Coconut, Almond and Blueberry Cake
This is a wonderfully moist coconut, almond and blueberry cake. The combination of grated coconut, ground almonds and juicy blueberries makes this a deliciously wholesome cake in every sense imaginable, and a perfect serving for tea or dessert.
This coconut, almond and blueberry cake is one of my absolute favourites by the talented and renowned Chefs Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh.
A while back, I finally got my hands on their recipe book publication, aptly titled ‘Sweet’.
It’s a treasure trove of dessert recipes, notably cakes, including mini-cakes, tin cakes and cheesecakes. There’s also sections on cookies and biscuits, tarts and pies, and confectionery.
Need I say more? I was absolutely mesmerised, discovering new recipes a page and picture at a time.
I was so excited to get going, but with lots of tantalising dessert options to try, I almost couldn’t decide which!
But since I absolutely love cakes to the moon and back, I thought I’d start with this coconut, almond and blueberry cake.
Why I love this recipe…
At first glance, when you look at the list of ingredients, it might feel like the recipe is a little more involved than other cake recipes.
But in fact, it couldn’t be easier! It’s a mix-and-stir kind of cake, so it’s as hassle-free as you can get.
Super easy recipe – just mix and stir
I love the ease and simplicity that was intended in the recipe. All it takes is just mixing and stirring.
How easy? We start by mixing the dry ingredients together. Then, we do the same with the wet ingredients, and finally, the dry and wet mixtures are mixed and stirred altogether. Easy peasy right?
No equipment needed
There’s no need to take out your
Marvellously moist and flavourful
I don’t know what it is about this ingredient mix, but trust Chefs Ottolenghi and Goh to come up with a wonderfully moist and buttery cake.
And what’s even more amazing are the textures and flavours you’ll get from this cake!
This coconut, almond and blueberry cake is sweet and deliciously fruity with the tang of fresh-baked blueberries.
It has a crumb that’s super moist and wholesomely nutty, with toasted almond flakes on the top adding a lovely crunch.
And I love any dessert with coconut in it! I have always found that coconut imparts a rich and mildly sweet flavour, and just makes everything taste scrumptious.
Ingredients for coconut, almond and blueberry cake
Here’s what you’ll need:
- ground almonds. Also referred to as almond meal.
- self-raising flour. If you don’t have self-raising flour on hand, you can easily make your own with plain flour and baking powder.
- desiccated coconut. The original recipe calls for desiccated coconut, but I used grated coconut, which is much more moist and turned out fantastic as well.
- sugar. Use caster or fine sugar.
- salt. If using salted butter, you may omit the salt.
- eggs. These are large eggs, weighing about 60 g each.
- unsalted butter, melted. Use melted butter that has cooled to room temperature.
- grated lemon zest. I used the zest of a whole lemon.
- vanilla extract
- fresh or frozen blueberries. Try to use fresh blueberries for optimal juiciness. I used frozen wild Canadian blueberries which is what I happen to have loads of at the moment, though I would have much preferred baking with fresh. In you do use frozen, you won’t need to thaw before hand.
- almond flakes
Step-by-step: How to make coconut, almond and blueberry cake
As I mentioned earlier, there couldn’t be an easier mix-and-stir cake recipe than this.
All you’ll need are two large mixing bowls, and a whisk (my preferred tool for stirring mixtures), wooden spoon or spatula.
I’ve included extra step-by-step process shots so you know how the batter looks at each mix-and-stir stage.
Steps 1 & 2: Mix dry ingredients together
Place ground almonds, coconut, sugar, self-raising flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Use a whisk to aerate and remove the lumps, and stir until well mixed.
Steps 3 & 4: Mix wet ingredients together
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk eggs lightly. Add the melted butter, vanilla extract and lemon zest. This time, whisk until everything combines together and you have a smooth, emulsified mixture.
Steps 5 & 6: Combine the wet and dry mixtures
Pour the eggs mixture into the dry mixture. Using a whisk or spatula, mix until you get a thick, but lump-free batter.
Step 7: Fold in the blueberries
Fold in 150 g of the blueberries, leaving the rest for the topping. Try to get the blueberries evenly distributed throughout the batter.
Step 8: Fill the pan, add toppings and bake
Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining blueberries on top, along with the almond flakes.
Bake for about 55 – 60 minutes for a 20-cm (8-inch) cake pan, and slightly less time, 50 – 55 minutes if you’re baking in a 23-cm (9-inch) pan.
Baking time will vary with ovens as well, so be sure to test with a skewer. The cake is baked through once the skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
This cake can be enjoyed slightly warm with dollops of whipped cream, or on its own at room temperature.
How long can coconut, almond and blueberry cake keep?
This coconut, almond and blueberry cake will keep well for up to 3 days, though I highly recommend chilling it if it isn’t all gone yet by the next day, especially if you are in the tropics.
Or, if you intend to keep for longer, store the cake in the chiller in an air-tight container for up to a week. Allow the cake to cool completely to room temperature before storing.
If you incorporated fresh grated coconut, together with fresh fruit, you’ll definitely want to chill as soon as possible.
To enjoy it warm, simply warm a slice in the microwave oven for 15 seconds on medium setting, and it’ll be as moist and tender as when first baked. Enjoy! – ❤️️ Celia
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Ingredients
- 180 g ground almonds
- 60 g desiccated coconut (I use grated coconut)
- 250 g caster sugar
- 70 g self-raising flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- 4 large eggs 60 g each
- 200 g unsalted butter melted and allowed to cool to room temperature
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp grated lemon zest
- 200 g fresh blueberries or frozen – no need to thaw
- 20 g almond flakes
Instructions
- Grease the base and sides of a 20-cm (8-inch) or 23-cm (9-inch) cake pan. Line with baking paper and grease again. Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F).
