A seemingly unpretentious cake until you take that first bite. The subtle coconut flavor takes you by surprise. The coconut tea cake could be the little black dress of easy cakes to serve with coffee or tea. There are many ways to play around with this lovely cake-the juice and zest of lemons, limes and orange complement the coconut flavor, plus one can spice it up with a combination of coriander, ginger, cardamom and cinnamon. And don’t forget to add the rum for a Caribbean twist. The cake would great served with a dollop of lemon curd or toasted and topped with ice cream, chocolate sauce or a raspberry coulis.
Keeping the calories down, I sliced the cake into finger-shaped pieces and toasted them in a preheated 350° oven for 10 minutes, turning several times to evenly brown the pieces, then served them with the Italian dessert wine Vin Santo, biscotti-style. Dipped or not, your choice. Traditional in Tuscany, Vin Santo (holy wine) is most often made with white grapes and is described as a straw wine since the grapes are often dried on straw mats. Sweetness levels vary with the wine-some can be very dry and some can be ultra sweet. While there are many theories as to how the wine got its name, the most likely origin was derived from its use in religious Mass where a sweeter wine was preferred. Source.
Carmen of Carmen Cooks has the recipe on her blog. This cake is one I’ve added to my repertoire of easy, yet an elegant and versatile desserts. Visit the TWD website to see other variations of the coconut tea cake.
Great idea to turn the cake into biscotti! Biscotti goes much better with wine than tea cake:)
Fabulous! L.O.V.E. me some Vin Santo!!
I just love your spin on things… no exception here! Gorgeous picture, as always! 🙂
You said it right! This was a yummy cake. I like your biscotti idea. I think I will serve my Coconut Tea Cake with a scoop of ice cream.
Wow – LOVE what you did with these! They look fabulous!
what a cool idea!
Great biscotti idea! I beautiful blog. 🙂
Gorgeous photo! And, I love your biscotti! What a creative idea!
I wish I'd tried toasting mine too – next time! 🙂 Thanks for baking with me this week.
you are so creative. i love your pix too!
What a terrific idea! Love the background of the wine too. 🙂
Love the toasting idea! Great pictures!1
Brilliant! I never would have thought of toasting it like that, but now I simply must try it.
What a great idea! I don't think my cake was around long enough for a thought like this to even cross my mind. :o)
Yum! I was just thinking about biscotti, and I jumped to your page and saw this. I'm copying this recipe to my files. Oh, and your header looks great by the way…
These looked delicious! Love your food presentation.
Oooh! Biscotti! I'll have to remember that version for the holidays! Beautiful photos too!