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Plum, Coconut and Lemon Syrup Cake
Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
1 hr 30 mins
Total Time
2 hrs
 
A sweet moist coconut cake with ripe plums and a tangy citrus syrup. You could easily make it with other stone fruit, berries, or rhubarb in winter. Adapted from Julie le Clerc's Favourite Cakes and Cafe@Home cookbooks.
Course: Summer
Author: Claudia Brick
Ingredients
  • 200 g butter
  • 1 cup caster surgar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 125 g desiccated coconut
  • 5-6 plums , halved with stones removed (enough so that the plum halves will fill the surface of your whole baking tin)
Citrus Syrup
  • Juice of 2 limes (if not available, you can use another lemon)
  • Stripped zest and juice of 2-3 lemons (depending on how juicy they are!)
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1 cup sugar
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 23cm springform cake tin.
  2. Cream butter and sugar in electric mixture until pale. Scrape down the side of the bowl. Beat eggs in one at a time, making sure each is fully combined.
  3. Fold in sifted flour, baking powder, and coconut.
  4. Pour into prepared tin and spread batter out to level it. Arrange plum halves on the surface, cut side up. Do not press into batter - it will rise up around them in the oven.
  5. Bake for 50-60min or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. This may take slightly more or less time depending on your oven. Leave in the tin to cool.
  6. When cake is cool (don't worry if it isn't completely cold), remove from tin and place on a large plate or cake stand. Insert a skewer in less visible points around the plums (8-10 times over the cake) to allow the syrup to soak through more easily. Gently and gradually pour the warm (not boiling) syrup over the cake. If the cake and the syrup are both really hot, you run the risk of making the cake soggy, so it is best to pour the hot syrup on a cold cake, or have them both warm.
  7. If too much syrup comes down the sides of the cake, you may find it helpful to use a small knife or offset spatula to scoop some off and pour it back on top.
  8. Serve and enjoy!
  9. Store in an airtight container overnight in a cool place, and refrigerate it thereafter in warmer weather.
Citrus Syrup
  1. Put all ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Stir until sugar dissolves, then turn the heat up and boil hard for about 10 minutes until syrupy. I find with this syrup that it tends to only thicken as it cools down, so don't worry if it still seems a bit runny. If you really think it is still too runny, you can add a couple of tablespoons of sugar and boil it a bit longer.