Coconut and Lime Loaf

Here is a guilt-free (well, if you ignore the sugar...) cake to add to your sweet treat repetoire. I cannot pretend to understand the ins and outs of baking but I think it replaces fat with 0% greek yoghurt.... but whatever the secret is, it's a goodun'! It is taken from Lorraine Pascale's A Lighter Way to Bake....

• 
  
• Ingredients
• 175g (6oz) plain flour
• 50g (2oz) desiccated coconut
• 1 tsp baking powder
• tiny pinch of salt
• 1 medium egg
• 200g (7oz) no-fat Greek yogurt
• 75g (3oz) soft light brown sugar
• zest and juice of 1 lime (wash in hot soapy water to get rid of the wax before using)
• seeds from 1 vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla extract

        Lime Sugar Syrup

• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• zest and juice of 1 lime (washed and dried)

-Preheat the oven to 180C (fan 160C), 350F, gas mark 4 and line a 22cm x 10cm (81⁄2 in x 4in) loaf tin with baking parchment. I make sure that the paper overlaps a little bit, which makes it
much easier to remove the loaf from the tin once it is cooked.

-Toss the flour, coconut, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Beat the egg lightly in a medium bowl, and then whisk in the yogurt, sugar, lime juice and zest and the vanilla seeds or extract. Mix the wet mixture into the dry ingredients to give a wet dropping consistency. It is important to do this with as few stirs as possible so the flour doesn’t get overworked, which would result in quite a tough loaf. Pour the mixture into the tin and spread and smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Bake in the oven for 35–40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

-Make the lime sugar syrup about 5 minutes before the loaf is baked. Put the sugar and lime juice in a small pan over a low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Then turn up the heat and let it bubble away for 30 seconds to 1 minute until syrupy. Remove from the heat, stir the lime zest in and set aside to infuse and thicken up a little more.

-Once the loaf is cooked, remove from the oven and brush with the lime sugar syrup. Leave the loaf to stand in the tin for a few minutes before lifting out and allowing to cool completely on a wire rack. Enjoy warm or cold.