It may not come as a surprise that I don’t give parenting advice, ever. Cooking queries? Yes. Recipe suggestions? Of course! What to watch on Netflix? I’ll write you a list! But parenting advice- not from me.
There’s plenty of it about if you want it from Facebook groups, forums, Instagram, even strangers in the supermarket. I find though that there’s so much advice that parenting can become an anxiety riddled guilt trip. The inspiration for this cake came from one kid’s love of giant coconuts (thank you Blaze and the Monster Machines) and the other’s love of Agado by Black lace (which she discovered through YouTube).
Whereas some may consider these screen time fuelled obsessions with tropical fruits parenting fails, I very much consider my way to be ok. And I’m sure your way is too.
This is a cake that relies heavily on child labour (in the best way) as there’s lots of fun tasks that they can crack on with while you drink tea and watch the mess unfold!
You will need a deep 8″ round cake tin or two 8″ sandwich tins, well greased or lined with baking paper.
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 2 bananas
- 150g shredded coconut (or dessicated coconut)
- 200g pinanple chunks (from a tin in juice)
- 200g soft brown sugar
- 120g coconut oil- melted
- 4 eggs
- 250g self raising flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- Teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the cream cheese frosting
- 400g icing sugar
- 150g full fat soft cheese
- 50g butter
- 50g shredded coconut to decorate (optional)
Preheat the oven to 160°C Gas Mark 3
In a large bowl mash the two bananas with a fork until gooey. My kids love this as it seems like more of a grown up job than it is!
Add in the sugar and coconut oil and mix well.
Beat in the eggs then add the pineapple and coconut.
Fold in the rest of the ingredients and pour the batter into the tin.
Bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour or until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the tin before removing.
To decorate
To make the cream cheese frosting beat all ingredients together until smooth and creamy.
Slice the cooled cake through the middle horizontally.
Spread a layer of frosting through the middle and sandwich both halves together.
Spread the sides of the cake with buttercream.
Spread or pipe the remaining buttercream over the top of the cake.
Finally, gently press the remaining coconut into the sides of the cake.
Baking With Kids 