Coconut Lime Gateaux

The first birthday cake of the year! This coconut lime gateaux is light and refreshing, and it has the BEST marshmallowy frosting! It does take a little more time and effort than your standard buttercream frosting, but it's totally worth it. I promise.


Ingredients:
For the sponge:

225g unsalted butter
225g caster sugar
4 eggs
Zest and juice of 2 limes
225g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
75g dessicated coconut

For the frosting:
2 egg whites
275g caster sugar
60ml cold water
1 tsp coconut essence

Dessicated coconut to decorate

Pre-heat your oven to 180c and line/grease two loose bottomed cake tins.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, along with a tablespoon of the flour and mix well, then sift in the remaining flour and baking powder. Gently fold this into the mixture until well combined. Lastly, add the lime juice and zest and the dessicated coconut, and give one final mix.

Divide the batter between the two cake tins and spread evenly to the sides. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until just turning golden, springy to the touch, and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack and leaving to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine all the ingredients in a large heat-proof bowl and give a quick stir.
Place the bowl over a pan of boiling water (be careful the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl) and beat with an electric whisk on high speed until it turns thick and glossy and holds stiff peaks. This will take 7-10 minutes, so be patient!
Once it has reached this stage, remove from the heat and continue whisking for 2-3 minutes as it cools.

Once the sponge is cool, use a generous helping of the frosting to sandwich the two pieces together and place it on your serving plate.
Use a palette knife to spread the rest of the frosting all over the top and sides of the cake, then sprinkle a little dessicated coconut over the top.
Perfect!