Strawberry, Orange and Coconut Cake with Strawberry Cream Cheese Icing
Photography Josh Griggs.
A gorgeous moist, tender cake filled with pieces of juicy fruit and topped with a finger-licking good icing – also made with fresh strawberries. We garnished our cake with extra fruit, toasted shredded coconut and a sprinkling of freeze-dried strawberries.
INGREDIENTS
150 grams butter, at room temperature
1 cup caster sugar
3 large eggs, size 7
1 cup plain flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ cup desiccated coconut
½ cup buttermilk or plain yoghurt
finely grated zest 1 orange
2 tablespoons orange juice
15 medium strawberries, hulled and quartered
Icing
100 grams cream cheese, at room temperature
100 grams butter, at room temperature
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
3–4 strawberries, hulled and crushed with a fork
METHOD
Grease a 22cm springform cake tin and line the base and sides with baking paper.
Preheat the oven to 150°C fan bake.
Cake: Beat the butter and sugar until light and pale. Whisk the eggs together and gradually beat in until very well combined. Mix the flour, baking powder, cardamom and the coconut together. Gently fold into the butter mixture along with the buttermilk, orange zest and juice and the strawberries.
Pour into the tin and smooth the top. Bake for about 1 hour until golden and the cake is pulling away from the sides of the tin. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean.
Let the cake cool completely before removing from the tin.
Icing: Beat the cream cheese until smooth, then add the butter and beat again until light and fluffy. Beat in the icing sugar. Beat in half the strawberries, then add enough of the remaining pulp to make a thick but spreadable icing. You may not need to add all the strawberry pulp.
Spread over the cake and decorate with any or all of our suggested toppings.
Store any leftover cake in the refrigerator. Makes 1 cake
Cook’s note: If garnishing with fresh strawberries, add them just before serving otherwise the juices will melt the icing on the cake.
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We start by sharing what’s on the dish team’s radar, what we’re watching, listening to and reading. Harry Butterfield puts a twist on his Nonna’s agnolotti, Malissa Fedele reminds us of the importance of fibre, and Phoebe Holden fulfils a long-held dream, sitting down with Yotam Ottolenghi. Autumn is an abundant time, we make the most with pumpkin, kūmara, cabbage, cauliflower, feijoas, apples and pears. We’re dishing up dinners for two, including a Chicken Dumpling Lasagne, alongside easy weeknight meals. We honour our mums, revisit timeless classics, and add a little baking challenge. This issue, we encourage you to slow down, to enjoy writing your shopping list, and spending time in the kitchen. Because even when life feels relentless, there’s always space to share something delicious.







