Coconut & Mango Yoghurt Cake

Rukmini Iyer's 'Roasting Tin' series has been a huge success so the sweet-toothed among you will be thrilled that there's now a book devoted to desserts and cakes - The Sweet Roasting Tin. I chose this recipe on the grounds that it would double as either. I reckon it would be a particularly good finale to a curry night.

Rukmini writes: I" ate three slices of this cake standing up at the counter the first time it came out of the oven – it’s that good. The yogurt, along with the desiccated coconut, makes this a wonderfully light sponge under the roasted mango; I’d consider serving it for breakfast."

Serves: 8

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 30–35 minutes

120g natural full-fat yogurt

50ml coconut oil, melted

150g soft light brown sugar

3 medium free-range eggs

120g desiccated coconut

50g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 ripe mango, chopped into 1cm chunks

Preheat the oven to 160C fan/180C/gas 4. Whisk the yogurt, coconut oil and sugar together until pale and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time.

Gently fold in the desiccated coconut, plain flour and baking powder, taking care not to overmix. Spoon the batter into a lined 20cm x 26cm roasting tin.

Scatter the chopped mango all over the batter – don’t worry if it looks like a bit too much for the cake, the cake will rise up around it.

Transfer to the oven for 30–35 minutes, until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into a non-mango bit comes out clean.

Leave the cake in the tin for 5 minutes, then gently lift it out on to a wire rack and leave to cool briefly before serving warm or at room temperature.

Any leftovers should be stored in the fridge: you can gently warm the slices in the microwave as needed.

FOR GLUTEN-FREE: substitute the plain flour for a good brand of gluten-free blended flour (I like Freee self-raising flour from Doves Farm).

FOR DIABETICS: substitute the soft light brown sugar with 75g xylitol.

What to drink: If you're feeling indulgent a glass of Sauternes or similar sweet Bordeaux would be delicious with this. Or, a late harvest sauvignon blanc. See also The best wine pairings for mangoes and mango desserts

Extracted from: The Sweet Roasting Tin (One Tin Cakes, Cookies & Bakes) by Rukmini Iyer (Square Peg) September 2021, £18.99. Photography by David Loftus

Raspberry and cherry beer jellies

If you're having a late summer barbecue this weekend here is one of the most delicious - and surprising recipes - from my book An Appetite for Ale. I love serving them because no-one has the faintest idea they have beer in them.

Note: the jellies are deliberately left less sweet than most commercial jellies so that the flavour of the beer comes through. I find them really refreshing but you can, of course, add extra sugar if you want.

Raspberry and cherry beer jellies
These jellies are deliberately left less sweet than most commercial jellies so the sour cherry flavour of the beer comes through. I find them really refreshing but you can of course add extra sugar if you want

serves 4

4 small sheets of gelatine (about 6g or 1/4 of a 25g pack)

375ml Kriek or other cherry or raspberry flavoured beer

1 x 470g jar of pitted Morello cherries (Polish ones are best)

2-3 tbsp sugar syrup or caster sugar

125g fresh or frozen raspberries

Place the gelatine in bowl of cold water and leave to soak for 3 minutes until soft. Measure the Kriek into a jug and top up to the 400ml mark with syrup from the cherries. Pour into a saucepan and add the sugar. Put over a very low heat until the sugar has dissolved then heat until lukewarm (it shouldn’t boil). Squeeze the soaked gelatine leaves, add them to the beer mixture and stir to dissolve then set aside to cool.

Drain the remaining cherries and rinse the raspberries. Put an assortment of berries in the bottom of four glasses or glass dishes then pour over enough jelly to cover them. Put the glasses in the fridge to chill. As soon as the jelly in the glasses has set (about an hour) add another layer of fruit and jelly. Repeat until the fruit and jelly are used up, ending with a layer of jelly.

Leave in the fridge to set for another 45 minutes to an hour before serving with lightly whipped cream, sweetened with a little vanilla sugar or with vanilla ice cream

Mango and passionfruit beer jellies
Follow the above recipe substituting passionfruit beer for the Kriek (top up with tropical fruit juice, passionfruit or mango juice to make it up to the 400ml mark), then mix in about 400g of cubed mango and passionfruit pulp. Adjust sweetness to taste (you can always add a squeeze of lemon juice if it’s too sweet)

Blueberry and peach beer jellies
Follow the above recipe substituting peach flavoured beer for the Kriek (top up with white cranberry and grape juice to make it up to the 400ml mark), then mix in about 400g of cubed peach or nectarine and blueberries. Adjust sweetness to taste as above.

Image ©Vanessa Courtier