Step 1

Heat up the oven to 170° C (or 150° C fan forced) / 340° F (300° F fan forced). Grease your baking tin (I used a 20 cm / 8" round pan) with a very small amount of oil.

Step 2

Cream the oil and sugar with an electric whisk in a tall bowl.

Step 3

Stir the lemon / lime juice, room temperature (but not warm) plant milk and almond essence into the oil and sugar.

Step 4

Place a sieve over the bowl and sift through all the dry ingredients, except for the ground almonds. Fold the flour in gently. If you are using wheat flour, be careful not to over mix the batter as the cake will be tough.

Step 5

Fold in the finely ground almonds.

Step 6

Transfer the batter to the baking tin. If your tin doesn't have a removable bottom, it may be a good idea to place 2 long and wide strips of baking paper down first so that you can use them as handy tabs to make cake removal easier.

Step 7

Bake for about 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and the top is nicely browned. I found that coconut sugar makes the cake brown way quicker so I covered the top with a piece of kitchen foil for the last 10 minutes of baking. I also found that the cake made with GF flour mix only needed 35 minutes in the oven, while the one with the all purpose wheat flour required more like 40 minutes. Please stay vigilant and use your own judgement depending on what sugar / flour you used and on the knowledge of your particular oven, but do not open the oven door until the cake has fully risen and has browned on top.

Step 8

Allow the cake to cool down completely (that's very important).

Step 9

Top the cooled down cake with cream (or thick coconut yoghurt) and berries and serve. The cream will stay stable for several hours at room temperature provided its not exposed to excessive heat or direct sunlight. Store leftovers in an airtight box, in the fridge.

Step 10

Place a metal whipping bowl in the fridge for at least 1 hour prior to whipping the cream.

Step 11

Just before you are ready to whip, open a tin of coconut milk gently and scoop the cream portion out (it should have risen to the top of the can while sitting in the fridge).

Step 12

Whip the coconut cream with an electric whisk for 5 minutes, until soft peaks form.

Step 13

Add 1 tsp of tapioca starch and whip some more to stabilise. If you wish to sweeten the cream a little, add 2-3 tsp icing sugar.

Step 14

Keep the cream chilled until ready to top the cake, do not expose to direct sunlight and make sure the cake is completely cold before applying.