Recipe

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Step 2: To make the cake, cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy, before gradually whisking in the eggs. Sift together the flour and baking powder into a small mixing bowl. Whisk in one third of the flour mixture into the creamed mixture. Next, whisk in a third of the milk and continue to alternate between flour and milk until everything is fully combined. Whisk in the vanilla extract and salt and pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Step 3: Level the top with a palette knife and bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out to cool completely on a wire rack.

Step 4: For the passion fruit curd, blitz the pulp in a food processor to help loosen the flesh from the seeds and pass it all through a fine sieve/strainer. Put the passion fruit juice and butter in a saucepan set over a gentle heat. Stir until the butter is melted.

Step 5: Whisk the whole eggs, yolks, sugar and cornflour/cornstarch together in a large mixing bowl until pale and fluffy. Pour the hot passion fruit mixture into the egg mixture and whisk together, before pouring it all back into the saucepan. Continue to whisk gently for several minutes until the curd has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. If you are not going to use the curd immediately, pour the hot mixture into a sterilized jar and, once cool, the curd can be left in the fridge for up to 10 days.

Step 6: For the chocolate icing, melt the chocolate with the milk in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Take off the heat and whisk in the sifted icing/confectioners’ sugar.

Step 7: To assemble, carefully trim off the darker edges of the cake and slice the cake horizontally in half. It may be easier to cool the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes beforehand to firm up. Spread one half of the cake liberally with the cold passion fruit curd and place the other half on top to sandwich the halves together.

Step 8: Put the cake in the freezer for 20-30 minutes so it is firm enough to cut. Once chilled, slice the cake into 16 equal squares. Put the dessicated/shredded coconut on a plate. Put a cake square on a fork and dunk it into the chocolate icing then roll it in the coconut. Place on a clean sheet of baking parchment to set.

Reprinted with permission from Victoria Glass’s Deliciously Vintage (2014 Ryland Peters & Small).