GOJI BERRY COCONUT CAKE

It’s during long dark weeks like this that your mind suddenly decides to sack reality off and bolts out to places where you can wear clogs every day without socks and you can cycle around without hitting cars nor having to go to work and where people first allow each other to hug and be hugged and then months after that they meet.

It is very unfortunate however that we also have a body (no matter how full of mucus and disgusting it may be) and you will find that they are incredibly more difficult to reposition than minds. In fact, my one is stuck in a very cold windy environment and it’s not coping well (see under mucus and disgustingness), plus it really doesn’t help that Pret’s gingerbread men there are not vegan and can’t be shared.

Thankfully, in this very same environment you can find goji berries and coconut and vegan cake, and a combination of the above makes it so worth it to tell your thoughts and dreams to resign. It worked a treat for me (ha), you let me know.

GOJI BERRY COCONUT CAKE

250g (2 cups) wholemeal flour

50g (1/3 cup) cornflour

150g (3/4 cup) unrefined golden caster sugar

100g (1 ¼ cup) desiccated coconut

2 teaspoons baking powder

140ml (scant 2/3 cup) sunflower oil or other flavourless oil

200ml (3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon) water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

60g (1/2 cup) dried goji berries

Before you start, place the goji berries in a bowl of water and leave to soak for about 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F) and lightly grease a 22cm/9” cake tin. In a bowl mix together flour, cornflour, sugar, coconut and baking powder. Add oil, water and vanilla extract, mix until combined then fold in the goji berries. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Leave on a rack to cool then sprinkle with icing sugar and more desiccated coconut, and/or decorate with more goji berries if you like.