ANZAC Cake

 

Today is ANZAC Day, marked by dawn services, parades and other tributes to service men and women. The traditional “food” made to mark the day is ANZAC biscuits, made with oats, coconut and golden syrup.

Helen Goh published a recipe for ANZAC Cake, incorporating the flavours of ANZAC biscuits in cake form. The cake looked delicious, so that is what I made as an alternative this year.

Here’s my cake, decorated with rosemary to commemorate the Gallipoli landings in World War I,  and shown with my new Brooch the Subject slouch hat brooch:

I loved the look of this cake (I made a half recipe in a small loaf tin), with its shaggy coconut topping:

The cake is soft and moist, and is complemented by the sweet, textured coconut topping:

I paired my cake with coconut yoghurt, continuing on with the coconut theme:

To make this cake, you will need:

Cake

100g rolled oats

200ml coconut milk

170g plain flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking sofa

Pinch of salt

120g butter, softened

100g brown sugar

100g golden syrup

2 eggs

Topping

75g salted butter

95g brown sugar

95g shredded coconut

60ml cream

Pinch of salt

Preheat your oven to 195 degrees Celsius and grease and line a 20cm loaf tin.

Put the oats in a food processor and pulse a few times to create an uneven texture. Place the oats in a bowl with the coconut milk, and stir to combine.  Leave to soak while you make the rest of the cake.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl and set aside.

In a food processor, mix together the butter, brown sugar and golden syrup until light and creamy.  One at a time, blend in the eggs, then scrape down the bowl. 

Add the oats to the food processor and blend until just combined. Add the flour mixture and pulse a couple of times.  Using a rubber spatula, fold the ingredients together until just combined.

Scrape the cake batter into the prepared tin, and bake for 45-50 minutes or until cooked through.

While the cake is in the oven, make the topping by putting all of the topping ingredients into a saucepan and stirring over low heat until the ingredients are combined and the butter has melted. Set aside.

When the cake is cooked, remove it from the oven and spread the topping carefully and evenly over the top.  Put the cake back in the oven for 12-15 minutes until the topping is golden brown.

Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before unmoulding onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Serve dusted with icing sugar if desired.