Entertaining Dessert

Banana and coconut cake with lemon icing

Name: Banana and coconut cake with lemon icing recipe
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 80 min
Total time: 110 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 3 eggs; 100g caster sugar; 50g brown sugar; 1 vanilla pod, split, seeds scraped or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste; 150ml olive or neutral vegetable oil; 1 cup (70g) shredded coconut, plus extra to sprinkle; 270g self-raising flour, sifted; 3 mashed ripe bananas (about 300g total); 200ml buttermilk; Finely grated zest & juice of 1 lemon; 2 1/4 cups (270g) pure icing sugar, sifted, plus extra if needed

1 rating

30m

1h 20m

Banana and coconut cake with lemon icing

Jump to recipe

by Julia Busuttil

May 16, 2020

This banana and coconut cake is perfect for autumn gatherings. This is an edited extract from A Year of Simple Family Food by Julia Busuttil Nishimura, Published by Plum, $39.99.

3 eggs
100g caster sugar
50g brown sugar
1 vanilla pod, split, seeds scraped or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
150ml olive or neutral vegetable oil
1 cup (70g) shredded coconut, plus extra to sprinkle
270g self-raising flour, sifted
3 mashed ripe bananas (about 300g total)
200ml buttermilk

Lemon icing

Finely grated zest & juice of 1 lemon
2 1/4 cups (270g) pure icing sugar, sifted, plus extra if needed

Method

1.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 21cm round cake pan with butter and line base and side with baking paper.
2.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs and sugars together until pale and light. Add vanilla and drizzle in the oil, whisking to combine. Alternately, and in small batches, add the shredded coconut, flour, banana and buttermilk, mixing well between each addition. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool in pan for a few minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.
3.

For the icing, combine the lemon zest and juice with the icing sugar, whisking until smooth. The icing should be runny enough to pour but thick enough to cover the cake. Add more sugar to thicken if needed. Pour icing over the cake and generously scatter with extra shredded coconut to serve.