Vegan Coconut and Lemon Cake

5 from 16 votes

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Cooling Time30

Total Time1 20

Servings:

Calories: 898kcal

Author: Richard Makin

300 g caster sugar
65 g corn starch (aka corn flour)
pinch fine sea salt
230 g coconut cream (if you can't find a tin of coconut cream, just refrigerate a can of coconut milk overnight and scoop the cream from the top)
114 ml water
230 ml fresh lemon juice
zest of one lemon
pinch turmeric powder
50 g vegan butter

Combine all the ingredients besides the butter in a medium saucepan over a medium/low heat.
Whisk constantly while the temperature raises. If you leave it for too long, the corn flour will curdle or burn, and that’s not good. After about 5 minutes you’ll notice the mixture start to thicken – if you notice it turning lumpy, switch to a whisk and beat vigorously for a few seconds to smoothen it out.
Once thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, turn off the heat and stir in the vegan butter – mix well until the butter is fully combined and melted.
Pour the lemon curd into a sterilised glass jar (if you don't plan to use it all in the cake) and seal. Alternatively transfer to a glass bowl, cover and set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 180c and line two 20cm cake tins with baking parchment. Set aside.
Place the psyllium husks into a spice grinder or high speed blender and blitz until powdered. Transfer to a small bowl and whisk together with 2 tablespoon water. Set aside to thicken.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, desiccated coconut, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the melted coconut oil, sugar, coconut milk, vinegar, coconut extract and psyllium husk mixture until smooth. The psyllium husk mixture tends to clump together so be sure to beat on a high speed until very smooth.
To the stand mixer, add the flour mixture and beat until combined. Do not over beat.
Divide the cake batter between the two prepared cake tins and place in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Once baked, a skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean.
Remove the baked cakes from the oven and place on a cooling rack until cool enough to handle. Remove from the baking tins and allow to cool completely.
While the cakes are cooling, make the buttercream frosting.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, place the vegan margarine, vegan butter and coconut extract. Beat until smooth and whipped together.
Working with a tablespoon at a time, whisk in the icing sugar. The frosting should be whipped and fluffy.

Transfer at least half of the lemon curd to a piping bag.
Place the first layer of coconut cake onto a plate or cake stand and top with a layer of lemon curd. Top with the second layer of cake.
Carefully cover the cake with the coconut buttercream frosting using a pallet knife.
Place a large dry frying pan over medium heat and add the desiccated coconut. Stirring constantly, toast the coconut until it is lightly browned and fragrant. Remove the coconut from the pan and spread on a plate to cool.
Once fully cooled, press the coconut onto the sides of the frosted cake. Serve and enjoy.