Poppy seed and coconut layer cake

Poppy seed and coconut layer cake is a wonderful layered poppy seed cake that could be the star of this year’s Christmas table! Layers of poppy seed and coconut sponge are sandwiched with a delicate, lightly lemony custard buttercream and generously soaked. There’s also a layer of cranberry preserve, which cuts through the sweetness beautifully. This cake is absolutely delicious, and I’m sure it will be regular on our table from now on. And… did I mention it’s gluten-free? 😉

Ingredients for the poppy seed and coconut layers:

• 8 egg whites, from large eggs
• a pinch of salt
• 150 g caster sugar
• 4 egg yolks, from large eggs
• 150 g poppy seeds
• 100 g desiccated coconut
• 100 g ground almonds

All ingredients should be at room temperature.

Place the egg whites and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk until stiff peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time (this is very important), whisking well after each addition until the sugar has dissolved. You should have a thick, glossy meringue. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, whisking after each addition. Add the poppy seeds, desiccated coconut and ground almonds to the whipped egg mixture and fold in with a spatula until combined.

Grease a 32 x 22 cm baking tin with butter and line with baking paper. Transfer the batter to the tin and level the surface.

Bake at 170ºC for about 20 minutes, or until baked through. Remove from the oven, leave to cool and cut into 2 layers.

Ingredients for the cream:

• 500 ml milk
• 125 g caster sugar
• 1 sachet vanillin sugar (16 g), or the seeds from 1 vanilla pod
• 4 egg yolks, from large eggs
• 40 g potato starch
• finely grated zest of 2 lemons
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 150 g butter

All ingredients should be at room temperature.

In a larger saucepan, bring the milk with the vanilla seeds or vanilla sugar to the boil. As soon as it comes to the boil, remove from the heat.

Place the egg yolks and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk until pale and creamy. Add the potato starch and continue mixing until you have a smooth paste. Add 200 ml of the hot milk to the paste and mix until combined. Pour the tempered egg mixture into the remaining hot milk and mix well until combined. Place over a medium heat and bring to the boil, stirring frequently. Once it comes to the boil, cook for about 1 minute, stirring, until the custard thickens, then remove from the heat. Cover the finished custard with cling film, pressing it directly onto the surface, and leave to cool to room temperature (do not stir while it is cooling!).

Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the lemon juice and zest and beat until light and fluffy. Add the cooled custard in 3 batches, beating well after each addition until smooth and fully combined.

Ingredients for soaking:

• 50 ml limoncello (or lemon juice)
• 50 ml water

Mix together.

Additionally:

• half a jar of cranberry preserve or jam (or blueberry preserve/jam)
• ½ cup desiccated coconut, toasted in a dry frying pan, for sprinkling over the cake
• fresh or dried cranberries, to decorate

Method:

Place the first cake layer on a serving plate. Drizzle with half of the soaking mixture. Spread evenly with the cranberry preserve or jam. Spread ⅔ of the custard buttercream over the jam and level with a spatula. Place the second cake layer on top and drizzle with the remaining soaking mixture. Spread with the remaining cream and sprinkle with the toasted desiccated coconut (make sure it has cooled first). Chill in the fridge.

Before serving, cut into squares and decorate with cranberries. The cake should be stored in the fridge.

Enjoy!