When we were kids, the old house my parents lived in (and still live) had an ancient oven in the kitchen. That oven was fired with coal bricks and wood. During winter this oven was very useful, not only for heating and cooking, but also if you had cold feed. Whenever we had snow, my father used to takes us out on the sledge, which was fun. But after one or two hours on the sledge our feet would get very cold and sledding was no longer fun. We wanted to go home. When we came home, my grandmother opened the old oven’s stove door and put some old newspapers into the oven. Then she would put a chair in front of the oven and told us to sit on the chair. And then we would put our cold feet (that were wrapped into thick socks) right into the oven to warm them up. This is a picture of such an old oven. (You can see the oven door on the right. The woman is not my grandmother though.)

I started telling you about that stove in the first place, because of the tools that were necessary for firing it. The wood we used had to be chopped into little pieces and for that we had an axe. That axe was not only useful for wood chopping though. In winter my father often brought home a coconut, which was easily cracked open with the help of that axe. When we were bigger, we even did that ourselves.

Now that I live in a place with a regular electric oven, we don’t longer have an axe. Which is sad, because cracking open a coconut with a hammer is not as much fun and not as effective.

To me foods like coconuts and oranges are a winter foods. I am glad we can enjoy them during winter as they bring back warmth and light. The radiant colour of the oranges never fails to cheer me up. The coconut flesh is as bright as the snow outside and reminds me of the fact that we are now finally past the gray November days. This cake is probably rather a winter cake though. It’s very rich and not as light as the foods we prefer in summer. The slightly dense texture and the low sugar content go well with the creamy coconut taste. It’s probably a great snack for your next sledge trip. And if you don’t have an old coal oven, don’t forget to take some hot tea as well.

Coconut-Orange Cake

Ingredients:

130 g margarine, softened (½ cup plus 1 tablespoon)
100 g sugar (½ cup)
150 g finely grated fresh coconut (1 cup tightly packed)
240 ml (1 cup) coconut milk
180 ml (¾ cup) orange juice
1/4 bottle orange essence (or 2 teaspoons orange extract)
1 tablespoon flaxseed
1 teaspoon amchoor powder (optional, substitute orange peel, if you like)
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon salt
300 g all-purpose flour (2½ cups)
1 tablespoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease a 23-cm (9-inch) Bundt pan with margarine and dust it with all-purpose flour. Set aside.

Cream together margarine and sugar. (Beat with a hand-held mixer for about 2-3 minutes.)

Stir in coconut, coconut milk, orange juice, orange essence, flaxseed, amchoor (if using), cardamom, and salt.

Mix flour and baking powder and add to wet ingredients. Stir until combined. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven. Let cool in pan for at least 30 minutes before removing. Let cool completely.

For the glaze:

90 g powdered sugar (¾ cup)
2 teaspoons dark rum
2 teaspoons orange juice

Combine all ingredients and whisk until smooth. You can also use a combination of coconut milk and orange juice or only coconut milk instead.

Please don’t forget to enter the Caribbean Vegan cookbook giveaway here.