Dairy Free: Grapefruit & Coconut Cake

This here is what I like to think of as a mid-week cake: easy to eat in slices, good in a tin, and perfect with cups of tea. The coconut tempers the sweetness in this cake, and the grapefruit lends a few welcome bursts of unusual citrus flavour. There's no dairy or lactose in this recipe, and if you'd like to make it gluten free, you can easily substitute the flour with one of our amazing gluten free flour mixes.

Dairy Free Grapefruit & Coconut Cake
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Baking time: 30-35 minutes
You will need:

For the cake:

• Coconut oil, for greasing
• 175g coconut milk (don't shake the tin before use)
• 150g caster sugar 
• 2 free-range eggs, beaten 
• 175g self-raising flour 
• 3 heaped tbsp desiccated coconut
• 1/2 grapefruit, zest and juice

For the topping:

• 3 tbsp desiccated coconut
• 2 tbsp icing sugar
• juice of 1/2 grapefruit
• 1 tbsp caster sugar

Make it!
The cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / Gas Mark 4. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin with coconut oil. 
2. Without shaking it, open the tin of coconut milk. The thick, coconut cream should be on the top. 
3. Spoon into a large mixing bowl, along with the caster sugar, and beat together. 
4. Add half the egg, along with a tablespoon of the flour and beat again. Repeat with the rest of the egg.  
5. Gently fold in the remaining flour until there are no streaks remaining. 
6. Stir in the coconut and grapefruit juice and zest.
7. Spoon into the prepared tin. 
8. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. 
9. Cool in the tin. 

The topping:

1. Mix the coconut and icing sugar together in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Place the grapefruit juice in a small saucepan, along with 1 tbsp sugar. Bring to a simmer until reduced slightly.
3. Whilst the cake is still warm, poke holes in it with a skewer. Drizzle over the grapefruit syrup. 
4. Sprinkle over the coconut and icing sugar. Decorate with a little more coconut if you like.