MATTY'S MALIBU LOAF CAKE

Listen, I don't need an excuse for adding a little booze into my bakes especially when I'm baking something for a dinner with friends. So when I was raiding our drinks cupboard to see what I needed to get in for my next gathering a came across a nearly empty bottle of Malibu and I instantly had the inspiration to bake a cake with a truly tropical twist. Packed with orange juice and zest and of course that touch of coconut rum, this loaf cake is covered with chocolate cream cheese and sprinkles and dessicated coconut to really give you a taste of the Caribbean!

Now I used oranges in this bake as I just so happened to have some in my fruit bowl. It works really well with the Malibu but I also think that any kind of citrusy or tropical fruit would be great too. If you like why not try using lime, lemons or pineapples instead if you have those to hand.

When it comes to the Malibu I should say that of course other coconut/tropical fruit based spirits are available if you want to use them instead or even just a plain rum to stick with that Caribbean theme. Of course if you don't drink alcohol then you can leave it out but I'd suggest adding in an extra tbsp of orange juice to bump up the flavor lost from the absence of the liquor.

I'm a big fan of Greek yogurt. It's a lot smoother and sweet I find as well as generally being a lot nicer to your waistline compared to normal plain yogurts. This is just my preference so feel free to use a plain non Greek yogurt if that's all you can get your hands on.

For the topping, well I cheated a little bit. This was the dessert to end a big meal I was preparing so some little shortcuts were made to help with time management. Instead of making a normal chocolate cream cheese frosting from scratch for the top of the cake I simply spread over some ready made Philadelphia chocolate cream cheese. It's that easy! You can of course make it from scratch, that way you can use a darker or white chocolate if you prefer and make it as thick or creamy as you like.

Finally for the very top of you cake you can buy some chocolate shavings and dessicated coconut to sprinkle over the top to put the cherry on top of that tropical cake. You can use any decoration for the top that you wish but with my recipe below, you'll be whipping out the grass skirts and coconut shell bras in no time!

Malibu Loaf Cake

190g Softened Unsalted Butter

1 Tbsp Orange Zest

1 Tbsp Orange Juice

1 Tbsp Malibu

190g Golden Caster Sugar

3 Large Whole Eggs

190g Plain Flour

60g Ground Almonds

1 Tsp Baking Powder

Pinch Of Salt

25g Greek Yogurt

1 Tsp Vanilla Essence

125g Chocolate Cream Cheese

2 Tbsp Chocolate Sprinkles

2 Tbsp Dessicated Coconut

1. Start off my greasing and lining a loaf tin with grease proof paper and whack up your oven to 180 degrees (160 fan)
2. Add the butter, orange zest and juice, Malibu and sugar into a bowl a beat until light and fluffy. Crack in the whole eggs one at a time beating after each addition until well combined.
3. Mix together the flour, almonds, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl until combined before adding to the egg mixture in small batches, folding the flour through until you see no streaks in the mixture.
4. Mix in the yogurt and vanilla until combined and then transfer your batter to the loaf tin. Level the top of the batter and then place the loaf tin in the oven for around 55-60 minutes until golden brown and a skewer comes out nice and clean when inserted.
5. Remove from the oven and leave the cake to cool completely in the tin before removing and transferring to a wire rack.
6. Spread over the chocolate cream cheese so it covers the top of the cake. Mix together the chocolate sprinkles and coconut in a small bowl and then go crazy and sprinkle them over the chocolate topping.

If you aren't going to serve your cake straight away then make sure you store it in a cool place so that the chocolate topping doesn't melt otherwise chop yourself off a big slice and get stuck in. The zing of the orange juice and zest together with the Malibu will really give each slice some punch.

Why not serve with some rum and raisin ice cream or a fresh vodka laced sorbet for a proper adult treat. This is a grown up cake but I think even sometimes the big kids need a little spoiling sometimes too don't they?