Here I present to you Gâteau d’Hélène – the best coconut cake I have ever tasted. I saw the recipe on the New York Times website and wanted to make it immediately with some of my own adaptations of course.
It’s got a deliciously light soft frosting made from a blend of whipping cream and mascarpone, filled with desiccated coconut whilst the sponge is soaked in a mixture of dark rum and orange juice. It went down a real treat at my house : )
Firstly, a bit of back story, this recipe was originally adapted from “Simca’s Cuisine” by Simone (Simca) Beck, which published in the early 70’s. She called it “Gâteau d’Hélène: a white cake filled and iced with coconut cream and apricot”. The idea is that it would be made ahead of time and then popped in the fridge from anywhere to an hour to even a day or two so ideal for entertaining.
Apparently, the sponge is like a madeleine in taste and texture (drier on purpose) for the orange and rum to soak through and flavour.
Typically, this cake would be made up of three layers which makes a stunning celebration cake with the coconut cream, rum and orange juice as well as apricot preserve in between. Since it was just for testing out I made into two layers – just as good to be honest. Enjoy! And if you don’t fancy this tropical treat check out my lemon and passion fruit drizzle cake it will definitely hit the spot.
Serves 8
Prep 20 mins
Cook 60 mins + chilling and cooling time
Total 80 mins
Ingredients
192g plain flour, plus a little extra for dusting the tin
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
170g unsalted butter, softened
200g golden caster sugar
1 orange, zest and juice
3 large free-range eggs
For the filling and frosting
60ml orange juice
2 tbsp dark rum
160g apricot preserve (I used Bonne Maman)
120ml whipping cream
125g mascarpone
1 tsp vanilla extract
66g caster sugar
128g desiccated coconut
Method
Preheat the oven to 170C / gas mark 3 / 325F, grease and line a 20cm springform tin with greaseproof paper. Dust with a little flour and shake out the excess.
In a small bowl, put flour, baking powder and sea salt and mix. Leave to one side.
In a large bowl cream butter and sugar with the orange zest until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time until well incorporated.
Tip in half the flour mixture and beat until it almost disappears into the batter. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat until its incorporated. Spoon into the cake tin, scraping the sides of the bowl as you go along. Bake for 50-55 mins until golden and firm (check by inserting a skewer and if it comes out clean it’s ready). Cover with a little foil if it starts to brown too quickly.
Leave the cake to cool in the tin and then remove after 20 mins. Transfer to a rack and cool to room temperature. Slice the cake into two and flip the top layer so the crumb is exposed.
Mix the orange juice and rum together. Lightly moisten each cake with the mixture, then spread with apricot preserve. Whip the cream and mascarpone just until it holds soft peaks and then add the vanilla. Slowly add the sugar and beat until it’s all incorporated. Spoon 1/2 the cream into a small bowl, and stir 2/3 of the desiccated coconut.
Place one cake half on a plate or platter jam side up and cover with half of the coconut cream. Repeat with the other cake half and sandwich together. Using a spatula cover the entire cake with the remaining whipped cream and sprinkle over the remaining shredded coconut.
Pop in the fridge for an hour for easier slicing or eat straight away. Enjoy!
