There are may things we fear in life at Chile HQ: running out of box sets on a long weekend; unexpected visits from the in-laws; and any mail addressed from the IRS. But one thing we don’t fear is scurvy – that disease that was the plight of pirates and sailors in days of yore (I’ve always wanted to say ‘days of yore’ and now I have). Swollen gums, loose teeth, bulging eyes – hardly going to win any beauty contests.

Of course we now know what they didn’t. Scurvy is caused by a lack of Vitamin C, that cheery guy found in citrus fruit. It’s the reason we tend to drink a lot of margaritas early in the morning. Of course we tend to drink them early in the afternoon and evening as well, but that’s another story.

This time of year, we all hanker for an extra blast of the ole Vitmain C, don’t we? It’s cold, dark and even if our teeth aren’t falling out it feels like everything else is falling apart.

Of course, drinking on an empty stomach is a no-no, so we whipped up this Chile lime drizzle cake. It’s just the ticket to put a smile on your face and a spring in your step. It uses both New Mexico green chile powder as well as green chile Caribe for that one-two chile punch that we know you love. It won’t bring world peace but it’s pretty darn close, and that’s as much as you can ask for, right?

Chile lime drizzle cake

7oz sugar

3 ½oz vegetable oil

zest of two limes

2oz lime juice

1-1 ½ Tbsp New Mexico green chile powder

6oz COYO Natural, milk yogurt alternative

2 large eggs, beaten

1 ½ tsp salt

1 Tbsp baking powder

10 ½oz all purpose flour

Drizzle glaze

2oz lime juice

2oz sugar

New Mexico green chile caribe

Preheat oven to 175°

One 2lb loaf pan (9 x 5 inches) or 3 mini loaf pans (6 x 3 ½)

For the cake, mix together the sugar, oil, lime zest, lime juice and green chile powder in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the COYO and the eggs. In a medium sized bowl, sift together the salt, baking powder, and all purpose flour. Pour half the sugar & oil mixture into the dry ingredients, and fold in gently. Repeat with half the COYO & egg mixture. Then finish off by folding in the rest of the sugar & oil mixture and lastly the Coyo and egg.

Grease the loaf tin(s) with butter and dust with flour.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin(s) and bake in the oven until a skewer inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Approximately 50 minutes for a large tin and 30 minutes for the mini tins.

Remove the pan(s) and place on a cooling rack and let sit for five minutes. Meanwhile, make the glaze by combining the lime juice and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until the sugar is melted and the glaze warm. Alternatively, you can heat the sugar and juice in a bowl in the microwave for about 50 seconds.

Remove the cake(s) from the pan(s). Take a wooden or metal skewer and make holes in the cake(s). Drizzle the glaze and sprinkle with some chile caribe. Top slices with a dollop of COYO if you desire.