ANITA TASKER bakes an easy cake that’s a keeper - golden syrup and coconut.

This is a great cake for those of you that do not have a mixer or processor. All you need is a saucepan, wooden spoon, a 23cm cake tin, and a set of scales!

It’s a great cake for keeping moist and will last a week kept in an airtight box or tin.


Golden syrup and coconut cake

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter chopped into small cubes
125ml golden syrup (3 tablespoons)
300g self raising flour
55g castor sugar
35g shredded coconut
2 large eggs
250 ml full fat milk


Method:

Heat oven to 180C/350F/GM4.

Grease and line the base of your tin then flour the sides and bottom, tap out all residue flour. Combine butter, syrup and sugar in a saucepan and heat gently until butter has melted, be careful. Do not boil this mixture or you will end up with caramel.

Remove your pan from heat and stir in your flour and the rest of your ingredients.

Stir well until nice and smooth. Pour mixture into your tin and place in the oven and bake for approximately 40 minutes.

When cooked, it should have just shrunk from the sides of the tin slightly.

Leave for a minute or two in the tin, then carefully turn out on a cooling rack.

This cake is lovely left plain because it is quite rich.

Alternatively, you can decorate with a little lemon icing which is easy to make (240g icing sugar mixed with a teaspoon of melted butter and two tablespoons of lemon juice. Mix until smooth and pour over your cake, then sprinkle coconut over the top).

Anita Tasker runs Pattacakes at Welburn, near Castle Howard