Tahitian lime cake...

Ok, this is a special recipe created in collaboration with my beautiful bride friend Dee... She wanted a coconut and lime cake for her special day and boy did I deliver! It's pretty delicious, so I'm more then happy to share it...

Start with a 22cm round cake tin, lined with baking paper on the sides and bottom. I double the recipe for tiered cakes and just make sure I fill them all to the same level, cooking times vary.

Cake Ingredients:

• 300g white chocolate (Cadbury Dream white chocolate is best)
• 200g salted butter
• 250ml (1 cup) full cream milk
• 165g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
• 2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 100g (2/3 cup) self-raising flour
• 150g (1 cup) plain flour
• zest of 2 limes
• 1 cup shredded coconut soaked in 1/2 cup of warm water overnight.

Set oven to 150oC (fan forced). Place chocolate, butter, milk and sugar in a saucepan and melt together on a low heat. Frequently stir to ensure the sugar doesn't burn on the bottom. Set aside the mixture to cool to about room temperature.

Lightly beat the eggs together before adding to the cooled chocolate mixture along with vanilla extract.

Sift the flours together in a large bowl and add half of the chocolate mixture. stir with a wooden spoon until all ingredients are combined. Follow with the rest of the chocolate mixture, be careful not to mix it vigorously, hand folding with a wooden spoon is the best method. Drain any liquid left in the soaked coconut, then fold in the lime zest and shredded coconut.

Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake in the middle shelf of the oven for 1 hour. Test the centre of the cake with a wooden skewer, if it comes out clean then it's ready, otherwise leave it in for another 10 minutes.

Once the cake has cooled, freeze it over night ready for decorating. This will ensure no crumbs penetrate the frosting barrier while you're decorating.

Decorating.....

Frosting ingredients:

• 250g salted butter
• juice of 1 medium lime
• 750g icing sugar
• 2 teaspoons of coconut essence

Let the butter come to room temperature before adding half the icing sugar and beating with an electric mixer until pale. Mix in the coconut essence. Gradually add the rest of the icing sugar simultaneously with the lime juice, beating as you go. If it's too stiff to spread, add more lime juice. If it's too runny to hold shape, add more icing sugar.

Take the frozen cake and using a bread knife, cut off the top layer to make it flat. Slice the cake in half horizontally before filling the centre with 3 tablespoons of frosting and returning the top half of the cake. Cover the top with frosting before slowly spreading it over the edges and around the entire cake. I use horizontal strokes and move the cake around my straight edge spatula to receive perfect results!