Redcurrant coconut cake with poppy seeds

A truly wonderful cake with redcurrants – everyone went back for seconds :). It’s a slightly “loaded” version of a classic butter cake. There’s a lot going on here: poppy seeds, coconut, coconut icing and those beautifully tart blackcurrants. Altogether, it’s irresistible… and very hard to stop at just one slice ;).

Ingredients for redcurrant coconut cake with poppy seeds:

• 120 g butter
• ¾ cup caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• 225 g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 125 ml milk
• ½ cup desiccated coconut
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 250 g redcurrants, stems removed

All ingredients should be at room temperature.

In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix. At this stage, the mixture may look slightly curdled – this is perfectly fine and won’t affect the final result. Sift in the flour and baking powder, then add the milk, coconut and poppy seeds. Fold gently with a spatula until just combined.

Line a baking tin (18 × 29 cm) with baking paper. Transfer the batter into the tin and level the surface. Scatter the redcurrants evenly over the top.

Bake at 170°C for 35 – 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Drizzle with icing and sprinkle with extra coconut while the icing is still wet.

Ingredients for coconut icing:

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 3 tablespoons coconut liqueur

Mix until smooth, adjusting the consistency as needed (add more liqueur if too thick, or more icing sugar if too thin).

Additionally:

• desiccated coconut, for sprinkling

Enjoy!