We are still in the mood for celebrating after our Great Taste Award wins and what better way to mark the occasion than with a beautiful tropical cake recipe bursting with pineapple, coconut and mango flavours! Nothing says holidays and summer more than a light refreshing and fruity raw cake like this. Pina Colada is one of our favourite cocktails to drink on a warm summer's evening and some of our favourite flavour combinations, especially when we are on holiday and so I wanted to create a child friendly recipe using all these irresistible flavours.
This cake would be fun to make with your children too during the long summer holidays, something a bit different as an activity that provides at least a couple of hours of fun. It certainly isn't too complicated either- no tricky baking times and no refined sugar! In fact, full of lots of healthy ingredients that your kids will love. Easy to make it gluten-free too by using GF oats.
Coconut fans will delight in the rough texture of the shredded coconut which is beautifully offset by the juicy sweet and sour notes of the pineapple, mango and lemon juice in the fruit layer. There's also a lovely rich creaminess to the coconut base.
This is a lovely light dessert to enjoy on a balmy summer's evening- perfect for a party, summer birthday for kids and adults or any type of celebration! Use gluten-free oats and the cake is also totally gluten-free which is a bonus for a lot of people.
We topped it with seasonal local fruits like strawberries but you can use whatever fruit toppings you want for this. Mint leaves also add another fresh dimension. A nice sprinkling of desiccated coconut and freeze dried strawberries to make it extra specially pleasing on the eye.
Ingredients:
Coconut Base:
125g desiccated coconut soaked overnight
90g desiccated coconut (kept dry)
15g melted coconut oil
150g Maple syrup
80g ground oats
50ml oat milk
40g ground kasha (toasted buckwheat groats)
Generous pinch of salt
Pineapple Mango Layer:
500g Pineapple chunks (fresh or frozen)
300g mango chunks (fresh or frozen)
50g desiccated coconut
10g coconut oil, melted
150g maple syrup
50g coconut cream
15g vanilla extract
Juice of two lemons
Juice of one lime
1.5 tsp psyllium husk powder
1 tsp Lucuma powder (optional)
1 tsp baobab powder (optional)
Method:
Line a 20" cake tin with parchment.
Blend the dry desiccated coconut with the coconut oil until it starts to resemble more of a coconut butter. Then add the maple syrup and blend again. We like there to still be a bit of a chunky texture from the desiccated coconut so it doesn't need to be smooth. Then blend with the remaining base ingredients. Pour into the cake tin then press down and smooth the top with a spatula. Place in the freezer to set for a couple of hours.
For the tropical fruit layer, repeat the step with the desiccated coconut and coconut oil so you get a coconut butter-like consistency. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture onto the frozen coconut base. Put back in the freezer to set for a couple of hours.
Decorate the cake with whatever fresh seasonal fruit you have, edible flowers would also work well, some more desiccated coconut, freeze dried strawberries.
