Coconut Cake Has Holes In

Asked by oriser. Answered on 17th May 2016

Full question

I made Nigella's Coconut Cake (with Malibu frosting) this afternoon and there were large holes in the bottom of it. When the tins came out of the oven, the cakes were over-risen and then they fell quickly. I was careful with the baking powder and mixed the cake in the food processor for 2 minutes (not creaming method) to make sure everything was even. Can you advise what went wrong? It's the third time this has happened! But the cake is so good I keep trying as I did manage to get it right once in the distant past! Should I have cooled the coconut and/or drained it before adding it to the mix? Thank you.

Our answer

Nigella's Coconut Cake (from HOW TO BE A DOMESTIC GODDESS) is a coconut flavoured sponge sandwiched with a buttercream containing Malibu. From the description of the cake rising too much and then falling, plus holes in the bottom of the cake, then it would usually mean that too much leavening was used or bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) was used instead of baking powder. This would create too many air bubbles which cause the cake to rise up a lot in the oven and then fall back, plus the large air bubbles would make the holes in the cake. Use a proper 2.5ml half teaspoon to measure the baking powder and the measure should be level. However if the correct amount of baking powder was used, plus a combination of self-raising flour and cornflour (cornstarch), then it is likely that either the cake batter stood for too long before going into the oven, or the soaked coconut was very warm when added to the batter.

Preheat the oven and prepare the cake tins before you make the cake batter. The dessicated coconut should be mixed with boiling water from a just-boiled kettle and then left to soak until it reaches room temperature. The coconut should absorb most of the liquid and any liquid left should be added to the cake. If the coconut mixture is too hot it can cause the baking powder to act a little more quickly. Make sure also that the other ingredients are at room temperature. It may also help to sift the flour, cornflour and baking powder together before you use them, to ensure that the leavening agents are evenly distributed.