A Legend in the Bakin'

Becca Wilson
Nov 3, 2017
3 min read

You might have noticed I've been focusing more on cooking than baking recently. I am trying to develop more skills in the kitchen. I have never been the most confident cook and have only recently become more interested in trying new recipes. It's never too late to take up a new passion right?! I am enjoying having the time to experiment a bit more, especially with the goal of making tasty GF veggie food - that even meat eaters like! Don't get me wrong, I love baking, but I've been trying not to bake too much - we arrive in NZ during their Summer so I'll need to be beach body ready! Making cakes all the time isn't going to help ha.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/coconut-chai-traybake

However, last night I was in the mood to bake and seeing as I haven't baked in a while, I went for it. My boyfriend loves a traybake and when I saw this coconut and chai combination above, I just had to give it a go. I love the flavours of chai, and it always makes me feel warm and festive. It turned out to be a light, flavoursome cake that was well received. I used that recipe as a starter and tweaked to my liking. Here's how to make your own:

Ingredients:

(Makes 15 squares or you can use a bundt tin)

100ml vegetable oil
300ml coconut milk (not low-fat) - if the cream has separated in the can, give it a good mix before measuring
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
120g light brown soft sugar
250g GF self-raising flour
75g desiccated coconut
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ nutmeg, finely grated
¼ tsp ground cloves
2 cardamom pods, seeds removed and crushed using a pestle and mortar
4 tbsp ginger syrup and 2 stem ginger balls chopped finely

For the topping and icing:

3-4 tbsp coconut milk
140g icing sugar
2 balls stem ginger, finely chopped
chopped pistachios and coconut flakes (optional)

Method:

Grease a 20 x 30cm baking tin with a little butter, and line the base and sides with baking parchment. Heat oven to 160°C. Measure the coconut milk and oil into a jug. Crack in the eggs, add the vanilla and whisk with a fork to combine.
In a large bowl, mix the sugar, flour, coconut and spices. Squeeze any lumps of sugar through your fingers, shaking the bowl a few times so they come to the surface. Pour in the wet ingredients and use a large whisk to mix to a smooth batter. Pour into the tin, scraping every drop of the mixture out of the bowl with a spatula. Optional - gently push the chopped ginger into the top of the mixture.
Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 45 mins or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. If there is any wet mixture clinging to it, bake for a further 5 mins, then check again. Leave to cool for 15 mins in the tin, then transfer to a wire rack and drizzle over the ginger syrup.
To make the icing, mix the coconut milk with the icing sugar until smooth. Drizzle the icing over the cake in squiggles, then scatter with the chopped ginger, pistachios and coconut flakes, if using. Eat warm or cold. Will keep for 3 days in an airtight container.

You could bake it at 180°C for 25 minutes but in an aga, I wanted to ensure it was an even bake. I added slightly more ginger than I mentioned, which came through nicely, and next time I would probably use more coconut milk because it didn't come through as strongly as I would have liked. Overall, it's a fairly easy to make cake, and it is perfect for a wintery evening. I am yet to try a slice alongside a Chai tea or latte - that could be awesome though!

Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend x gf v x