Recipe: Carrot, coconut, date and pineapple cake
A Garden Day celebration wouldn’t be complete without something sweet. So why not bake a delicious garden-inspired cake?
Local chef Mynhardt Joubert, from Mynhardt Cathedral Cellar Kitchen in Paarl in the Cape Winelands, shares his recipes for showstopping cakes that are sure to impress your guests with their beautiful decoration and incredible flavours.
This cake makes enough for eight to ten people. Also, check out chef Mynhardt’s recipes for a vanilla peach fuzz ombré cake and poppyseed cake with beetroot icing.
Carrot, coconut, date and pineapple cake
Photo: Adel Ferreira
Prep time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 45 - 50 minutes
Oven temperature: 160 °C
Ingredients:
Cake
400 g brown sugar
5 extra large eggs
10 ml vanilla extract or paste
375 ml canola oil
3 ripe bananas
500 ml cake flour
5 ml baking powder
10 ml bicarbonate of soda
10 ml ground cinnamon
5 ml salt
750 ml grated carrot
65 g desiccated coconut
100 g almonds, chopped
170 g dates, chopped
1 tin crushed pineapple, drained
Icing
125 g butter, softened
250 g cream cheese
500 g icing sugar
10 ml vanilla extract or paste
200 g white chocolate, melted
5 ml rosewater
Method:
Cake
Place the sugar, eggs, vanilla, oil and bananas in a bowl and whisk with an electric beater until the banana is mashed and the sugar has dissolved.
Sieve the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon together and add to the wet ingredients.
Whisk until combined and add the carrots, coconut, almonds, dates and pineapple and mix through.
Divide the batter into two 25 cm prepared cake tins and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the cake tins and let cool properly before icing.
Top tip: Turn this cake into mini cakes by using a glass to cut out smaller circles in the sponge once cooled.
Icing
Whip the butter and cream cheese together until pale and fluffy.
Add the icing sugar, vanilla and rosewater and whip.
While the frosting is whipping, pour in the melted chocolate and let the machine run until the icing has doubled in size.
Divide the icing onto the two cakes and spread evenly.
Stack on top of each other and place in the fridge to set.
Top tip: The cake keeps a good week when stored in an airtight container and only improves on standing.
Photo: Adel Ferreira
Celebrate with us!
Celebrate Garden Day with us on Sunday 20 October! For food, decor and party ideas and inspiration, visit our blog and check out our social media. Want to join an event, enter a competition or bag a promo? Visit our Events page.
Share your celebration with us @gardendaysa and tag #GardenDaySA.