Coconut & Pineapple Cake

Serves : 6-8

Preparation Time: approx 25 minutes plus overnight chilling and cooling time

Cooking Time: 30-35 minutes

Coconut & Pineapple Cake

Ingredients

Use the remaining coconut water to make tropical smoothies

  • 2x 400ml tins coconut milk, plus 2 tbsp coconut water
  • 200g coconut oil, melted and cooled, plus extra for greasing
  • 2 tbsp gluten free flour
  • 500g pineapple chunks, chopped
  • 400g ripe banana, cut into chunks, about 3 ½ large bananas
  • 100g flaked almonds
  • 4 large free range eggs, lightly beaten
  • 200g desiccated coconut, plus extra toasted, to decorate
  • 150g polenta
  • 1tbsp baking powder
  • 6tbsp runny honey

Method

  1. Place the coconut milk in the fridge the day before you bake the cake. The following day, preheat the oven to 190°C/Fan170°C/Gas Mark 5. Grease and base line 3 round 18cm sandwich cake tins with baking parchment and grease again. Dust the base and sides with flour. Remove any excess flour.

  2. Place 400g of pineapple in to a food processor. Add the coconut oil, bananas and flaked almonds and whizz in the food processor. Add the eggs, desiccated coconut, polenta, baking powder and 4 tbsp honey and whizz again.

  3. Divide the batter mixture equally between each of the cake tins. Smooth the surfaces with a metal spoon and bake in the centre of the oven for 30-35 minutes or until golden and just firm to touch.

  4. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tins. Loosen the edges of the cakes with a knife and turn out onto a cooling rack. Remove the baking parchment.

  5. Spoon out the solid cream from the top of the coconut milk. Place in a large bowl with the coconut water and the remaining honey. Beat together until spreadable. Place 1/3 of the mixture in to a small bowl. Finely chop the remaining pineapple and mix with the coconut cream in the larger bowl.

  6. Place one of the sponges on a serving plate. Using a small warmed palette knife spread 1/3 of the coconut and pineapple cream evenly over the sponge. Top with another sponge and spread again with the remaining coconut and pineapple cream. Top with the final sponge and top with the remaining coconut cream. Decorate with a sprinkling of toasted desiccated coconut.