Coconut and cardamom loaf cake

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and semolina, then set aside.
2. Put the sugar and coconut water in a small pan set over a medium heat and heat until dissolved and thickened – 8-10 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the shredded coconut, ground almonds, cardamom, a pinch of salt, the rosewater, vanilla extract, lime zest and juice, then stir to combine and leave to cool (see tips).
3. With an electric mixer, whisk the eggs and butter in a mixing bowl for 5 minutes. It’ll look like it’s curdled but persevere and it’ll come together. Gradually add the cooled coconut mixture until combined. Don’t be alarmed – it’s quite a runny mixture. Fold in the flour mixture using a large metal spoon until just combined – don’t overwork the batter at this stage.
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4. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 45-50 minutes until a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean. Put in its tin on a wire rack to cool completely.
5. If icing the cake, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and whisk in a little lemon/lime juice to make a thick icing. Spoon over the cooled cake, then sprinkle with rose petals and zest to serve.