Mikado Cake...

I posted a recipe recently for Mikado biscuits... they were incredible!

Since they were so popular, I decided to bake a cake based on a Mikado! How does coconut sponge, berry jam, marshmallowy icing & toasted coconut sound? Amazing right?! I can't take credit for this idea... I think it was Donal Skehan who I first saw baking a a Mikado cake.... Of course my version has no grains or refined sugar so I'm bound to say it's so much better!!

For the cake: 

• 8 eggs, separated 
• 80g butter, melted
• 3 tbsp Irish honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 125g ground almonds 
• 80g dessicated coconut
• 2 tsp GF baking powder

Preheat oven to 160d (fan). Line 2 8" sandwich tins with parchment paper. 

Start by whisking eggs yolks, butter, honey & vanilla until frothy and doubled in volume.

Add ground almonds, dessicated coconut & GF baking powder and fold in gently. 

Next whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. 

Finally, fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture gradually. Adding them in 3 stages will make them a lot easier to incorporate into the mixture. 

Once well combined, divide the mixture between the prepared tins and bake for 25 minutes until cake is springy to touch, well rise & pale golden. Set aside to cool on a wire rack. 

For the berry jam: 

• 150g frozen berries of your choice
• 1 tbsp Irish honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Add the ingredients to a saucepan. Bring to a boil, and allow to simmer over a low heat for approx 5 minutes to allow the jam to thicken. 

For the marshmallow icing: 

• 3 egg whites
• 2 tbsp Irish honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 sachet Gelatin powder
• 50g frozen raspberries
• 3 tbsp water

Place raspberries & water into the microwave for 20 seconds at a time. Stir and mash in between each 20 second burst until the raspberries are softened, broken up and the mixture is steaming.

Sprinkle the gelatin powder over the hot raspberry mixture and set aside to dissolve. It's really important to pour the gelatin onto the liquid and not the other way around or you'll end up with a hard lump. Also make sure the liquid is steaming hot (not boiling) before adding the gelatin or it won't dissolve fully.

Next add the egg whites, honey & vanilla to a heatproof bowl over gently simmering water.

Whisk the mixture constantly until it forms stiff glossy peaks. (If you don't whisk constantly, you'll end up with scrambled egg whites). This should take about 5 minutes.

At this stage, your gelatin should have dissolved, cooled and will be ready to use. It's important that both the gelatin mix & the egg white mixture are approx the same temperature, otherwise the gelatin will set too quickly and form strings... The egg white mixture will be warm, just make sure the gelatin has cooled sufficiently.. 

Add the gelatin mixture to the egg white gradually, whisking constantly. I recommend pouring the gelatin in a slow, steady stream. Once fully combined, you can stop whisking.

To assemble the cake: 

• 50g toasted dessicated coconut

Sandwich the cakes together with 3/4 of the cooled, homemade jam. 

Spread a generous coating of the marshmallow icing over the top and sides of the cake. 

Spoon the remaining 'jam' onto the top of the cake before piping rosettes of marshmallow around the edge of the cake. 

Coat the outside of the cake with toasted coconut. 

Store in the fridge until ready to serve.