- Place ground almonds, coconut, sugar, self-raising flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Use a whisk to aerate and remove the lumps, and stir until well mixed.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk eggs lightly. Add melted butter, vanilla extract and lemon zest. Whisk again until the mixture is well combined.
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture. Using a whisk or spatula, mix until well combined. Fold in 150 g of the blueberries (reserving 50 g) until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining blueberries on top, along with the almond flakes. Bake for 55 – 60 minutes (or about 50 – 55 minutes if using a 23-cm pan), or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Note: Keep a close eye on the cake towards the last few minutes of baking, as the relatively large number of eggs in the batter means that it can go from still being a bit liquid in the centre to being well cooked in just a few minutes.
- Once out of the oven, let the cake cool in the pan for 30 minutes. To release, invert the pan onto a wire rack. Remove the baking paper and place cake the right way up on a serving plate. Serve warm with cream or set aside until cool.
Can I use honey instead of sugar? And can you please put it into cups!
Thanks
I’ve not substituted honey for sugar with this recipe, so I can’t say how this will affect the outcome. I typically write my baking recipes with weight measurements because it will produce more consistent and successful baking results. I’ve converted to cup measurements as accurately as I can as follows:
1⅔ cups ground almonds; ¾ cup desiccated coconut; 1¼ cups caster sugar; ½ cup self-raising flour; ¼ tsp salt; 4 large eggs; ¾ cup + 2 tbsps unsalted butter; 1½ tsp vanilla extract; 1 tbsp grated lemon zest; 1-1¼ cups fresh blueberries; 3¾ tbsps almond flakes.
Hi Celia,
I just bake this cake. It came out wonderfully moist and fastastic. As I have small eggs I used 5 eggs (260 grams total) and 100 grams of caster sugar and 100 grams of 1/2 half calorie sugar blend. i ran out of almond so not almond topping
It is simply sweet and decadent.
Hat off to our Chefs Yotam and Helen. And not forgetting you for sharing with us all no fail recipes.
Thank you
Hi Peter, so glad to hear this cake turned out wonderful, I greatly appreciate the feedback! Thank you so much for giving it a go and sharing how you made your adjustments, kudos to you for making it your own! Have a great (and delicious 😋)weekend!
Moist & delicious. 10/10
Thank you so much for sharing, Lyn!
Hi Celia
This recipe looks amazing
Its winter in NZ and I need to use frozen blueberries but the note says that I don’t need to thaw them then says to leave them out on the benchtop Please could you clarify
Thanks for posting
Hi Ann, I can see how that can sound confusing, thank you for the feedback! You wouldn’t need to thaw and can definitely use frozen blueberries straight out of the bag. I usually weigh my frozen berries along with the rest of the cake ingredients so they end up sitting at room temperature just for a bit until when needed. Hope this helps clear up any doubts!
This is a really delish cake!
Thanks Celia I did what you said with the blueberries it came out fantastic it was beautifully moist As there was a large amount of yummy ground almonds in the recipe I added a teaspoon of almond extract but otherwise went as instructions
Thank you for posting
Ann
Hi Ann, glad it all worked out beautifully! Thank you so much for sharing! Have a wonderful weekend.
Hi Celia
Can I reduce the sugar amount to about 180gm?
Hi Diana, I would not recommend cutting down too much on the sugar because it’s also what makes the cake moist and gives it just the right sweetness. I do appreciate that sweetness is relative to each of us, so I would reduce by no more than 20% of the original amount of sugar, i.e. use 200 grams. I hope this works out to your liking, do let me know how it goes for you!
Thank you Celia for your reply.
May I know the weight of the egg 60 gm is with or without shell ?
Hi Diana, the 60 g egg is with shell.
Hi Celia, I made this rich moist blueberry-filled almond cake last week and It was heavenly. I can’t wait for more of your Chef Ottolenghi’s sweet creations in the coming months. Thank you and Bless you.
Hello Doris, so glad you loved this! I’ve had nothing but wonderful feedback on this recipe too.. thank you for sharing and for rating this 5-stars – I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate your regular feedback on my recipes! Have a wonderful weekend.
Hi Celia, I’ve been following your blog for some time and when this awesome receipe came into my mailbox, I was motivated to try it. The cake came out a little dark at the sides probably due to me using a dark baking tin but it was exactly the way you described it moist and the crumb was so good with the toasted almond flakes. I had 2 slices that evening when it was still warm. Thought to share some slices with my upstairs neighbour and the next day, came clamouring for more. Happily obliged cos that meant I could bake it again soon. Thanks for sharing this wonderful cake receipe! Definitely one to keep !
Hi Jenny, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to write in! I’m so thrilled you enjoyed this cake (and with your neighbour too 😁) The darker sides are definitely due to the dark coating on the pan. Hope to share more of Chef Ottolenghi’s sweet creations in the coming months. So glad to have you joining me on my journey here on the blog, thanks for all your support and encouragement! Have a wonderful week ahead and happy baking!
Wows. I am sure this new cake recipe will be great like all your tried and test recipes. I will be baking this blueberry almond cake soon. Thanks a million Celia for your generosity and putting love in what you do. God bless.
Happy Sunday, Doris! Thank you so very much for always giving me your generous words of encouragement and confidence in these recipes. I hope you’ll try this cake soon – definitely not to be missed! Hope to share more of Chef Ottolenghi’s sweet creations in the coming months. Have a wonderful week ahead!
The coconut almond and blueberry cake looks very good for a tea time snack! Well done with the photos too Celia!
Hi Pei Ling, thank you for the 5-star rating and your lovely comments!