traybake topped with toasted Italian meringue and a lemon and coconut curd to use up that zingy left over lime juice. Tropical tongue teaser alert.

A little note: you’ll need a blowtorch (for beautifully toasted meringue) and a sugar thermometer.

Here’s the recipe!

Serves 16

Difficulty: 2/5

Prep time: 1 hour

Total time: 2 hours 30 minutes

For the Lime & Coconut Sponge:

225g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

50g desiccated coconut

Zest of 2 limes

225g caster sugar

125g butter, melted

2 free range eggs

250ml coconut milk

For the Italian Meringue:

60g egg whites

150g caster sugar

35ml water

For the Lime & Coconut Curd:

20ml lime juice

Zest of half a lime

1 egg yolk

35g granulated sugar

20g butter, cubed

10g desiccated coconut, slightly whizzed in a food processor to get it fine

Drop of green food gel (optional)

Method:

1. Make the sponge. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan and grease and line a 25cmx35cm traybake tin with parchment paper. Add the flour, baking powder, desiccated coconut, lime zest and caster sugar to a large bowl and whisk to combine. In a medium bowl combine the butter, eggs and coconut milk. Pour into the dry ingredients and combine ensuring no flour pockets remain. Pour into the prepared tin and level off the surface with an offset spatula. Bake for 35-40 minutes until springy to the touch and a skewer comes out clean. Let it cool in the tin whilst you make the curd.

2. Make the lime & coconut curd. Add egg yolk, lime juice, zest and granulated sugar into a double boiler over simmering water. Whisk constantly until thickened, around 5 minutes, until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Take off the heat and gradually add the butter and mix until melted. Stir in the desiccated coconut and a drop of green food gel, for a vibrant green colour. Pour into a small, sterilised jar and refrigerate.

3. Turn out the sponge onto a wire rack to finish cooling whilst you make the meringue.

4. Make the Italian Meringue. Add egg whites to a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Set it to whip at a medium speed whilst you make the syrup. Add sugar and water to a small saucepan over a medium heat and whisk. Allow the syrup to boil until it reaches 240°F on a sugar thermometer. By this point your egg whites should be quite frothy and at a soft peak stage. In a slow and steady stream, keeping to the far edge of the bowl as possible, pour the hot syrup (be careful!) into the whites. Once all the syrup has been added, turn the speed to high and whip until the side of the bowl feels room temperature, 10-15 minutes. The meringue will look wonderfully glossy, stiff and marshmallow-like.

5. Cut the cooled sponge into 16 even squares (or rectangles, like I did) and fill a piping bag fitted with petal tip or otherwise known as no. 104 with meringue. Fill another smaller bag fitted with a small round tip and fill with cooled curd. Decorate the tops of the cakes by piping meringue in a back and forth motion. Toast the meringue with a blowtorch and pipe droplets of curd into the edges of each curve.

6. Refrigerate until serving.

7. Enjoy!