Coconut cake

No sleep for Isabel today, she's two and a half and rarely has a sleep during the day any more. I need to keep her busy, so she doesn't drive me up the wall,  soooo we're baking cake.

I had a look through an old and tattered cook book I have, I think I bought it long ago at a garage sale. It's actually a really good book, with great recipes, the 'Beachport Pony Club Family Favourites'. I'm guessing its from the mid 80s, complete with the names of people who have supplied the recipes. It even has little sayings here and there between the recipes, for example:

Possibly nothing arouses more false hope than the first few hours of a diet.

Man begins to cut his wisdom teeth, the first time he bites off more than he can chew.

True friends are like diamonds, precious and rare

False friends are like autumn leaves, found everywhere

The man who seldom finds himself in hot water, is the man with a wife, several daughters and one bathroom.

We had the ingredients, so the Coconut Cake it was.

3 Cups SR flour                      1 heaped cup coconut

250 grams butter                     1 and a half cups milk

2 Cups caster sugar                 4 eggs

Pour milk over coconut and leave to soak. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well. Add a couple of tablespoons of the flour before mixing in the milk and coconut. Then add rest of flour. Cook in a large slab tin for 40-45 minutes at 180.

I only used half the recipe, because I only had two eggs! The recipe doesn't call for it, but I put in the zest of an orange. I didn't take any notice really of how long it took to bake half the mix, I just took it out when the middle sprung back when pressed.

I always line the tin with paper, in this case the camp oven lid, in hindsight I could have used a normal tin. It makes it much easier to get the cake out, I have had too many stick to the bottom.

It smelt awesome when it came out the oven and tasted even better. I just iced it with icing sugar mixed with water, and a bit of colouring in it.

You can read more about Beachport here

Chocolate cake

Isabel and I made chocolate cake today. She enjoys cracking the eggs, adding the measured ingredients to the bowl and stirring. This is the recipe I always use to make chocolate cake, its so easy.

Put two eggs in a cup, fill with cream. Add 3 quarters of a cup of sugar and beat until thickens. Add 1 cup of Self raising flour and 2 Tablespoons of cocoa. Bake for 35 minutes. Ice when cold.

I sometimes put some orange zest in the mix, to give it a jaffa twist.