Orange Coconut Cake

I’ve never considered myself as a recipe creator since that takes trial and error. Often it requires a lot of ingredients in the process, multiple times over, to produce something which may not actually work. That gets expensive. I am also what I would call an intuitive cook. When not following a recipe I tinker until I get something yummy (which does not work so well in the baking department). I very rarely write down what I used or did. I just create a different version next time. To actually write down the exact recipe for something I’ve just tinkered around with is a foreign concept.

On Saturday I finally found a xylitol and stevia blend in my local supermarket; something which was not easily available to me previously. I was keen to give it a try. After just one use I much, much, much prefer it to Splenda! I was surprised, too, as I don’t like the taste of Stevia, but I couldn’t detect that flavour in my end product. Win, win. 😀

So it was Sunday afternoon found me wandering around the web looking for something to make for dessert. My husband had been working very hard for three days cleaning up a property to get it ready for sale. I wanted to make him something special. Nothing I saw was clicking with me so I got adventurous. I tried to create something all on my own. Maybe I’ll do it more often?

It is with great pleasure and satisfaction that I present my first original recipe.

Makes 4 conservative serves

♥ Ingredients ♥

2 T coconut flour
5 T almond flour or meal
2 T dessicated coconut
3 T erythritol/stevia blend
1.5 t baking powder
grated rind of one orange
Juice of one orange (about 4 T)
2 T butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/4 t vanilla essence or extract
2 T plain unsweetened natural yoghurt
1-2 T of the orange flesh/pulp left behind after juicing (optional)

♥ Method ♥

1. Grease a 6 inch casserole or baking dish and line the bottom with baking paper. I didn’t do the lining and ended up having a tasty treat scraped from the bottom of the dish, but I think it would be better if it had stayed with the cake. 😉

2. Place all of the dry ingredients in a bowl (flours, coconut, sweetener, baking powder and orange rind) and toss with a fork to break up any flour lumps and combine the ingredients.

3. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs with a fork until the yolks and whites are nicely amalgamated. It doesn’t take long. Add to the eggs the remaining wet ingredients (juice, butter, vanilla and yoghurt). If you are using the orange flesh, scrape out some with your fingers, ensuring the white pith is left behind. It adds some fiber and moisture to the cake. I used about 1 tablespoon. Continue mixing with the fork until it’s all combined.

4. Add the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir with the fork until well mixed. Pour into the prepared dish.

5. Cook at 180 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes. (The top element in my oven does not work so you may find a shorter cooking time is needed.) The cake is done when a skewer is inserted and comes out clean.

6. Remove from the baking dish and place on a wire rack to cool. Because mine stuck to the bottom, it didn’t look pretty once wrestled from the casserole dish. Next time I shall endeavour to present a prettier cake. Cut the cooled cake into quarters. Serve with your choice of whipped cream or natural yoghurt.

We had it with cream the first night and yoghurt the second night. I think I prefer the yoghurt as it is a sweet cake.

Need a dairy free option? Replace the butter with coconut oil and substitute unsweetened apple sauce for the yoghurt.

Served with whipped cream

 

Yum!

The cake is moist and luscious. The half we didn’t eat that night was just as moist and luscious the next evening. My husband’s only complaint was he wanted more of it. I’m low on almond flour though so an attempt at doubling the recipe must wait.

I would love to hear from you if you try my recipe and to get your feedback on how it went.

 

Happy, healthy eating!

Belinda