Sweet Pastry

Ingredients (serves 8-12) 

Pastry:

• 1 3/4 cups of plain flour
• 1/4 cup of icing sugar 
• 180 grams cold butter, diced
• 1 egg yolk (reserve white for brushing) 
• 3 tbsp chilled water
• greaseproof paper
• baking beads or rice 

Step 1: Make Pastry

Sieve flour and icing sugar together. Put into your food processor with the diced butter and pulse for a few minutes till all of the butter is mixed in and it becomes a breadcrumb texture. 

Next add the egg yolk and chilled water. Pulse again. When it begins to come together, tip out onto a lightly floured board and lightly knead until you have a smooth dough. 

Flatten into a 15cm disc. Cover in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Pastry is much easier to work with when it is cold. 

Step 2: Bake Pastry 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease a 30cm loose-based fluted tart tin with butter. 

Remove pastry from the fridge and roll out on a piece of greaseproof paper large enough to fit the tart tin. 

Gently lay the pastry over the tin and press into the edges. Use the rolling pin to roll across the top of the tin to cut off any excess pastry. 

Place the greaseproof paper over the pastry and fill the tin with baking beads or uncooked rice (less than a kilo of rice will fill it - reserve the rice afterwards for using again the next time you bake pastry). This holds the pastry in place and stops it both puffing up and from sinking down the sides. 

Chill again for 10 minutes. 

Place in the hot oven and bake for 15 minutes. 

Remove tart from oven and take off the baking paper and rice. Return to the oven for another 15 minutes to finish cooking through. 

Remove from the oven and leave to cool. 

This pastry works well with the following recipes: 

Rhubarb Frangipane Tart

Pina Colada Tart

Banoffee Tart

Blueberry Mascarpone Tart

Chocolate Coconut Layer Cake with Pineapple Curd

Birthdays are always worth celebrating, and always need cake. Always. No exceptions. 

My husband couldn't be phased when it comes to cakes, but with his birthday approaching I was determined to make something impressive, and something he would be phased about. However, when it comes to icing, decorating and any of the other delicate and fiddly jobs like that I am not very skilled, or let's be honest, not very patient. So I decided to make a layered cake. Combining a few of his favourite flavours together to make a spectacular cake. Well, actually two cakes: chocolate and coconut, which were split, layered and pieced together with pineapple curd buttercream frosting. 

The cakes can be made and chilled a day or two in advance and the pineapple curd can be made up to a week in advance. 

Pineapple curd is the same as lemon curd, but just uses pineapple juice instead. All you need is a little time and a double boiler. If you don't have a double boiler you can put a few inches of water into a small saucepan to simmer, then place a metal or glass bowl over the top so that no steam can escape. Just make sure that the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl. Keep stirring throughout the cooking process so that you don't end up with scrambled eggs. 

What's great about this cake is when you cut it open you get  a kind of bumble bee effect with the different coloured cakes, which you don't really realise from the darkened edges. Serve with lashings of whipped cream and extra pineapple curd and maybe a handful of pineapple lumps. 


Pineapple curd (makes approx 1 1/2 cups) 

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 egg yolks 
• 100 grams butter, cubed
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice

Whisk the sugar and egg yolks in a metal or glass bowl till thickened a little. Place bowl over small saucepan of simmering water. Whisk in pineapple juice, and put butter cubes in. Continue whisking till all butter is melted, and then every minute or so for another ten minutes till the mixture has thickened. Pour into a sterilised jar and set aside to cool. Refrigerate until needed. 

Chocolate Cake 

• 200 grams butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar 
• 2 tsp vanilla essernce 
• 3 eggs 
• 3/4 cup milk 
• 2 cups self raising flour 
• 1/2 tsp baking soda 
• 1/2 cup cocoa 

Preheat oven to 180 celsius. Grease and line the base of a 22cm cake tin. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. 
In a separate bowl sift flour, cocoa, and baking soda. 
Alternatively add parts of flour and milk into the creamed butter and eggs, beating well as you go. Spoon batter into the cake tin and gently bang the tin down on a flat surface a few times - this removes any air bubbles and lets the top settle. Place in the centre of your hot oven and bake for 40 - 50 minutes, till a skewer comes out clean. 
Leave in tin for 10 minutes before removing to a cake rack to cool. Once cooled completely, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 

Coconut Cake 

• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut 
• 1 1/3 cups of coconut milk 
• 1 tsp coconut essence, optional
• 180 grams butter, room temperature
• 1 cup caster sugar 
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 3/4 cups of self raising flour 

Preheat oven to 160 celsius. Grease and line the base of a 22cm cake tin. Put coconut, coconut milk and essence in a bowl and set aside for an hour. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. 
In a separate bowl sift flour.
Alternatively add parts of flour and coconut mix into the creamed butter and eggs, beating well as you go. Spoon batter into the cake tin and gently bang the tin down a few times again. Place in the centre of your hot oven and bake for 60 - 70 minutes, till a skewer comes out clean. 
Leave in tin for 10 minutes before removing to a cake rack to cool. Once cooled completely, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 

Buttercream frosting 

• 250 grams softened butter
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 2 tbsp hot water 
• Pineapple curd

Beat butter and sugar till softened light and fluffy. Add about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of pineapple curd. If you want to fluff up the frosting a little more, you can add a tablespoon or two of hot water to the icing as the beater is going. 


To assemble 

• Whipped Cream 
• Remaining pineapple curd
• Pineapple lump lollies 

Take the chilled cakes from the fridge and using a bread knife level the top of each if the centre has raised up. Cutting the cakes when they are cold makes it much easier to get a clean cut. Once the are levelled, cut each cake in half through the centre. 
On a serving plate place the bottom half of the chocolate cake, cut side up, top with 1/4 of the frosting, and spread outwards towards the edges. Place the top layer of the coconut cake next, repeat with the next quarter of icing. Repeat with next chocolate cake, and icing. Finally place the bottom half of the coconut cake on top, cut side down. Spread the last amount of frosting. Scatter pineapple lumps around the outside. 
Whip cream to serve with the cake, and spoon any remaining pineapple curd through the cream.