Saturday 14 August 2010

Psychedelic Creamed Coconut Cake


Ok - so this is TOTALLY off the wall and rather freaky to say the least.....

However, underneath that brain haemorrage of colour a basic creamed coconut sponge is within.

Oliver (my little 22month old son) has been plonking himself daily in front of the oven in the kitchen. With his big doughy and soulful eyes he'll blurt out "Please Mummy - cake please Mummy !"

It's got to be a couple of weeks since I last made cake. I've got so little time at the moment and my waistline really does NOT want cake. Most of the time, Oliver isn't overly fussed with cake and rarely has more than a few bites. The little mite has been getting more and more demanding for cake this week .... and I could resist no longer.

To make it a little more intersting for Oliver, I had a play with some gel food colouring.


Oliver stood on his soap box bucket next to me in the kitchen. Yes - I still have buckets of melt and pour soap base in the kitchen as I've got soap making to do too and haven't had time for that either. Still - the bucket made a perfect stool !

After making the cake batter, I divided it into 5 different bowls and coloured them shocking colours with the Wilton gel icing colours. Oliver was very amused by this - he knows most of his colours now and there were some serious shreiks and noises as the cake mix turned vivid shades of blue, yellow, red, green and purple.

I poured the mix one bowl at a time into a 2lb silicone loaf pan / tin mould which had been lightly greased and floured. It then baked in the oven for 45 mins.


This is what came out. I'd kept the bright yellow mix until last - hoping that it would make the cake look normal, but as it rose the colours had also expanded and broken through to give it a horrific bleeding skull look :-S

After cooling, I sliced it some time later. The mix turned out thinner than I would have liked. Had it been a stiffer batter I dont think the colours would have swirled into each other so much - but it would still have looked seriously freaky I'm sure !


All I can say is that despite the colour, it didn't put Oliver off ! He happily sat in his high chair munching his cake mumbling "Mmmm cake yummy Mummy" in between mouthfuls !

I put the rest on a large plate to take into work this morning. The wood burning stove side of the business is really busy this time of the year. I tend to take cake in with me (as well as Oliver) on most Saturdays during our busy season and usually people are only too happy to gobble it up. Many often ask for the recipes too.



The only "taker" on this cake today was Oliver. I think most people took one look and it scared them for life ! The rest is now away with my husband on a camping trip tonight where I'm sure he and his friends will gobble it up in the dark with a coffee when they don't need sunglasses to look at it.

Seriously - the cake WAS really tasty - it just looks odd and inedible .... hahaha.

Recipe

200g caster sugar
180mls sunflower oil
200g plain flour flour
2.1/2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
125g creamed coconut 

Sieve dry ingredients and add wet. Mix with an electric whisk until smooth batter forms.

If you've lost your marbles and want to make a crazy looking cake no one except toddlers will want to eat - you can now split your mix into bowls and colour with gel colouring. I cannot imagine what someone would think finding a surprise piece of this cake in their lunch box. hehehe

Pour into a greased and floured 2lb loaf tin or mould and bake at 180deg C for about 40 > 45 mins until cake tester comes out clean.

Sarah-Jane Nash - silicone bakeware moulds, cook shop http://www.siliconemoulds.com/ August 2010

12 comments:

  1. OH SARAH!!! I think you might think me strange for what Im going to say ...seeing that you think the cake looks freakish..BUT I LIKE IT!!! VERY MUCH....the colours are simply amazing and beautiful. That is the most original looking cake ive seen in a long long time.

    Dont laugh, but truly... i think its a work of art ..

    The cake rcipe looks good. Iv never made a coconut cream cake before. so ill be bookmarking this recipe. :)))) Thanks for sucha delightful post. Your description of Oliver is so amusing and adorable. lol

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  2. Hey Zurin

    Well - it's not exactly your "normal" looking cake is it.

    I must admit, I laughed a lot making it and laughed even more slicing it. Try offering a bit to people and look at the shock on their faces :-P

    Perhaps it's one to keep for Halloween.

    Didn't faze Oliver though, and I must say that the rainbow coloured crumbs were pretty cute.

    Glad someone likes it :-)

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  3. I love it, Sarah! I think you've just solved my dilemma of which type of birthday cake me and my 3 year old should make for my husband.

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  4. I for one, LOVE IT! I'm totally with Oliver, and he says the sweetest things :D

    There's a lot going on in this cake, but if it taste good, bring it on! hahaa

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  5. It tastes the same - colour or no colour. Without the oclour, it looks like a normal tea bread type cake. It would be set of beautifully with some cream cheese frosting.

    This LOOKS off the wall - but really is good fun to make with kids. If they're helping, do make sure they are wearing old clothes !!!!

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  6. Oh My God Sarah, shocking I could see layers of brain section while reading ur post...Trust me loved ur experiment Bravo! colors are vibrant and attractive, Oliver seems to be brave boy! Loved the line "Please Mummy - cake please Mummy !" awee that was so cutie...and I could see spongy texture of cake, might end up one day making this cake for Halloween! :D

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  7. rofl @ Ananda. Yes - it was a VERY bright and in your face cake. Not one I'll forget in a hurry !

    Oliver can twist me round his little finger with the puppy dog eyes and cake requests. He just loves helping bake. There isn't normally a shortage of "takers" to give cake to.... but with this one, you could see most go into reverse !

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  8. Wow, that's the coolest looking cake ever :-) You could have some seriously freaky fun with this at Halloween!

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  9. I think it looks fabulous - if it was a choice between this and a plain looking cake I'd go for the funky one every time!! And the colours are so vibrant

    I love the tie dye effect cupcakes you can make so these are similar. Love it :)

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  10. Planning to make this for a very cool party in Norwich. Sarah Jane - what do you do with the creamed coconut - do you grate this in or heat it until liquid before adding?

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  11. Local too !

    It's a long time since I made this - and obviously my notes were not spot on. I've a funny feeling I grated it and then melted in the microwave..

    It was VERY nice - just looked incredibly mad.

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    Replies
    1. Many thanks - will be on to this later this week - party is at the weekend. Yes indeed local - and also having travelled down from Alba!!

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