Coconut-Lime Mini Bundt Tea Cakes with Lime Glaze

So I had some coconut milk leftover in my fridge and was looking at my fave cookbook, Baking; from my home to yours-Dorie Greenspan and had an idea. Why not make a little something sweet? This is one of the versions of her Coconut Tea Cake. She mentions that you can add any citrus zest to the sugar and then add a little of that citrus juice to the coconut milk mixture. I went for coconut and lime.

One of my favorite things that Dorie does throughout this cookbook, is how she mixes the sugar with the citrus zest and tells you to rub them together until it is moist and aromatic. It smells so good and is so pretty!

I halved this recipe because I only had a little coconut milk and also used a mini bundt pan because half the batter wouldn't fill a regular bundt pan. The result was a tiny cake that was delicious and tasty! I glazed half of them with a powdered sugar, lime juice and zest combo and left the other ones plain- They were great both ways!

Coconut Tea Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk (stir well before measuring)

1/2 stick(4 Tbls) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

4 large eggs, preferably at room temperature

2 cups sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 tsp dark rum (optional, but so good) I used 1/2 tsp rum extract

3/4 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened or sweetened) toasted, or not

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-10 inch Kugelhopf or Bundt pan, or use an unbuttered silicone pan. Don't place the pan on a baking sheet- you want the oven's heat to circulate through the inner tube.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.

Pour the coconut milk into a small saucepan, add the butter and heat until the milk is hot and the butter is melted. Remove from heat, but keep warm.

Working with a stand or hand held mixer, beat the eggs and sugar in a large bowl at medium-high speed, until pale, thick, and almost doubled in volume, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and the rum, if you're using it. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed and stopping just when the flour disappears.

Keeping the mixer on low, add the coconut, mixing only until it is blended, then steadily add the hot milk and butter. When the mixture is smooth, stop mixing and give the batter a couple of turns with a rubber spatula, just to make certain that any ingredients that might have fallen to the bottom of the bowl are incorporated. Pour the batter into the pan and give the pan a few back and forth shakes to even the batter.

Bake for 60 to 65 minutes, or until cake is golden brown and a thin knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding onto the rack to cool to room temperature.

Coconut Lime Tea Cake: Rub the grated zest of 2 limes into the sugar before beating it with the eggs; add the juice of 1 lime to the coconut milk and butter. Keep the dark rum or replace it with Malibu coconut rum.