Marionberry, hazelnut & coconut cake

This is a recipe that started with the Blueberry, pistachio & coconut cake in Simply by Sabrina Ghayour. (This was the January cookbook for the Rainy Day Bites Book Club, but this recipe was an additional one I made on my own.) Honestly, it feels like my recipe now. The USA version of the cookbook clearly made errors in the conversions (1 1/2 cups of butter instead of 1 1/2 sticks? It would be swimming!) and didn't include any salt... all baked goods without salted butter should have a little bit of salt. So this recipe is mine now! (I still wanted to give credit where it is due.)

The cake would work with any berry except maybe strawberry, which has too much moisture. The dessicated coconut is not required and you could also substitute with shredded coconut, just know that will up the sweetness factor. You can't see the hazelnuts I threw in here but they did add some crunch. I bet pecans or walnuts would work even better and can imagine a blueberry-walnut or blackberry-pecan version of this cake. You may need to bake it just a little longer than the time given - you want the toothpick to come out clean from the middle.

 

Marionberry, hazelnut & coconut cake

3 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted (6 oz)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk
generous handful of hazelnuts
1 1/4 cups marionberries (I used frozen)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.

Put the eggs, sugar, and vanilla into a large mixing bowl and beat together until well combined. Add the coconut and mix well, then stir in the melted butter until incorporated. Add the flour, baking powder, and milk and mix until smooth. Finally, stir in the hazelnuts and then gently fold in the marionberries.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour, or until cooked through and a skewer or knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven. Use the parchment to lift cake from pan and let cool. Serve in slices.