After many travels, I have finally been back home and quite gladly too. It has been lovely to just relax, and be right where I want to be. I was recently struck by something that Michelle Obama said in The Light We Carry, her interview with Oprah Winfrey: “Home is where Barack is”. These words were so sweet, and in some ways resonated for me too. I realised when I heard this line that I had been missing my husband while I was away. He may not be the president of a country, but he is certainly the president of this house. We were watching the interview together on a Sunday evening, and with those loving thoughts in my mind I set about baking for us as I often do on weekends – and the result that day was this vanilla coconut bundt.
A cake like this goes so well with this hot summer weather. It is extremely flavourful, and all the ingredients are easily available. The coconut grows in my own backyard, as I’ve said umpteen times before, and I thought it would be great not just seasonally but also as a fitting finish to this All Things Tropical recipe series I’ve recently shared.
A bundt is a kind of sponge cake or tea cake, and keeps for a bit longer. That’s one of the good things about it. We try to control ourselves by not eating half the cake in one go, and these days it’s keeping us happy over a few days for sure. I must admit that this may be because the kids are away, which is a bit of a sore topic for me. I never actually felt that empty nest problem when they went off to study. But I feel it now, now that they are in their late 20s and have their own lives as adults, their own worlds of friends and family. It is similar for my husband too. So small things like this vanilla coconut bundt cake cheer us up.
Speaking of our children’s generation and ours, and to return to Michelle Obama’s very impressive accomplishments and sentiments – I suppose it also has to do with age. When you are younger, you want to do everything – you want to achieve so much, you want to build empires, you want to make a name for yourself. But there comes a time in your life when all you really want, once you have met all your ambitions, is to spend time with your loved ones. Your partner first and foremost, and then the rest of your family. My husband and I now feel able to make time for each other despite our busy schedules. We come home to each other, and to treats like this recipe. This vanilla coconut bundt can pep up any evening and in my opinion can impress the president too – of a country, or at any rate of a home!
Vanilla Coconut Bundt
(Yield: Serves 6-8)
250 grams soft unsalted butter
225 grams granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 whole eggs
250 grams all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup desiccated coconut
1 cup coconut cream
½ cup fresh cream
Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Grease and dust the bundt pan well. Set aside.
Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and sieve. Set aside.
In a bowl, add the butter, sugar and vanilla extract. Blend well until fluffy.
Now, add the eggs and beat well until incorporated. Next, add the flour mixture and fold gently. Then, add the coconut cream and desiccated coconut. Fold until it all comes together.
Spoon the mixture into the bundt pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Then, remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
Upturn the bundt pan and tap gently. Remove the pan. Allow the cake to cool completely before you drizzle the fresh cream on top. Your beautiful vanilla coconut bundt is now ready to serve.
The bundt has made a couple of appearances on this blog before, such as this citrus bundt cake and this lemon poppy bundt cake. If you enjoy this style of cake, you may want to explore those recipes too.
