Recipe: Coconut & Taro Cake

A cake I made for a special lactose intolerant friend today. For a cake it is decently healthy, containing vegetable, fruit, and complex carbs all in one! Talk about balanced diet right? All jokes aside I hope you all enjoy making this as much as I did :)

Cake Mix:

 Ingredients: (makes an 8inch cake)

• 1 cup vegetable oil (or 125g butter)
• 1 cup Stevia or raw caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ lemon, zested
• 3 eggs, separated
• 2 cups self-raising flour
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 3/4 cup soy milk

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C
2. Combine sifted flour and coconut in a bowl
3. In another bowl, combine egg yolks, oil and 1/2 of the sugar. Whisk until combined.
4. Slowly add the milk and egg mixture into the dry mixture in batches until just combined.
5. Using a beater, beat the egg whites to soft peaks, then gradually add in the sugar until stiff peaks form.
6. Softly fold the meringue in with the batter until just combined. Be careful not the stir and knock the air out of the mixture.
7. Pour into cake tin (not greased or lined) and bake for about 1hour or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.

Taro Filling:

 Ingredients:

• 600 g taro
• 60 g unsalted butter, chopped
• 1 cup Stevia or raw caster sugar
• 60 ml (¼ cup) coconut milk

Method:

1.  Peel and cut the taro into 3cm cubes and cook in boiling water for about 15minutes or until tender.
2. Strain the taro but retain some stock (about 100mL). Mash the taro until smooth, or use a food processor or stick blender.
3. In a saucepan melt the butter and stevia. Pour this and the coconut milk into the mashed taro.
4. Mix until well combined and leave covered in fridge for at least 1 hour to chill.

Decorating:

1. Once cake is cooked, leave to cool in the tin for 5minutes, then tip onto a cooling rack to fully cool.
2. Once cooled, cut the cake in half horizontally.
3. Take the taro paste from the fridge and using a spatula, spread the filling over the top of the bottom layer. Do not fill to the edge as this will spill over when you place the top layer on.
4. Then place the top layer upside down onto the bottom layer (this ensures the top of the cake is flat). Cover the circumference of the cake in the taro paste, removing any excess.
5. On a long piece of baking paper (length equal to the circumference of the cake), sprinkle some extra dessicated coconut. Placing the cake on its side, holding the cake by the base and top, roll it along the coconut until it is covered sufficiently.
6. Now cover the top of the cake with the taro paste and sprinkle with dessicated coconut.
7. Decorate with strawberries, crushed nuts, chocolate shards etc.

NB: This recipe has been adapted to be lactose intolerant friendly. I did use some butter, but I would assume this can easily be replaced with oil and still work fine.

Adapted from: http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/coconut-taro-layered-cake