Gold Kiwifruit & Coconut Upside-Down Cake

It wasn't until I started making this cake that I realised I was missing summer. This was a little bit of a surprise, since I am one of those strange people that enjoys winter. It might seem a little insane, but I love snuggling up in a warm bed on a cold night, and wearing winter clothes and eating hearty winter food. And though I will whinge when I'm outside in the shivering cold, I'm secretly loving it at the same time. Probably because I lived without a proper winter for a large portion of my life, so it still feels kind of novel to have 4 different seasons. Plus the cold weather is the perfect excuse to turn on the oven and bake an awesome cake like this.

I've always been fond of upside-down cakes. There's that moment of anticipation after you've taken the cake out of the oven and are about to flip it over to see how it turned out. And this one turned out better looking than I thought it would. It might not be the prettiest cake ever, but I think the kiwi gives it a really eye-catching, interesting pattern. The flavour and smell of the kiwifruit was surprisingly strong and appealing.

The flavours really feel summery & tropical, with the sweet, tangy golden kiwis and a rich, creamy coconut with a touch of lime. I thought the cake might be really sour since I put so much lime juice in the batter, but it mellowed a lot in the oven. The coconut milk made the cake a little denser, but it added a lovely fragrance and fluffy texture to it. My favourite part was that the dessicated coconut in the batter gave it a lovely crunch on the golden exterior, I think next time I might make individual cakes like I did in my rhubarb mandarin upside-down cakes so that I have even more of the crunchy edges.

This cake is for my cousin Pris for tomorrow, Happy Birthday dear!! Wish you were here in Sydney so we could take you to Bill's for a birthday breakfast.

Gold Kiwifruit & Coconut Upside-Down Cake
(adapted from this recipe from Taste.com.au)
30g melted butter
2 tbsp (30g) brown sugar
4-5 gold kiwifruit, peeled and cut into 1cm slices
100g butter, softened
250g caster sugar
2 large eggs
225g self-raising flour
1/2 cup (45g) dessicated coconut
Juice of 2 limes (about 100ml)
80ml coconut milk

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin. Pour the butter over the base of the pan and sprinkle with the brown sugar, then top with a single layer of kiwifruit.

Use an electric beater to beat the butter and sugar for 3 minutes or until pale and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the flour, coconut, coconut milk, and lime juice until combined.

Pour cake mixture over the kiwifruit and smooth top with a spatula. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then turn out of tin. Don't freak out of the kiwifruit stick to the base of the pan, just gently place them back on top of the cake and return the cake to the oven on a low temperature for a few minutes until the fruit is set on top. Can be stored for several days in an airtight container.