Two light and moist fat-less sponge-cake layers are sandwiched together with a creamy, tangy lime and coconut ganache. The end result is not overly sweet and perfect for spring!
Preheat the oven to 350F/180C. Lightly grease two 8 to 9-inch spring-form cake tins and line the bottoms with a piece of baking paper (grease this too.) – If you don’t have two tins, each cake only takes 20 minutes to bake so it isn’t very much trouble to use the same tin twice (this is what I did!)
Melt the white chocolate by setting it above a bowl of simmering water or in the microwave in 30-second spurts.
Cream the eggs and sugar together in a bowl (preferably with a hand-held whisk) until pale and creamy, then fold the flour and almond meal in lightly. Mix in the melted white chocolate and coconut.
Pour half the batter into each of the cake tins, then bake for about 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool for a while in the tin, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
Meanwhile, make the ganache. Break the chocolate up into a bowl, then heat the coconut milk and lime juice and zest up in a small pan until it is almost simmering.
Pour the coconut milk mixture over the chocolate and leave it for a few minutes. Then whisk the ganache until smooth. Leave to set for a few hours at room temperature, or even overnight. (*see the notes section below for more about the ganache)
Sandwich together your two cake layers with a thick layer of ganache, then spread more all over the top (and over the sides if you like – you will find that there is plenty of ganache).
Sprinkle over the grated chocolate or coconut flakes. Enjoy!
Notes
Based loosely on a recipe in the cookbook Easy Desserts by Marks & Spencer Plc for white truffle cake. Thank you Marks & Sparks!*The consistency of your cooled ganache will vary depending on the chocolate you use. I was in a hurry when making my cake, so actually put mine in the freezer to firm up (horror of horrors!) It’s best to let the ganache firm up at room temperature according to all the research I did, but my ganache didn’t seem to suffer from its ‘rough treatment’ at all, so don’t worry too much. If your ganache ends up being too thick for any reason, just warm it slightly in the microwave and that should sort things out. Conversely, if it’s really too thin, whisk it with a hand-held whisk until it firms up a little. If it’s any comfort, I was very worried that my ganache was far too thin, but when I spread it over the cake it was just fine. It didn’t slide off!Add a third layer to your cake if you would prefer the end result to be ‘higher’.