I found this recipe online this week & thought it looked delicious.  The recipe wasn’t in Thermomix format & of course called for the use of a saucepan, electric beaters & a sieve.  I thought I’d make it & convert the recipe to TM method at the same time.  Well, the cake was delicious!  I’ll definitely be making this one again.  It was a hit with the whole family, nut free for lunch boxes & lovely even without the icing.  However, the icing is divine!  I love to bake & decorate cakes, so in this post I’ve included some great tips for presenting & freezing the perfect cake.

Cake Ingredients:

170g Golden Syrup

125g Butter

300g SR flour

110g Caster sugar

40g shredded or desiccated coconut

2 eggs

250g Full cream milk

Icing Ingredients:

60g Butter

5 g Honey

5g Vanilla extract

210g Raw sugar or icing sugar

20g hot water

Extra coconut to decorate

Cake Method:

1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

2) Place butter & syrup in TM bowl & melt 4 minutes/70 degrees/speed 2.  Check that butter is melted & heat for another minute if required.

3) Add flour, sugar, coconut & eggs to TM bowl.  Mix 10 seconds/speed 4.

4) Place an empty jug on top of the TM lid & zero scales.  Weigh 250g milk.

5) Keep mixing the mixture on speed 4 & gradually pour the milk into the TM bowl, through the hole in the lid.  Take about 1 minute to pour the milk in.

6) Scrape down the side of the bowl & mix 10 seconds/speed 4.

7) Pour mixture into a greased & lined cake tin & bake at 180 degrees for approximately 60 minutes.

Allow the cake to cool in the tin.  The majority of the cakes you will bake will end up with a raised & crunchy peak in the middle.  This is due to the middle of the cake being the last point to cook.  This used to drive me crazy & I always wondered how other cakes looked so even.  Cut off the top of the cake (as shown below) in an even line & then the top of the cake becomes the bottom of the cake.

Icing Method:

1) Place raw sugar in the TM bowl & mill for 20 seconds/speed 9.  set aside.  If using icing sugar, this step is not necessary.

2) Place butter, honey, hot water & vanilla in TM bowl.  Mix for 15 seconds/speed 5, until creamy.

3) Add sugar, mix for 10 seconds/speed 5.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl & mix again 10 seconds/speed5.

4) Ice the cake & sprinkle extra coconut.

Source: Cooking for the Gang (blog)

Tips:

There is no need to sift flours or icing sugar when making this cake in the TM.  It’s the powerful, yet gentle blades that allow this.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received regarding baking, was to invest in an oven thermometer.  These can be purchased from stores like House & Matchbox & cost around $10-15.  To bake successful cakes, it’s imperative to know what temperature your oven is.  The oven in my house is quite accurate, however, in our last house the oven was always 20 degrees lower than what I set it to.  So, if I wanted to bake a cake at 160 degrees, I would have to set the oven to 180 degrees.  As you can see, my thermometer has had a lot of use.  I just leave it in my oven to keep an eye on the temperature from time to time.

My Mum has taught me that you can freeze anything, and following that advice, I’ve developed a dislike for wasting food.  Food wastage can end up costing you a fortune if you add everything up over a year.  My freezer is full of things like cake, cheese, cooked meats, stews, tarts, pasta sauces.  The list is endless…..

I love to freeze cakes!  Although I love to bake them, I don’t like having too many temptations for myself in the cupboard.  Frozen cakes are fantastic for when we have visitors.  I can pull something out a few hours before they arrive & allow about 2 hours for it to come to room temperature.  Your friends will never know it was frozen.  You’ll also save time, by not having to make something at the last minute & save money by not having to go to the shops.

I’ve frozen a large portion of the Anzac cake.  If you place it in your freezer for 4-5 hours uncovered, the icing will freeze perfectly.  Once the icing has frozen, you can wrap in up in glad wrap & when you unwrap it, the cake will look like it’s just been iced!