Lemon Coconut Mini Loaves

Picnic-worthy! A beautiful balance of bright zesty lemon and fragrant coconut. Moist and tender crumbs with a bit of gritty desiccated coconut in each bite.

I do love a good lemon loaf, but sometimes lemon loaves are a bit too... in-your-face (sweet and tart enough to keep you awake without coffee at 3pm!). So I thought, hmm, wouldn't it be great to mellow it down a little so that you can eat the whole loaf instead of just a few slices?

Coconut cream as a flavor on its own is luxurious and rich, whereas lemons are bright and tart. Together, with a sprinkle of sea salt, they complement each other to create a perfectly balanced, appetising flavor profile.

LEMON COCONUT CAKE RECIPE:

A small-batch recipe that makes 3 mini loaves, or 9 cupcakes. I use 2.5" x 4" rectangular disposable aluminum tins for my mini loaves.

INGREDIENTS:

Cake

180g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp lemon zest (from around 2 lemons)

1 tbsp desiccated coconut

1/2 tsp fine salt

115g unsalted butter, softened

200g fine sugar

2 eggs, rtp

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp lemon juice (from around half a lemon)

100ml coconut cream

50ml milk

Syrup

1/4 cup lemon juice (from around 1 lemon)

3 tbsp icing sugar

pinch of sea salt

Lemony Drizzle

65g icing sugar

3/4 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 tbsp milk

pinch of sea salt

CAKE INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 175C, using top and bottom setting.

2. In a medium bowl, add plain flour, baking powder, desiccated coconut and salt. Toss this dry mix together with a fork and set aside.

3. In a measuring cup, pour in coconut cream and regular milk. Mix till evenly combined and set aside.

4. In a separate mixing bowl, add butter, sugar and lemon zest. Using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer, cream butter, sugar and zest together for about 4 min on medium-high speed till pale and fluffy.

5. Reduce your mixer to low speed. Add in eggs one at a time until evenly combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as you go.

6. Add in vanilla extract and lemon juice. Mix on low till incorporated.

7. With your mixer on low speed, alternate between adding in 1/3 of the dry mix and 1/3 of the coconut milk mixture, mixing till just incorporated between additions.

8. Distribute batter evenly into your loaf tins and run a toothpick down the middle of each filled tin so that the loaves split beautifully in the center when baking.

9. Bake for 42-45minutes on the middle-lower rack till a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the top turn a light golden brown.

10. In the meantime, prepare the syrup. You'll need this ready as soon as the cakes come out of the oven!

SYRUP INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a bowl, add in lemon juice, salt and icing sugar. Mix well and set aside.

2. Brush over the tops of your cakes when they're hot out of the oven. I usually go over each cake thrice.

DRIZZLE INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a bowl, add icing sugar, lemon juice, milk and salt. Mix well and set aside. It should form a thick and almost paste-like consistency.

ASSEMBLY:

1. Once the cakes have cooled, unmold the mini loaves and brush more syrup over the sides of your cakes if you wish.

2. Pour over as much drizzle as you'd like, and decorate with crystallised lemon slices before the drizzle sets.

Best eaten slightly warm. Refrigerate if leaving overnight, up to 3 days. Enjoy!