Coconut orange tea cake and things that make me wanna scream

I’m going to share something with you, even though you might think I’m crazy: there are times when certain things are so, so good I feel like screaming (for the record, I don’t actually scream). ;)

Off the top of my head I remember feeling like that after watching “Stay” and "Inception", listening to The Temper Trap’s “Love Lost” (especially from 1min50seg on), and more recently, this cake. An absolutely simple cake – no icings or fillings – put together in a heartbeat, but so delicious and tender I felt like screaming – and like devouring the whole thing myself, too. Not pretty, I know. But so true. :D

Coconut orange tea cake
from Dorie’s amazing and delicious book

2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup (240ml) canned unsweetened coconut milk*
¼ cup (56g/½ stick) unsalted butter, in cubes
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups (400g) caster (superfine) sugar
finely grated zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons dark rum
¾ cup (75g) unsweetened shredded coconut
freshly squeezed juice of ½ orange

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 22-25cm/9-10in (10-12 cup) bundt pan or use an unbuttered silicone pan. Do not place the pan on a baking sheet – you want the oven’s heat to circulate through the tube**.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
Place coconut milk and butter in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until milk is hot and butter is melted. Remove from the heat but keep warm.
Place the sugar and orange zest in the large bowl of an electric mixer and rub them together until sugar is fragrant. Add the eggs to the bowl and, using the whisk attachment, beat the ingredients until pale and thick, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and the rum. Reduce the speed to low and add the dry ingredients, beating just until flour is incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Keeping the mixer on low, add the coconut, mixing only until blended. Add the coconut milk and butter and the orange juice. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 60-65 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan over a wire rack for 15 minutes, then carefully unmold onto the rack and cool completely (if using a silicone pan, follow the manufacturer’s instructions). Dust with icing sugar to serve.

* coconut milk comes in 200ml bottles here in Brazil; to avoid opening another bottle to use only a couple of tablespoons of the coconut milk, I used one coconut milk bottle + 40ml whole milk

** I used a silicone pan and it wouldn’t hold still on the oven rack; I placed it on a baking sheet and it worked fine

Serves 10-12