More birthdays at work means more baked goods for my co-workers. Did I mention how glad I am to have a place that welcomes regular donations of high-calorie food? The only thing that causes an occasional problem is transportation - there are many treats that I’d like to bring but would be too difficult to maneuver in the car or on the bus. Still, cupcakes, cookies, bars, and simple cakes are manageable by any reckoning. I suppose this also helps save me from trying to get overly dramatic. The thought of myself, pre-coffee, trying to spin sugar at 8:00am…man, would that be one scary scene!
For the latest baking occasion, I decided to go a little tropical (and help usher in summer) by making a coconut layer cake with passion fruit curd filling and passion-fruit meringue frosting. It’s no secret that coconut and passion fruit are two of my favorite flavors, so I couldn’t resist the potential for an amazing combination. I’m glad to say that it was very good indeed, and the cake is on its way to being a new favorite.
The original recipe was for a single-layer cake that I split into two 8-inch pans. It was rich, buttery, and delicious; easily good enough to stand on its own with little or no accompaniment. For a simpler presentation, it can be made in one pan and decorated with a sprinkle of freshly grated coconut strips or just some sliced fresh fruit. I’m eager to make it again this way and serve it for casual visitors or just to keep around for nibbling (I suspect it would freeze well, too). It does bear mentioning that since the texture is that of a pound cake, some people may find it slightly on the dense side to use for layering. I’ll also add that my colleagues all enjoyed it immensely and one asked for the recipe, so the layering decision is probably best left to individual preference.
For the passion fruit curd filling, I made a departure from my usual curd recipe (as I had several egg yolks to use up) and used Emily Luchetti’s lemon curd recipe from Classic Stars Desserts, substituting passion fruit purée for the lemon juice. The meringue frosting is just ye olde classic 7-minute frosting but with passion fruit in place of the water. The lightness of the frosting was a good foil to the cake’s richness, and I bet whipped cream would be a tasty, equally lofty, and less sweet option.
The cake was easy to transport in a cake-carrier, and only frosting the top meant there was no worry about unsightly filling leakage or other mishaps. Everyone at work was intrigued by the passion fruit, as many people had never tasted it before, so I was glad to have introduced them to something unconventional yet tasty. And once it was cut, the whole thing was demolished in mere moments. That, of course, is the best compliment of all!