Louise Cake With Plum And Coconut

Louise cake with plum and coconut is your next easy-to-make dessert. You will love its coconut-based biscuit covered with plums and topped with a lovely almond meringue. Do not miss the plum season to treat yourself!

This beautiful Louise cake loaded with plums makes the summer elegant and tasty. It is undoubtedly the perfect time of the year to add plum baking goodies to your baking calendar.

Jump to:

• What is Louise cake?
• History of Louise cake
• Why Louise cake recipe works
• How to make Louise cake step by step
• Expert tips
• More delicious cake recipes you will love
• Louise Cake With Plum And Coconut

What is Louise cake?

Louise cake is one of the most popular New Zealand desserts. The original cake is baked in a square pan and has a cake-y base topped with raspberry or plum jam and a thin layer of coconut meringue. The cake is often called Louise Cake Slice since it is cut into squares after baking.

History of Louise cake

The origin of the cake is unclear; although, it is considered that the cake was named after Queen Victoria’s daughter, Princess Louise. Some rumor sais the cake was created for her wedding in 1871.

Then the recipe for Louise cake was probably brought to New Zealand by British settlers. Today, Louise cake is rated sixth in the “Top 10 Favorite Kiwi Recipes.” Who is a kiwi? Kiwi is the nickname for New Zealanders.

This incredibly delicious Louise cake is a tiny twist on the cake created by the Israeli-British chef Yotam Ottolenghi and his partner Helen Goh. I mostly experimented with the meringue to cake ratio.

It does not really matter what stone fruit to use to make Louise cake: each time it turns out irresistibly tasty. Every single piece of the cake says a sweet “hello” with a quick “goodbye”, bite after bite.

Why Louise cake recipe works

1. The cake recipe is straightforward and is easy to follow. There is no resting or cooling time between steps, which makes the baking quick and enjoyable.
2. The cake bottom has a yellow color and a dense texture due to egg yolks. It also has a subtle light flavor due to desiccated coconut.
3. Using different stone fruits such as apricots, peaches, nectarines, and even cherries makes the cake a universal summer dessert.
4. The deep yellow ochre of the cake base and the airy white meringue have a remarkable contrast with the burgundy/red color of plums. This contrast gives a dramatic look to the cake.
5. Meringue sweetness is wonderfully balanced with the sour note of plums.
6. The moist, syrupy plum layer is harmonized with the cake-y base and the thick airy meringue that is baked to create a lovely crust on top.
7. Adding toasted almonds to the meringue topping gives an additional volume and crunchiness to the dessert.

How to make Louise cake step by step

To toast almonds, preheat oven to 340 F/170 C. Place flaked almonds on a baking sheet and toast for 10 minutes until lightly browned. Remove almonds from the oven, and let cool.

Increase the oven temperature to 365 F/185 C. Butter and line a round springform pan * 9 inches/23 cm in diameter with parchment paper *.

To make the biscuit, place butter, sugar, and lemon zest in the bowl of a stand mixer * (photo 1). Beat on medium-high speed until sugar/butter mixture is smooth. Add egg yolks, one at a time, and process until combined (photo 2).

In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder *, and salt, using a flour sifter *. Add shredded coconut * and mix well. Low speed of the stand mixer * and gradually add dry mixture to the main preparation, alternating with milk and vanilla (photo 3). Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan and even top with a spoon (photo 4).

Bake at 365 F/185 C for 25 minutes. Check the readiness of the biscuit with a skewer or a knife: the cake base is ready if the skewer or the knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

While the biscuit cools down, prepare plums. Divide each plum vertically in half. Discard stones and then slice every half into four parts. In general, you will get eight segments per plum and forty segments in sum (photo 5). If you use smaller plums or cherries, then quarter each fruit.

Increase oven heat to 392 F/200 C. Arrange plum pieces on top of the biscuit, close to each other, and cut side down (photo 6).  Try not to overlap the fruit; otherwise, it will make the middle layer of the cake watery.

To make the meringue, whisk egg whites and salt on medium-high speed one minute, until soft peaks. Gradually add sugar and continue to whisk at high speed until the meringue becomes stiff and glossy (photo 7). Add vanilla extract *, vinegar, and cornflour and whisk again. Finally, add toasted flaked almonds (photo 8) and gently mix with a spatula.

Distribute the meringue on top of plums. Swirl the meringue around in order to get rough waves and peaks (photo 9). Bring the cake in the oven. Immediately lower the oven temperature to 356 F/180 C and bake for 35 minutes, until the meringue has formed a slightly brown hard crust. Remove the cake from the oven, and let cool down, still being in the cake pan, at least 30 minutes. Release the cake and peel the parchment paper from sides of the cake (photo 10). 

Expert tips

1. Use seasonal ripe fruits that are not too soft.
2. Replace fresh plums with apricots, peaches, nectarines, or cherries.
3. Use frozen unpitted fruits or any fruit jam as a spread for the middle layer to make the cake all year round.
4. Try to avoid fresh berries such as strawberries, raspberries, blackberries since they are too watery for the cake.
5. If you are a coconut lover, switch toasted flaked almonds with shredded coconut * while making the meringue topping.
6. Replace 20 g all-purpose flour with the same amount of cocoa powder * to make a chocolate-coconut biscuit that would perfectly pair with a cherry layer instead of the plum one.
7. Watch out for the color of the meringue crust while baking. You might want to get less or more browned crust.

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The recipe was adapted from https://ottolenghi.co.uk/. It was originally published on September 06, 2018. The recipe has been revised to include improved content and photos. All posted pictures are mine.