Coconut Traybake

Coconut Traybake is proof that simple can be delicious. This light and moist coconut cake is easy enough for beginners and only needs around fifteen minutes of hands-on time. Topped with a quick coconut-flavoured glacé icing, you can give it a fun retro look with colourful hundreds and thousands too. Everyone, from kids to adults, will love this simple treat.

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I’m dedicating this simple but delicious Coconut Traybake recipe to the memory of my Mum.

Growing up, cooking was Mum’s sole responsibility. Which is no small thing with seven children and not a lot of money to go around. But I don’t think she particularly liked cooking. Apart from anything else, her progressive disability made standing for long periods painful. Nevertheless, she always baked us a homemade cake every weekend.  I think her repertoire consisted almost entirely of traditional British things. Fruit cake, Victoria sponge with buttercream plus jam or lemon curd, chocolate sponge with chocolate buttercream, fruit scones, date and walnut cake, Bakewell slices and the like. When she (in her words), ‘couldn’t be bothered’, it was often a simple coconut sponge, baked in a rectangular tin, she’d rustle up. Once cool, she’d top it with a basic glacé icing of icing sugar and water.

To Mum, it was something she could almost make with her eyes closed, and nothing special. But the squares of moist coconut cake with their white, sweet topping were my favourite. Now, it’s the bake I most associate with her even though she’s been gone twenty years. And it must be over thirty-five years since I last tasted anything she’d cooked. Anyway, I grew up to love all things coconut and wonder if it stems from that simple but always-so-good cake of Mum’s?

COCONUT TRAYBAKE

My Coconut Traybake takes as its starting point the delicious Coconut Cake recipe I shared last year. That one was double layered, filled and covered with a rich coconut buttercream.

But I’ve made my coconut-flavoured traybake deliberately simpler, in honour of Mum. So, while the batter for the sponge is the same, it’s a single layer baked in a rectangular tin. For this recipe, you’ll need a non-stick baking tin that measures approximately 24 x 17 x 4 centimetres. If it isn’t non-stick, or you just want to be on the safe side, then line the base with baking paper.

Instead of the buttercream, I make a glacé icing which uses coconut milk rather than the usual water or regular milk. I like to add a dash of vanilla too. Because I’m a total coconut addict, I stir desiccated coconut though the icing as well. To complete the retro look (and because they were lingering in the cupboard from making trifle two Christmases ago), I sprinkled over hundreds and thousands.

You’ll find a recipe card with full instructions at the end of this post. But I suggest you read the following overview with step-by-step images first.

EASY COCONUT TRAYBAKE

You start the Coconut Traybake by sifting together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set this aside while you beat together equal amounts of soft butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy. Use electric beaters if you can as they’ll make the job so much easier. Next, you beat in 3 eggs, one at a time, adding a tablespoon of the sifted flour mixture each time. This helps to prevent the batter splitting.

We then do the same with three tablespoons of coconut milk. Beat in one at a time along with a tablespoon of the flour. Finally, the rest of the flour mixture is folded in (not beaten), along with desiccated coconut. The batter’s then transferred to your prepared tin and put in a preheated oven.

BAKING & COOLING COCONUT TRAYBAKE

The Coconut Traybake will take 20 – 25 minutes to get risen and golden brown. Because ovens vary, I suggest you check after 15 minutes and turn the temperature down a smidgen if you think it’s browning too quickly.

When the bake is done, you should see the edges slightly pulling away from the sides of the tin. If you gently and briefly press down on the top it should feel springy. You can also test by inserting a skewer or cocktail stick. It should come out clean if the traybake’s completely cooked through.

Put the tin on a wire rack and leave for 5 – 10 minutes before removing the cake. Then place it directly on the rack and leave until completely cold.

COCONUT GLACÉ ICING

While the Coconut Traybake is cooling, you can be making the icing. All you do is sift 150 grams of icing sugar with a pinch of salt, whisk in coconut milk (plus a teaspoon of vanilla extract if you like) until you have a thickish consistency. For making this and the sponge, I recommend you use the thick coconut milk you get in tins rather than the thinner stuff in cartons. Then you stir in desiccated coconut. If the icing seems a little thick, you can add a splash more coconut milk. Bear in mind that the icing will thicken and stiffen a little as it sets.

When your coconut sponge is completely cold, spread the coconut glacé icing all over the top of it. If using the 100’s and 1000’s, sprinkle them on afterwards.

COCONUT TRAYBAKE: A SIMPLE TREAT

Thanks to the popularity of TV baking shows with their showstoppers and technical challenges, home bakers have come to learn about all sorts of complicated bakes. But I think there’s a lot to be said for a simple cake that almost anyone can make. Because simple doesn’t have to mean boring. And my Coconut Traybake is the perfect example of a delicious, simple treat.

Using everyday ingredients and with just 15 minutes hands-on time, this beautifully moist and light coconut cake is easily within reach of even novice bakers. And I know that everyone, from kids to adults, will love it.

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Coconut Traybake

Everyone will love this simple treat of light and moist coconut cake topped with a quick coconut-flavoured glacé icing. Give it a fun retro look with a sprinkle of colourful hundreds and thousands too.

Course Dessert, Snack, Cake

Cuisine British, English

Keyword easy, homemade cake, coconut cake

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Servings 16

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 175 g self-raising flour
• 1 level tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 175 g soft butter salted or unsalted plus extra for greasing
• 175 g caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 3 tbsp coconut milk tinned, not the thinner kind in cartons
• 60 g desiccated coconut

For the icing

• 150 g icing sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract optional
• 4 - 5 tbsp coconut milk tinned, not the thinner kind in cartons
• 1 - 2 tbsp desiccated coconut
• multicoloured 100's and 1000's optional

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180C / 160C Fan / Gas 4.

2. Butter a non-stick rectangular baking tin approximately 24 x 17 x 4 cm. If not non-stick, line with baking paper.

3. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt then set aside.

4. In a large bowl and preferably using electric beaters, beat together the butter and sugar until soft and light. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary during this and subsequent steps.

   Beat in the eggs one at a time along with approximately 1 tbsp of the sifted flour mixture each time.

   Beat in the coconut milk a tablespoon at a time with another scant tablespoon of the flour mixture each time.

   Fold in the remaining flour plus the desiccated coconut.

5. Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin, smoothing down the top.

   Put in the oven and bake until risen and golden brown: when done the edges should be pulling away from the sides of the tin, the top springy when lightly pressed, and a skewer or cocktail stick should come out clean (approximately 20 - 25 min).

   Tip: check after 15 minutes and if the bake is browning too quickly before it's set, turn the temperature down a little.

6. When done, transfer the baking tray to a wire rack and leave to cool for 5-10 minutes.

   Carefully remove the cake and put directly on the wire rack until completely cold.

7. While the traybake is cooling, make the icing.

   Sift the icing sugar and salt into a small bowl.

   Add 3 tbsp of coconut milk plus the vanilla extract if using and whisk in until smooth.

   Stir in the desiccated coconut. If the icing seems a little thick add more coconut milk to thin it.

   Set aside until the cake is completely cold.

8. Spread the icing all over the top of the cake.

   Sprinkle with the 100s and 1000s if using, or more desiccated coconut if liked.

   Store in an airtight container. Best eaten within 3 days.

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