White Chocolate, Coconut & Lemon Squares

INGREDIENTS:

200g soft butter, cubed

5 large eggs

170g caster sugar

160g rice flour*

40g ground almond*

2tsp baking powder

100ml cream

lemon juice and zest of 2 lemons

*you can replace rice and almond flour with 200g of regular ap flour or white spelt flour

For the White Chocolate & Coconut Cream

200g white chocolate

200ml whipping cream

200g desiccated coconut + 50g for decoration 

DIRECTIONS:

24cm x 24 cm baking tin, bottom and sides lined with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 180°

For the cake:

All ingredients need to be room temperature. Sieve rice flour and baking powder into a bowl, add ground almond. In a separate bowl cream soft butter for 3 minutes. Start adding sugar, a spoon at a time. This process should last about 7 minutes. Butter will double in size that’s when you start adding eggs, one by one, mixing for about a minute after each addition. Every now and then scrape the bottom and sides of the mixture. 

The mixture might separate but don't worry, add a little rice flour and that will bring it back together.

Add flour and cream to the mixture half at a time and mix slowly until combined then add lemon juice and zest. Pour the batter into a baking tin. Bake around 40 minutes. Once the cake has cooled prepare the icing. Keep the cake in baking tin.

For the white chocolate coconut cream:

Place chocolate and cream in a heavy base saucepan and melt over low heat. Keep stirring and take it off the heat once the mixture is well emulsified. Add coconut and stir well. Still hot transfer onto the cake. Spread evenly and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to set. Sprinkle with remaining coconut.

Serve with strawberry coulis!