Baking
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“The delicious Moroccan combination of mint and honey comes through well in this sweet, moist cake. Perfect with a dollop of natural yoghurt sweetened with honey and mint, and freshly made mint tea.” Recipe by Dean Brettschneider and Lauraine Jacobs.
Syrup cakes are sweet and indulgent and need to be shared fresh. They are very moist and lovely served warm, with cream.
Recipe recommended by Jasmine Anderson.
Serves 8 – 10. V.
Pictured: Moroccan mint, coconut and honey syrup cake
Ingredients
- 160g butter, softened
- 310g sugar
- 1 ½ tsp dried or fresh mint
- 6 eggs
- 60g desiccated coconut
- 260g self raising flour
- 165ml tin coconut cream – substitute with lite or milk
- Icing sugar for dusting
- Optional – shredded coconut
- Mint Syrup –
- 200mls water
- 180g sugar
- 1 ½ cups fresh mint, coarsely chopped
- Honey Nut Topping –
- 80g butter
- 180g honey
- 100g flaked almonds
Method
Preheat a slow oven 150°C. Lightly grease a 20cm springform round cake tin and line with baking paper.
Beat the butter, sugar and mint – til it is well combined, but do not beat til fluffy as the cake is dense.
Slowly add the egg, coconut, coconut cream and flour, beaten well after each addition so the mixture does not separate – if it does you can add a little more flour to bind it together. Pour this batter into the prepared cake tin and bake 1 - 1 ½ hours – test cake is ready with a skewer inserted into the centre, making sure it comes out clean with no uncooked batter. When it is ready, allow the cake to cool a few minutes in the tin before pouring syrup over - see below.
While the cake is cooking, make the syrup and have topping ingredients ready.
Once the cake is ready and cooling, heat the topping, and increase oven temperature to 170C.
Mint Syrup – place all ingredients into a heavy-based saucepan – stir over medium heat til sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil. This method is to ensure the sugar is fully dissolved and not grainy, and the mint flavour is infused into the syrup. Take off the heat and let cool for 30 minutes. Strain and remove mint leaves for a smooth syrup. Prick the slightly cooled cake at least 50 times and pour the syrup over to soak into the cake.
Honey Nut Topping – place all ingredients into a heavy-based saucepan to melt over a low – med heat, stirring to combine, do not boil as the butter will change flavour. As soon as the topping is ready and still warm, spread evenly over the cake that has cooled slightly in the tin and is already soaking in syrup.
Place cake back into the now 170 °C oven, and bake around 15 minutes, til topping is dark golden, be careful not to burn. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in tin 20 minutes before carefully removing from tin and baking paper, while the cake is still warm.
Dust with icing sugar and sprinkle with shredded coconut if using.
Serve with cream to balance the sweetness.
Dietary preferences
- Vegetarian
