Sugar-dusted passion cake

Sugar-dusted passion cake

This is a cross between a carrot cake and a hummingbird cake – a very popular fruity bake Down Under

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Cuts into 12 squares

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 20 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr

Freezable

Can be frozen un-iced

Method

  1. Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Grease and line a deep, 20cm square tin with baking paper. Sift the muscovado until it's lump-free. Tip into the largest bowl you have with the flour, coconut, mixed spice, baking powder and walnuts, then mix well. In a jug, whisk together the oil, eggs and 2 tsp of the vanilla extract, then pour over the dry ingredients. Add the carrot, pineapple, reserved pineapple juice and lime zest to the bowl, then give everything a really good mix until combined. Scrape into the tin, then bake on a low to middle shelf for 1 hr, until a skewer inserted comes out with just moist crumbs clinging to it and no sticky mix. Once cool, the cake can be frozen for up to 3 months, then soak with the syrup once defrosted.
  2. Meanwhile, make a lime syrup by gently heating the caster sugar, lime juice and final tsp of vanilla in a small pan. Once dissolved, boil for a few mins until syrupy.
  3. Leave the cake in its tin until cool enough to handle, then turn upside-down onto a wire rack. Using a skewer, poke holes all over the cake and drizzle over the syrup a little at a time, waiting for the last addition to soak into the cake before pouring over any more. Cool completely, then trim the edges. Will keep for a few days in an airtight tin.
  4. To serve, return the cake to a serving plate, right side up, and place a doily, or a few doilies, over the top. Dust liberally with icing sugar, then very carefully lift off the paper without disturbing the sugar. Serve immediately, as the icing sugar will begin to melt after a while, with a dollop of something creamy on the side - try mixing equal amounts of mascarpone and natural yogurt with a little more icing sugar.
Try

Know-how

If you can't get hold of crushed pineapple, simply drain a 432g can, or 2 x 227g cans, of pineapple chunks in natural juice, and pulse in a food processor until mushy.

PER SERVING

487 kcalories, protein 7g, carbohydrate 50g, fat 30 g, saturated fat 8g, fibre 0g, sugar 36g, salt 0.36 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, January 2009.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • Binder photo linkevica

    09 February 2009

    linkevica rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    too sweet

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  • Binder photo rosie

    02 March 2009

    rosie commented on this recipe

    made this today it turned out well it looked impressive and tasted good especially with ice cream, the cake is very filling and therefore probably too big unless you use half and freeze half. the preparation took longer then stated.

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  • Binder photo maria

    10 March 2009

    maria commented on this recipe

    this is the second time i,m doing it, it is a very nice cake, i took some at work and they all liked it.

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  • Binder photo chad1776

    21 March 2009

    chad1776 commented on this recipe

    cake recipe's give a tin size for the ingredients.If you wish to make a larger cake what is the best way to calculate the ingredients?

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  • Binder photo Alex Phoenix

    23 March 2009

    Alex Phoenix commented on this recipe

    I have just made this cake with my to year old who greatly enjoyed helping as there were so many smaller jobs to do! Definatly worth the effort especially on a rainy day. Can be abit dry if you don't serve it with anything. Also i did two loaf tins and have frozen one and the amount was perfect.

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  • Binder photo mmkk_21

    25 April 2009

    mmkk_21 commented on this recipe

    The cake worked for me which was fine. However, I couldnt get the syrup right. It kept turning into caramel and would not sink into the cake. Any suggestions?

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  • Binder photo Ray

    02 July 2009

    Ray commented on this recipe

    mmkk_21 I would suggest that you don't bother heating the mixture. The sugar will dissolve in the lime juice if you stir well and it will still become syrupy. This mixture will definitely sink down into the cake leaving it moist and very tasty.

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  • Binder photo manna81

    05 February 2010

    manna81 rated this recipe

    1 stars

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  • Binder photo blulou

    07 June 2010

    blulou commented on this recipe

    For adding syrup to a cake you need either a warm cake and a cold syrup or a cold cake and a warm syrup. I also find its easier if the cake is still in the tin as the syrup cant run off.

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  • Binder photo orangeprose

    11 November 2011

    orangeprose rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Made this to take into work to appease cake-starved colleagues. Was a bit suspicious of poor reviews but saw it as a challenge! It was actually very nice. It's pretty sweet and rich so you don't need large slices, so it's perfect for an office or big family. If I make it again I shall try to somehow get more citrus taste into it (without harming the mixture) as all that pineapple can be a bit much. Good though, worth a go. Everyone at work liked it.

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Cuts into 12 squares

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 20 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr

Freezable

Can be frozen un-iced

Ingredients

  • 250ml sunflower oil , plus a little extra for greasing
  • 140g dark muscovado sugar
  • 250g wholemeal flour
  • 100g desiccated coconut
  • 2 tsp mixed spice
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 50g walnuts , roughly chopped
  • 4 eggs , lightly beaten with a fork
  • 3 tsp vanilla extract
  • 250g carrots , peeled and grated
  • 432g tin crushed pineapples , drained, reserving 50ml juice (from Sainsbury's, or see Know-how, below)
  • zest and juice 2 limes
  • 200g caster sugar
  • icing sugar and doilies, mascarpone and natural yogurt, to serve
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PER SERVING

487 kcalories, protein 7g, carbohydrate 50g, fat 30 g, saturated fat 8g, fibre 0g, sugar 36g, salt 0.36 g

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