250 ml unrefined sunflower oil for greasing plus a little extra
140 g t brown sugar dark
250 g flour
100 g coconut flakes
2 tsp spice mixed
2 tsp double-acting baking powder
50 g walnuts roughly chopped
4 eggs with a fork lightly beaten
3 tsp vanilla extract
250 g carrots grated peeled
432 g pineapple crushed drained canned tinned (from Sainsbury's, or see Know-how, below)
2 lime zest
200 g sugar
12 servings yogurt
Equipment
bowl
frying pan
baking paper
oven
whisk
wire rack
skewers
Directions
Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas
Grease and line a deep, 20cm square tin with baking paper. Sift the muscovado until its lump-free. Tip into the largest bowl you have with the flour, coconut, mixed spice, baking powder and walnuts, then mix well. In a jug, whisk together the oil, eggs and 2 tsp of the vanilla extract, then pour over the dry ingredients.
Add the carrot, pineapple, reserved pineapple juice and lime zest to the bowl, then give everything a really good mix until combined.
Scrape into the tin, then bake on a low to middle shelf for 1 hr, until a skewer inserted comes out with just moist crumbs clinging to it and no sticky mix. Once cool, the cake can be frozen for up to 3 months, then soak with the syrup once defrosted.
Meanwhile, make a lime syrup by gently heating the caster sugar, lime juice and final tsp of vanilla in a small pan. Once dissolved, boil for a few mins until syrupy.
Leave the cake in its tin until cool enough to handle, then turn upside-down onto a wire rack. Using a skewer, poke holes all over the cake and drizzle over the syrup a little at a time, waiting for the last addition to soak into the cake before pouring over any more. Cool completely, then trim the edges. Will keep for a few days in an airtight tin.
To serve, return the cake to a serving plate, right side up, and place a doily, or a few doilies, over the top. Dust liberally with icing sugar, then very carefully lift off the paper without disturbing the sugar.
Serve immediately, as the icing sugar will begin to melt after a while, with a dollop of something creamy on the side try mixing equal amounts of mascarpone and natural yogurt with a little more icing sugar.
