These little Australian cakes are extremely morish and a fun activity to do with small children. It is also a great way of using up sponge pieces or cakes that haven’t risen well. Otherwise you need to make a basic sponge first.
Sponge
8oz soft butter
8oz caster sugar
4 medium eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
8oz self raising flour
a little milk
Preheat the oven to 180c. Grease and line a large square tin, or two 7in cake tins with baking paper.
Cream together butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Crack the eggs into a separate bowl, and give them a quick beating with a fork.
Slowly add a little of the beaten egg and a tsp flour. Continue adding egg until it is all incorporated. Stir in the vanilla extract.
Gently fold in the flour with a large metal spoon, until the batter has a soft dropping consistency. If too stiff add a bit of milk. Spread out the mixture into the tin/tins.
Bake for 20-25 mins until golden-brown and a skewer comes out clean. Take the cake out of the tin and peel off the paper then leave to cool on wire rack. When cool, cut cake into 1 inch cubes.
Icing
2 cups icing sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup of milk
2 cups dessicated coconut
Mix icing sugar, cocoa powder, butter and milk in a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir until thick and smooth.
Roll cubes of cake in the chocolate icing then in the coconut and leave on wire rack to set. NB If the icing cools enough to solidify after a bit, just put it back over the hot water to melt again.
These are very moreish… you have been warned!
