Let Her Eat Cake: Coconut Ice Cake

Perhaps it's the weather, but here at DSHQ we've been craving coconut for the past few weeks. We've put it in pudding, in mug cakes, you name it. Of course, the ultimate in sweet, sticky coconut treats has to be coconut ice. How could you possibly make that more indulgent? Err, I don't know, how about by PUTTING IT IN A CAKE.

Best to eat this cake on a weekend, when the resultant sugar crash can be accommodated by a snug sofa and a good book. Ice and slice in a drink, ice and a slice on a plate. What more could you want?*

*Hugh Jackman to serve both, obviously, but let's be reasonable here.

Coconut Ice Cake
You will need:

For the cake:

• 200g butter, softened
• 200g caster sugar
• 3 free-range eggs
• 225g self-raising flour
• 3 tbsp desiccated coconut
• 2 tbsp greek or plain yoghurt

For the coconut ice:

• 250g sweetened condensed milk
• 250g icing sugar
• 200g desiccated coconut
• A few drops pink food colouring

For the filling and topping:

• 2 tbsp apricot jam
• A sprinkling of desiccated coconut

Make it!

The cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Grease and line a 23cm, 9 inch deep cake tin.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl. 
4. Add a quarter of the eggs, along with a tablespoon of the flour and beat well. Repeat with rest of the eggs, beating well in between. 
5. Add the flour in thirds, folding in lightly. When the flour is just incorporated and no streaks are showing, gently stir in the coconut and yoghurt. 
6. Dollop into the tin, smooth over the top and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the top is golden and risen, and a skewer inserted comes out clean. 
7. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

The coconut ice:

1. Mix together the condensed milk and icing sugar in a bowl until stiff. Add in the desiccated coconut and work into the mixture with a wooden spoon.
2. Split the mixture in half and add a little pink food colouring to one. Work in until the colour is evenly distributed.
3. Dust a clean surface with icing sugar and get sticky, shaping out one of the halves into a square. Repeat with the other half and place one on top of the other. 
4. Roll out, re-shaping every so often, until you have a square of coconut ice about 3cm thick. 
5. Using a cake tin as a template, cut out a circle of coconut ice and put aside to set for at least an hour.
6. Eat all the offcuts Shape the remaining coconut ice into cubes or balls for decoration.

To decorate:

1. When the cake is cool, carefully cut it horizontally through the middle. (If you hate cutting cakes, you could split the cake batter between two smaller tins and reduce the cooking time slightly).
2. Dilute the apricot jam slightly with a splash of hot water and stir to loosen. Brush over one half of the cake, then place the circle of coconut ice on top and sandwich on the other cake half. 
3. Brush the top of the cake with more apricot jam, and sprinkle over desiccated coconut to decorate, along with the remaining coconut ice, if you haven't eaten it all already...