This is one of the very first cakes I made when I started baking. I felt so proud of myself when it turned out a success, I told anyone who would listen about this cake I’d baked.
It’s the kind of simple and quick cake that can be easily cobbled together for afternoon tea or snack.
It was the custard powder that initially drew me to this cake; it reminded me of a dessert my mom used to make – warm and creamy custard sauce poured over tender slices of pound cake, it was decadent and perfectly sweet.
She was the reason why I kept buying tins of Bird’s Custard Powder even though I had no clue what to do with it.
She’d talked about the dessert years before she started making it for us; it always led to stories of how she learned to bake as a child from the Sisters at St. Agnes.
That dessert usually led to more stories of her childhood, back then I could never imagine my mom as a child, so I hung on to those stories like they were fantasies, and now that I’m older, her childhood seem even more fascinating.
Maybe we’ll make this custard cake with whipped coconut cream this Sunday for tea, sit around the table and coax more interesting tales out of her… while we try and spoil her.
This is a wonderful little cake, modest and excellent on its own, but the whipped coconut frosting makes it a delightful dessert, much like how I remember my mom’s cake and custard sauce.
It’s a dense cake, also moist and not too sweet with a subtle richness that goes well with tea.
[Tweet “A deliciously lovely and simple custard cake; moist and dense, and wonderful with tea!. #vegan “]


- 1 1/2 cups spelt flour (or all-purpose, whole-wheat or gluten-free flour)
- 3 tablespoons custard powder (like Bird’s custard or cornstarch)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (I use turbinado sugar)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 cup light coconut milk (from can)
- 5 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 can full fat coconut milk, refrigerated for a few hours or overnight
- 1/3 cup icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease an 8-inch round cake pan with oil and set aside
- Sift spelt flour and custard powder together in a large bowl
- Add sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom and salt, and mix
- In a smaller bowl, combine apple cider vinegar, lemon juice with coconut milk
- Add coconut oil, lemon zest and vanilla extract and mix well to combine
- Make a well in the flour mixture (dry ingredients) and pour in the coconut milk mixture (wet ingredients)
- Mix with spatula to get a smooth batter
- Pour batter into greased cake pan and bake for 30 – 35 minutes, until top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean
- Cool in pan on a wire rack for 5 - 10 minutes, remove from pan and allow cake to cool completely before frosting
- To make frosting, open the chilled can of coconut and scoop out the fat leaving out the watery liquid
- Combine the coconut with icing sugar and vanilla, whip until light and fluffy.
- Frost cake with whipped coconut cream
- Enjoy!

13 Comments
These photos are seriously so stunning and bright and lovely. I still remember the first cake I baked that I couldn’t stop talking about either. There is just something so special about those cakes right?
9 May, 2015 at 5:53 pmAww thanks Jocelyn! You’re right, there’s just something about first cakes. 🙂
10 May, 2015 at 1:33 amLove Love Love this cake, Elsa. It looks so good and so perfect for the afternoon tea. I especially love that whipped coconut cream .. yum
10 May, 2015 at 11:57 amThank you so much Pang! It is indeed the perfect cake for afternoon tea 🙂
11 May, 2015 at 11:45 amYUM! You create the absolute best looking recipes!! And as always, such beautiful pictures.
15 May, 2015 at 5:49 amThank you Tedi for such wonderfully kind words!!! 🙂
15 May, 2015 at 1:59 pmThis cake sounds just as tasty as these photos make it look! I’m definitely going to have to add it to my list of recipes to try!
15 May, 2015 at 9:52 amThank you Claire… do let me know what you think when you try it! 🙂
15 May, 2015 at 2:03 pmAwww thanks Vita! I do hope you try it. Spelt is the best, I’m trying to use it in a lot of my baking now… it’s so much richer :-). Very nice to meet you!
15 May, 2015 at 2:05 pmOmg teach me to bake!
16 May, 2015 at 9:59 amHahahaha… I’m a novice as well 🙂
18 May, 2015 at 9:54 am