Blueberry and Coconut cake

We celebrated my husband’s birthday last Sunday and I made this monstrous cake.
It tasted wonderful – but it ruins your appetite.

Blueberry and Coconut cake
Serves 16

Cake:
21/2 cup cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup soft butter
13/4 cup sugar2 tsp vanilla
1 TBSP lime rind (finely grated)
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
11/2 coconut milk
11/2 cup desiccated coconut

Cream:
1 vanilla pod
3 TBSP powder sugar
11/2 cup crème fraiche 38% fat (or double cream)
3/4 cup double cream

Filling:
3 cups preserved blueberries

Frosting:3/4 cup sugar
1 TBSP syrup or molasses
2 TSP water
3 egg whites
2 TBSP sugar

Decoration:
Desiccated coconut, roasted

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl whip butter and sugar creamy and add vanilla and lime rind. Add the eggs and yolks one at a time. Add flour and coconut milk alternately and fold in the coconut. Fill the batter in 3 prepared pans and bake them for about 30 minutes at 375 degrees F (180 C). Turn them out on a wired rack and let them cool.

Split the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds. Mix them with the powdered sugar and add crème fraiche and cream. Beat until soft peaks form.
Layer the cakes with the vanilla cream and the preserved blueberries.

Place sugar, syrup and water in a saucepan and let it boil 5 minutes.
Beat the egg whites with sugar until soft peaks form. Add the boiling sugar syrup and continue beating until the frosting is fluffy and no longer warm (5-8 minutes). Spread it on the cake and decorate with roasted coconut.

Pork Tandoori

Pork Tandoori and smashed potatoes

Midweek easy meal

Serves 3-4
1 Pork tenderloin
2 TBSP Tandoori dry spice
Salt and pepper
1/2 TBSP olive oil

11/2 pound potatoes
2-3 cloves garlic
2-3 TBSP butter
1 handful fresh parsley (chopped)
Salt and pepper

Trim the tenderloin of excess fat and silver skin. Cut it in 6-8 pieces, roll them around in the Tandoori spice and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Scrub the potatoes and boil them in salted water with the peeled garlic until tender (20 minutes).

Heat a frying pan with olive oil. Be sure the pan is hot before adding the meat. Sear the pork quickly until browned on all sides. Turn down the heat and continue cooking and turning until done (15 minutes).

Drain the potatoes but reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Smash each potato once (using the back of a large spoon) so the pieces are very large and chunky. Add butter, a little cooking water, salt and pepper. Stir gently to combine and fold in the parsley.

Serve with a salad of your choice.

You can make your own Tandoori spice by mixing 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 tsp ground cardamom, 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper