Go Back
lemon coconut loaf

Lemon Coconut Loaf

A dainty loaf full of citrussy flavours, perfect to have with tea or coffee
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Dessert, Snack
Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup desiccated coconut plus extra for topping
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder optional
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 - 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice~4 lemons zest the lemons first
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil melted
  • 1/4 cup yogurt
  • 1 egg
  • Water as required
  • butter to grease loaf tin

for topping:

  • 4-5 thin lemon slices
  • 1 teaspoon desiccated coconut

for icing:

  • 2-3 tablespoons icing sugar
  • juice of half lemon

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven at 180°C.
  • Combine the flour, desiccated coconut, baking powder, baking soda, salt and turmeric powder in a large bowl. Run a whisk through the ingredients or pass through a sieve.
  • In a medium bowl, rub the lemon zest along with the sugar with your fingertips, until you get a nice citrussy aroma. Add the lemon juice, coconut oil, yogurt and egg into the sugar, along with 2-3 tablespoons of water. Using an electric whisk, beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes. Tip: Ensuring all ingredients are at room temperature is ideal or the coconut oil may turn into slightly solidified bits. No harm done, it will all get incorporated when you beat in the flour.
  • Coat the bottom and sides of a regular loaf tin (9 X 5.5 inches) with 1-2 teaspoons of soft butter.
  • Scrape out the prepared batter into the loaf tin and smoothen out the top with a spatula.
  • Arrange a few lemon slices on the top and sprinkle some desiccated coconut all over.
  • Bake in the preheated oven at 180C for 30 minutes. If you are using a narrower loaf tin, the cake will have more height in which cake bake for a while longer until a tester comes out clean.
  • Once the cake is out of the oven, in a small cup combine the icing sugar with juice of half a lemon. Pour this drizzle into the crevices of the cake.
  • Wait for 5-7 minutes to unmold the cake. Cool on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes and cut into slices of desired thickness.

Notes

Tips:
Check the packaging date on the desiccated coconut. Taste it before using it in a dish as it has a tendency to go rancid.
To make a simple lemon loaf, use any neutral flavoured oil or melted butter instead of coconut oil and replace the 1/4 cup desiccated coconut with all purpose flour. Garnish the loaf with lemon slices alone.
For an intensely lemony flavour, whisk in 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract into the batter. It is tough to get this in India, so I have not used it.
This recipe yields a very mildly sweet cake, but the icing makes it up for it a little. Add 1/4 cup more sugar to the recipes if you like your cake to be sweeter.