The Tropical Treat

vanilla

Gâteau d’Hélène – the best coconut cake

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Gâteau d’Hélène - the best coconut cake

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 : )

Gâteau d’Hélène - the best coconut cake

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.

Gâteau d’Hélène - the best coconut cake

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!

Vanilla passion fruit panna cotta

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Vanilla passion fruit panna cotta

Panna cotta is deliciously good. I made this easy vanilla panna cotta with passion fruit for Valentine’s Day this year and it proved to be the perfect pudding.

It’s sweet, silky smooth and fruity and so simple to make – just prepare the day before so it sets overnight. 

Marks and Spencer also have an incredible panna cotta dessert with raspberries and prosecco that we order every single year. It’s definitely a lovely dessert for a special occasion.

Vanilla passion fruit panna cotta

The original recipe is from Olive magazine which I have adapted slightly by adding vanilla bean paste. Vanilla and passion fruit is a gorgeous tropical flavour combination and makes the ideal dessert for a romantic meal.

To make this easy vanilla panna cotta, simply heat whole milk and double cream together, mix in fresh passion fruit, vanilla and caster sugar. Strain the mixture and place in the fridge for a few hours until set.

And if panna cotta isn’t your thing, try this foolproof mango and passion fruit traybake with a mascarpone topping – absolutely delicious!

Vanilla passion fruit panna cotta

Serves 4
Prep 10 mins
Cook 15 mins
Total 25 mins + chilling overnight

Ingredients

2 1/2 gelatine leaves
6 passion fruits
200ml whole milk 
300ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
80g caster sugar
1 tbsp icing sugar

Method

Place the gelatine leaves in a  bowl of cold water. Meanwhile, halve 3 of the passion fruits and scoop out the seeds and pulp.

In a medium sized bowl, mix the milk and cream in a bowl, then pour half into a pan and warm over a low heat. Add the caster sugar, vanilla bean paste and passion fruit seeds and pulp. Stir until the sugar has dissolved, then remove from the heat.

Remove the gelatine leaves from the water, squeezing out any excess liquid, then add them to the pan and stir until the gelatine has dissolved.

Strain the liquid through a sieve into a jug and stir in the rest of the milk mixture. Pour into moulds and chill for a few hours or overnight until set.

Slice the remaining passion fruits and mix the seeds and pulp with the icing sugar. Push through a sieve then add 1 tbsp of the seeds from the sieve.

Turn out the panna cottas by briefly dipping the base and top in hot water. Spoon over the passion fruit sauce to serve. 

Rum caramel pineapple upside-down cake with vanilla cream

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A classic pineapple upside down cake infused with rum caramel and served with a light vanilla clotted cream. Sweet, sticky and aromatic, this cake brings together lovely flavours – it’s very tropical this one. Use a golden spiced Caribbean rum (I used Red Leg rum) for an authentic island taste.

Pineapple, spiced rum, caramel and vanilla what else can you ask for? Not only is this cake super easy to make, it evokes those sunny, hot places we can’t travel to now lockdown is on.  If you want a pineapple fix, without the cake, this roasted pineapple recipe with similar ingredients is equally as delicious and vegan too.

This cake is really good. I got a bit excited and pulled the cake tin away too quickly and parts of the cake stuck to the sides and crumbled away, don’t do this haha : ) Serve warm with vanilla cream on the side and an extra drizzle of rum caramel. Enjoy!

Serves 6
Prep 20 mins
Cook 60 mins
Total 80 mins

Ingredients

For the rum caramel

2-3 tbsp water
300ml double cream 
175g caster sugar
15g unsalted butter
1/2 tsp of sea salt 
60ml spiced rum

For the vanilla cream

227g tub of clotted cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp orange juice
1 tbsp icing sugar

For the pineapple upside-down cake

500g pineapple, cut into 2cm thick strips
150g unsalted butter, softened and a little extra for greasing
150g golden caster sugar 
2 eggs
150g self-raising flour, sifted
Pinch of salt

Method

Make the rum caramel first. Bring the double cream to the boil in a small saucepan. Put the caster sugar in a large frying pan over a medium heat with water. Swirl the pan round to ensure the water covers all the dry bits of sugar (do not stir). The sugar should start to deepen in colour fairly quickly (keep a very close eye so it doesn’t burn, you may need to turn down the heat).

Once it’s a light amber colour take it off the heat and stir in the double cream, followed by the butter, salt and rum. Once the caramel is smooth and glossy leave it aside to cool.

In a small bowl, miix together the clotted cream, vanilla, orange juice and icing sugar until smooth. Place in the fridge until ready to serve.

Preheat the oven to 180C/ gas mark 4 / 350F. Butter and line with greaseproof paper, the base and sides of a 20cm round cake tin. Arrange the strips of pineapple on the bottom of the tin and pour over half the caramel (keep the rest to serve). 

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add one egg at a time using a a spatula to scrape down the sides after each one. Fold the flour in until it’s all incorporated into the mixture.

Carefully spoon the cake mixture over the pineapple and caramel, smoothing with a spatula towards the edge of the tin as you go along.

Bake for 55-60 minutes until golden and firm (cover with foil if it starts to brown too quickly). Check it’s ready by inserting a skewer and if it comes out clean it’s ready.

Leave inside the tin for 15 minutes to cool. Place a serving plate, larger than the cake tin over the top and carefully flip over. Peel away all the greaseproof paper and serve warm with any leftover caramel and vanilla cream.