This no-fuss coconut and lime cake is a great go-to recipe when you’re looking for something easy and delicious! Once you try this combination, you’ll want to make this zest cake again and again.
This no-fuss coconut and lime cake is a great go-to recipe when you’re looking for something easy and delicious! Once you try this combination, you’ll want to make this zest cake again and again.
It starts with a simple batter of butter, sugar, eggs and self-rising flour. The first step is to cream together the butter and sugar until it’s wonderfully fluffy and smooth, then beat in the eggs and spoon in the flour. Finally, you’ll gently swirl in some coconut and lime and then put the whole thing in a springform pan and let the oven do its magic.
The recipe calls for a sweet and tangy icing made only of icing sugar and lime. If you’d prefer something less sweet, then you can leave the icing off here. Finally, the whole thing is topped off with a scattering of toasted coconut and then it’s time to enjoy!
Julianne’s Notes
This recipe calls for self-rising flour. The regular flour is combined with baking powder and a bit of salt. The benefits of using self-rising flour is that the leavening agent (baking powder) is already mixed thoroughly into the flour, so you get a nice rise in your bakes. It’s also handy to have around in case you’re running low on your baking supplies.
If you don’t have self-rising flour at home, you can certainly make a batch of your own. To do this, you can combine 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon fine salt. To save time, you might want to make up a larger batch and store it in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.
This coconut + lime cake is delicious plain without any icing; however, if you’d like to dress it up a bit, and don’t fancy the icing, you can try bathing it in a lime syrup.
For the syrup you’ll need:
⅓ cup water
¼ cup sugar
Juice of 2 limes
How to make lime syrup:
Combine the water and sugar in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Give it a stir to help it along. Bring the syrup to a boil and then remove the pan from the heat and stir in the lime juice. Let it cool slightly. Once your cake is out of the oven, immediately prick it all over with a fork or toothpick. Drizzle the syrup all over the hot cake and leave it to cool.
If you don’t have a springform pan, that’s not a problem. There are a couple of alternatives you can try.
Line a regular cake pan with a parchment paper ‘sling’. To read more about the sling method, head to the notes section for Lemon Raspberry Bars: Grease your cake pan. Cut a piece of parchment paper large enough to line the entire cake pan with enough paper to hang over the sides. Once your cake comes out of the oven, allow it to cool for 10 minutes, and then gently use the parchment paper to lift the cake out of the pan. Ice as per the recipe.
Serve the cake straight out of the pan: This is probably the easiest option and the cake will taste just as delicious!
Ever wondered how to get the most juice out of your limes? Watch this fun video from Handimania to find out!
Storage
If you happen to have any of this delicious citrusy cake leftover, (it’s way too tempting to eat the whole thing!), you can store it at room temperature, tightly wrapped, for 3 days.
Let’s Hear it for Cake!
If you make this easy cake recipe, be sure to leave a comment. I enjoy hearing from you and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. Also, if you make the cake, I’d love for you to share your photos on Instagram. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #bakersbookshelf!
Looking for other simple cake recipes? Check these out!
White Almond Sour Cream Cake (from a box!)
Enjoy this simple coconut and lime cake today!
Easy Coconut + Lime Cake
Equipment
- 8-inch round springform pan
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened (plus extra for greasing)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar, heaping cup
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- 1 cup self-rising flour
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 lime, (zest and juice)
- ½ cup toasted unsweetened shredded coconut, (for decoration)
Lime Icing
- 1 ½ cup icing sugar
- 1 lime, (zest and juice)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 F/180 C.
- Grease a 8-inch springform pan with butter, or cooking spray. Cut out a parchment round to fit the bottom of the pan and place in the bottom of the pan.
- Cream together the sugar and butter in a medium bowl with either an electric mixer of by hand. Continue to cream together until the pale and fluffy (about 4 minutes with an electric mixer; longer by hand).
- Gradually beat in the eggs until fully incorporated.
- Add the flour, and gently fold in to the batter, by hand.
- Lastly, fold in the coconut and the both the lime zest and juice.
- Pour your batter into the prepared pan, taking care to level the surface.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, or until the cake has risen and is golden in colour. The cake should be firm to the touch.
- Let your cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, and then remove it from the pan and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
Lime Icing
- Toast the coconut by placing it in a dry pan over medium heat. It will only take a couple of minutes for the coconut to turn brown and fragrant.
- In a small bowl, combine the icing sugar and the lime zest and juice. You are looking for a thick, smooth icing. Add a couple of drops of water, if necessary.
- Spoon the icing over the top of the cake, letting it run down the sides.
- Sprinkle the toasted coconut over the icing and let it set.
Notes
Amanda says
This looks delicious! My family loves coconut cake so I’m excited to try this new twist.
Julianne Simpson says
Thanks Amanda! I hope your family enjoys the recipe.
Maureen says
Coconut and lime are flavors I love year round, to remind me of summer. Definitely going to try this!
Julianne Simpson says
Great idea, Maureen! We can all use a little bit of sunshine to brighten up our winter 🙂
Stacy Boswell says
This recipe looks really good! I love easy desserts, love coconut, and the lime icing sounds really good. Can’t wait to try!
Julianne Simpson says
Thanks, Stacy! The lime icing definitely kicks it up a notch 🙂 Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Mani says
Looks delicious! I love both coconut and lemon but never thought to put the two together – thanks for sharing!
Julianne Simpson says
Thanks, Mani! The cake has a nice citrusy flavour which I think goes really well with the coconut. I hope you like it!
Gina Abernathy says
This is a nice easy recipe for a cake. Looks delicious!
Julianne Simpson says
Thanks, Gina! I hope you have a chance to try it 🙂