My friend at work, Clare, was heading back home to New Zealand for her birthday, but requested a very specific cake for her return….

I googled ‘coconut cake with vanilla bean frosting’ and there was literally one recipe that matched!!

It happened to be vegan, but I don’t think anybody guessed it. You need to get some very specific ingredients before you make this, but it turned out great.

I used arrowroot instead of agar flakes in the icing, but you really do need the agar, otherwise it doesn’t  set right and is more of a custard consistency.

Here’s the recipe if you fancy doing a show-stopper cake and have a few hours on your hands:

http://amychaplin.com/2010/07/13/coconut-layer-cake/

The cakes looked a lovely golden colour when they came out of the oven, and rose every well with the spelt flour:

  
Here’s the decorated cake – it didn’t last long!