Publication Cake

At Andy's new job, his bosses have a tradition of celebrating all publications with cake. They buy fancy cake from a bakery somewhere, but the principle of the idea is a good one, I think. So last week when a paper of mine was published online, I decided to replicate the practice with some cake of my own.

We had an excess of limes, so I decided to make a lime syrup cake. For the cake part, I adapted a recipe from Joy of Vegan Baking. For the syrup, I searched the internet. Here is what I came up with.

Cake:
2 c. plain flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. bicarb soda
zest of 2 limes
egg replacer equivalent to two eggs
1/3 c. lime juice
3/4 c. maple syrup
1/2 c. sunflower oil
1/2 c. coconut milk

Heat oven to 180 (350F) and lightly oil a deep, round pan. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk up the egg replacers (powdered kinds work best here) until they are frothy - plan on whisking by hand for 2 or 3 minutes, or use electric beaters for a minute or two. Add the rest of the liquid ingredients, and whisk again for another 2 or 3 minutes. Pour these wet ingredients into the dry, whisk for a minute or so until combined, pour into the pan and stick it in the oven. Mine took about an hour, but check after 45 minutes - the baking time will depend on your pan size, and how deep your batter is. It should get golden around the edges and a skewer should come out clean when stuck into the centre.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, prepare the lime syrup:
1/3 c. water
3 Tbsp. sugar
juice of 1 lime

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Bring it up to a boil, let it boil for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to simmer. Add the lime juice, stir and simmer for another 3 minutes. While the syrup is still hot, pour it over the hot cake. Cool the cake fully.

At this point I topped my cake with toasted coconut, which was a bit of a mistake I think. The lime flavour was delicate and lovely, but was overpowered a weensy bit by the toasty coconut.