My youngest child turned three last Saturday and the same morning I found myself perched on the kitchen steps, sketchpad in hand, scratching out a quick birthday cake design. The party was due to start that same afternoon. We had already cajoled kids out of bed and were in the throws of coming and going to school sporting events. Ordinarily I would have the cake completed the day prior, but I am finding more and more that as my family has expanded to include half a dozen kids, the luxury of time just isn’t there any more. My painstakingly crafted and hand coloured cakes of previous years, have had to make way for more practical but still eye catching options. So with Kindifarm (kindifarm.com) arriving with a barnyard of baby animals and family and friends due soon, Maksim’s cake was going to require maximum creativity in minimal time. 


The evening prior to the party, in a feat of weary end of week effort, I had baked this basic but beautifully moist Coconut Lemon Pound Cake. It is an altered version of a basic pound cake from David Herbert’s cookbook, Best Ever Baking Recipes. Although it looks plain and humble, my flavoured pound cake packs a punch when it comes to flavour and moisture. Plus it is so quick to whip up, rising evenly all round, every time. A reliable kitchen emergency cake if you like. 

My reliable pound cake recipe


I recommend having a store of cute and crafty items on a box in the pantry which can be pulled out and piled on top of a cake for a special occasion. I like to stock up at The Essential Ingredient, www.essentialingredient.com.au (they also have an online store) and prior to a birthday will always pop in a peruse their shelves for creative inspiration. 

The edible sugared Tonka-style trucks were teamed with roughly halved mini chocolate honeycomb Crunchie bars to create a “construction zone” on top of Maksim’s cake. Orange flavoured chocolate buttons added additional colour (orange is Maksim’s current favourite shade) and white Tim Tams made a solid stone-look border. Attaching them all was easy too, as I first coated the entire cake in a smooth vanilla buttercream. This is based on a Nigella Lawson recipe which I changed simply to make better use of unsalted butter in a 250 gram portion (I don’t like losing little bits of butter in the back of the fridge). Once the cake was completed decorated, I popped it into the fridge to set and then moved onto preparing the rest of the party food… 


You can see from these photos that my littlest one was delighted by his third birthday cake. Happy Birthday Maksim! 

Vanilla Butter Cream Icing
250 g unsalted butter at room temperature
650 g icing sugar (I use icing sugar mixture because it doesn’t require fiddly sifting)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or essence
1 tablespoon milk
Beat the butter in either an electric mixer or using hand beaters until it is pale. An electric mixer is faster! 
Add all the other ingredients and beat for about 3 minutes until completely smooth. Taste the icing to make sure there are no grainy sugary bits that can be felt on your tongue. 
Use the icing in its creamy coloured form or tint with your choice of food colouring. 

Coconut, Lemon and Vanilla Pound Cake  
To serve 12 – 16 people depending on the size of the slices

250 g unsalted butter at room temperature
250 g caster sugar (I use raw caster sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or essence
4 large eggs
250 g self raising flour
3 tablespoons milk
finely grated zest of a lemon (approximately 1 tablespoon) 
1/4 cup desiccated coconut

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees fan forced (or 180 degrees conventional). Grease and line the base and sides of a 22 or 23cm baking tin. 

Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy. 

Add the eggs all at once and beat until just combined. 

Add the remaining ingredients and beat slowing at first to roevent the flour from flying up over the rim of the bowl, before increasing the speak to moderate and mixing until smooth (about 3 minutes). 

Scrape into your prepared tin and bake in the pre-heated oven for 50 – 60 minutes until the cake comes away from the sides of the tin. A skewer inserted in the middle should come out clean. In my oven, this cake takes 50 minutes, but oven temperatures and seals etc do vary between brands and ages of ovens. Best to check at the 50 minute mark and then leave in for an additional 5 or 10 minutes if required. 

Once the cake is ready, leave it in the tin for 20 minutes to cool slightly, before wither turning onto a cake rack to coo further, or sliding onto a serving plate to slice and enjoy whilst still warm. 

If you are decorating your cake, it must be completely cool before any speck of icing is placed against it, otherwise you will end up with a molten, sticky mess. 

This cake is tasty enough to be eaten as is, or with a simple dusting of icing sugar across the top. It also make a welcome addition to the school lunch box or as a home made after school treat. 

VARIATIONS: omit the lemon and coconut and reduce the milk to 2 tablespoons if you would like to try the following flavours instead.
VANILLA – increase the vanilla essence to 2 teaspoons
LIGHT CHOCOLATE – include 2 tablespoons sifted cocoa
ORANGE and LIME – include 1/2 tablespoon finely grated orange rind and 1/2 tablespoon finely grated lime rind

Maksim playing with the the Kindifarm lamb and kid.