A Burmese Coconut Cake!
Jan. 15th, 2018 02:30 pmThe latest issue of Milk Street Magazine arrived in the mail last week, and it contained three recipes that I wanted to try: an interesting chocolate cookie, a fascinating chocolate cake that did not use the oven -- you cooked it in a Dutch oven on the stove top and it used steam to cook! And this -- the coconut cake from Burma.

Click to embiggen, if you are so inclined.
Distinguishing features: a 14 ounce can of unsweetened coconut milk, semolina flour, and the only spice is ground cardamom!
It calls for toasting the unsweet shredded coconut, which is a new technique for me, and also for lining the 9" pan with parchment paper, also something that I haven't done before.
And naturally I screwed up.
After mixing everything together and pouring it in to the pan, (and I do mean POUR! VERY liquid batter!) you add cashews and more coconut to the top, then put it in the oven. I had substituted slivered almonds for cashews as (a) my wife doesn't like cashews, and (2) I couldn't find cashews at our three grocery stores. I realized afterwards that I should have checked the snack aisle in addition to the baking area. Anyway, I then realized that I'd forgotten to add the butter! It calls for melting half a stick of salted butter, then cooling it, and mixing it in with everything else. The cake had only been in the oven for less than five minutes, so I decided to pull it, dump it back in the mixer, and re-melt the butter for 10 seconds and mix it back in. I didn't re-top the cake with coconut and almonds, so when done correctly it will look slightly different.
I was concerned that the almonds would sink to the bottom of the mix as liquidy as it was, but it wasn't a problem. They are nicely distributed throughout. And this cake is GOOD. If I lived in the South, I might class it as Slap Yo Momma Good. Fortunately I don't live there, and my momma is 500 miles away. Super moist, very flavorful, the cardamom is a very slight flavor that you can't quite place.
The nice thing is that my wife isn't a fan of coconut, so it's possible that she won't like this cake and I'll have it all to myself!
Anyway, HIGHLY recommended! I had to buy a 9" pan, and it didn't rise too much. This is definitely going in to my proverbial recipe box. The toasting of the flour and coconut is very simple, just a bit different. And in the future, I'm not going to bother with lining the sides with parchment paper, just the bottom.
ETA: RATS. The wife really likes it, so I'm going to have to share it. :-(
;-)
Also, there's no recommended icing or frosting for this: it's fine as-is. And like I said, normally it'd be covered in coconut and cashews except for my messing up.

Click to embiggen, if you are so inclined.
Distinguishing features: a 14 ounce can of unsweetened coconut milk, semolina flour, and the only spice is ground cardamom!
It calls for toasting the unsweet shredded coconut, which is a new technique for me, and also for lining the 9" pan with parchment paper, also something that I haven't done before.
And naturally I screwed up.
After mixing everything together and pouring it in to the pan, (and I do mean POUR! VERY liquid batter!) you add cashews and more coconut to the top, then put it in the oven. I had substituted slivered almonds for cashews as (a) my wife doesn't like cashews, and (2) I couldn't find cashews at our three grocery stores. I realized afterwards that I should have checked the snack aisle in addition to the baking area. Anyway, I then realized that I'd forgotten to add the butter! It calls for melting half a stick of salted butter, then cooling it, and mixing it in with everything else. The cake had only been in the oven for less than five minutes, so I decided to pull it, dump it back in the mixer, and re-melt the butter for 10 seconds and mix it back in. I didn't re-top the cake with coconut and almonds, so when done correctly it will look slightly different.
I was concerned that the almonds would sink to the bottom of the mix as liquidy as it was, but it wasn't a problem. They are nicely distributed throughout. And this cake is GOOD. If I lived in the South, I might class it as Slap Yo Momma Good. Fortunately I don't live there, and my momma is 500 miles away. Super moist, very flavorful, the cardamom is a very slight flavor that you can't quite place.
The nice thing is that my wife isn't a fan of coconut, so it's possible that she won't like this cake and I'll have it all to myself!
Anyway, HIGHLY recommended! I had to buy a 9" pan, and it didn't rise too much. This is definitely going in to my proverbial recipe box. The toasting of the flour and coconut is very simple, just a bit different. And in the future, I'm not going to bother with lining the sides with parchment paper, just the bottom.
ETA: RATS. The wife really likes it, so I'm going to have to share it. :-(
;-)
Also, there's no recommended icing or frosting for this: it's fine as-is. And like I said, normally it'd be covered in coconut and cashews except for my messing up.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-19 04:55 am (UTC)It sounds very tasty, if you like coconut. Maybe I'll look for it at the library.