Tropical fruit cake with cream cheese icing

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 160C/320F/Gas 2.

Step 2

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl and mix well.

Step 3

Add the sugar, walnuts, pineapple, sultanas, mashed banana, passion fruit pulp, grated carrot, oil and eggs and mix well to completely combine.

Step 4

Pour the cake mixture into a greased 22.5cm/9in cake tin and place into the oven to bake for 1-1¼ hours, or until cooked through. Test by pushing a skewer into the centre of the cake. If the skewer comes out clean the cake is ready. If the cake top is browning too much, cover with a circle of kitchen foil.

Step 5

Remove from the oven when ready and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Step 6

For the icing, beat the butter and cheese together in a clean bowl until light and fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla extract and mix well. Add the coconut and mix again.

Step 7

Once the cake is cool, remove from the cake tin and spread the icing all over the cake. Decorate the cake with a few crushed pecans and serve in generous slices.