The Pink Whisk Brilliant Baking Step-by-Step Cake Making (6 page)

2 Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy using an electric whisk or food mixer.

3 Beat the eggs together in a separate jug. Add the beaten eggs a tiny little bit at a time to the butter and sugar mixture, beating in well after each addition.

4 Add the flour to the bowl and fold through using a spatula or metal spoon. Scrape the pulp from the passionfruit and add to the bowl, along with the finely grated creamed coconut and the coconut cream. Fold through until evenly distributed through out the mixture.

5 Fill the prepared Bundt tin with the mixture, dolloping it into the base of the tin to form a ring. Gently smooth over the surface with the back of a spoon so it sits evenly.

TIP

This recipe will fit into a smaller 2.1l (9 cup) Bundt tin if you prefer – you’ll just have a slightly taller cake!

6 Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes. Insert a metal skewer through a crack in the top of the cake to see if it’s done – it should come out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. If there is still cake mixture clinging to it bob it back into the oven and check at five-minute intervals until cooked all the way through.

7 Once baked you need to negotiate getting it out of the tin in one piece. First up let it cool, in the tin, for 30 minutes. This allows the structure of the cake to firm up – flip it out straight from the oven and it’ll come out in bits! Once you’ve let it cool take a plate and place it over the top of the tin, and in one swift movement flip it over. The cake should drop down directly onto the plate. Remove the tin and allow the cake to cool down fully.

8 Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add 2 teaspoons of coconut cream. Mix it up to a fairly stiff icing – it should be the same consistency as a thick custard. If it’s too thick add a little water but only a tiny bit at a time. Fill the piping bag with the coconut icing and set to one side.

9 Transfer the cake carefully to a serving plate. Taking a long strip of cling film (plastic wrap), wrap it around the edge of the plate tucking it neatly against the bottom edge of the cake. This will stop the plate being covered in flicks of icing. Snip the end off the piping bag and drizzle the icing all the way round the cake. Remove the cling film from the plate and serve.

Raspberry & White Chocolate Bundt

Raspberry and white chocolate is a classic combination that works a treat in this Bundt cake. Of course you could use your favourite fruits as an alternative, but watch out for strawberries – they aren’t ideal for use in baking as they have such a high proportion of water. Try blackberries, forest fruits and blueberries instead!

Makes one 30cm (12in) Bundt cake

Prep: 25 minutes plus cooling

Bake: 35 minutes

Oven: 160°c (fan)/180°c/350°F/Gas Mark 4

Ingredients

Cake

250g (9oz) very soft butter

265g (9
¹
⁄
₂
oz) caster (superfine) sugar

4 eggs, large

200g (7oz) self-raising (-rising) flour

140g (5oz) raspberries

100g (3
¹
⁄
₂
oz) grated white chocolate

To decorate

20g (
³
⁄
₄
oz) raspberries

50g (1
³
⁄
₄
oz) icing (confectioners) sugar

Equipment

2.4 l (12 cup) Bundt tin (Bundt pan)

Electric hand-held whisk or food mixer

Fine sieve

Disposable plastic piping bag

1 Follow the same method as Coconut & Passionfruit Bundt, but omit the grated creamed coconut, passionfruit and coconut cream and replace instead with raspberries and grated white chocolate.

2 For the icing push the raspberries through a sieve and discard the seeds. Mix the sieved pulp with the icing sugar, adding a little water if necessary, and then drizzle over the Bundt cake.

Cinnamon Pecan ‘Cuppa’ Cake

Traditionally this type of cake was called a coffee cake, not that it’s coffee flavoured but because it’s a deliciously moist cake ideal for eating with your morning coffee. Whatever your mid-morning tipple, a slice of this beauty will go down a treat!

Makes one 20cm (8in) square cake

Prep: 25 minutes plus cooling

Bake: 55 minutes

Oven: 160°c (fan)/180°c/350°F/Gas Mark 4

Ingredients

Filling

100g (3
¹
⁄
₂
oz) butter

2tsp ground cinnamon

60g (2
¹
⁄
₄
oz) soft light brown sugar

100g (3
¹
⁄
₂
oz) pecans, chopped

Cake

100g (3
¹
⁄
₂
oz) butter

200g (7oz) caster (superfine) sugar

2 eggs, large

230ml (8fl oz) Greek-style yoghurt

185g (6
¹
⁄
₂
oz) plain (all-purpose) flour

¹
⁄
₂
tsp bicarbonate of soda

Equipment

20cm (8in) square cake tin (pan), at least 7.5cm (3in) deep

Electric handmixer

1 Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan)/180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Prepare the filling: place the butter, cinnamon and light brown sugar in a small bowl and mash together with a fork. Roughly chop the pecans, add to the mixture and mix it up well. Set it to one side and get to work on the cake.

2 Line the tin with baking paper. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. It’s harder to do when the ratio of butter and sugar isn’t even – keep going, it just takes a bit longer.

3 Add the egg a little at a time and beat well until the mixture is fluffy and aerated again, repeating until all the egg is incorporated. Getting the aeration back in after adding the egg is super important otherwise you’ll just have a liquidy mixture that turns very dense when baked.

4 Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and the Greek-style yoghurt. Fold the mixture together with a spatula until evenly combined. Place half of the cake mixture into the base of the tin and spread evenly with the back of a spoon. It will seem like a small amount – don’t worry.