Coconut cake

Preheat an oven to 170 degrees/gas 3. Lightly grease an 8in tin with high sides and line it with parchment paper.

Put all the dry cake ingredients into a large bowl and stir until mixed, then add in all of the wet ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon until smooth.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool for one hour. This cake should be moist and dense.

For the coconut cream filling, place the sugar and egg whites in a saucepan and whisk until almost simmering.

Remove from the heat and pour the egg white and sugar mixture into the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on high speed for about 10 minutes, until the sides of the bowl are cool and the mixture has about doubled in volume.

Add the butter chunks a few at a time and beat until incorporated. The mixture may look curdled, but keep beating until the butter is well incorporated and the frosting is glossy. Add the vanilla, salt, and coconut milk, and whip for a few minutes until smooth.

If you make this filling ahead of time, you can keep it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Before using, bring it back to room temperature and whip it for a few minutes until smooth.

To assemble the cake, slice the cake mixture into three equal-sized layers. (If the cake is quite dense in the middle, don’t be alarmed,that’s fine.) Spread a tablespoon of raspberry jam over the first layer, then pipe lightly a quarter of the filling and sprinkle with half of the raspberries. Place the next layer on top and repeat the process with the jam, coconut cream and raspberries. Place the third layer on top.

Using a spatula, spread the remainder of the coconut cream evenly over the top of the cake and decorate it with raw coconut.

To make the coconut pink in colour, add a tiny drop of red food colouring to a bowl of water, then stir in the coconut. Leave for about 10 minutes until the coconut turns pink, and strain the water off using a sieve.

Pat the strained coconut with a tea towel before spreading on a sheet of baking parchment and allowing it to dry overnight.