Sunday, April 11, 2010

Easy and Delicious Cassava / Tapioca Pudding

Cassava or tapioca is a root vegetable, an unlikely ingredient for making dessert, you may think? But cassava pudding is a very popular Southeast Asian dessert and snack.

I love two styles of cassava pudding - Kueh Bingka (baked Malaysian cake) and Kueh Getuk (steamed Indonesian pudding). I was delighted when a friend shared with us a recipe that fuses the two cakes into one. I have added comments and more ingredients based on my past experimentation and experience with baking similar cakes.


Ingredients :

1/2 kg grated cassava

(thaw frozen pack from Asian grocer in the fridge for 12 hours
OR
grate from freshly peeled tapioca root that has been soaked in water for at least 1 hour)

1 cup of good quality light coconut cream (e.g., ayam or kara)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chilled grated coconut or dessicated coconut (not rancid)
2 medium sized eggs (lightly beaten)
50 g unsalted dairy butter (softened at room temperature)
1/2 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)

Method:

Mix all the ingredients, starting with butter and cassava, then add sugar, coconut and egg.

Mix everything together (but save a little bit of egg for glazing later).

When well combined, pour mixture into greased baking tray.
Use a broad base or large surface tray so that the cake will be evenly baked.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C for 45 minutes.
Turn the tray around 2 times during baking to ensure even distribution of heat.

Check with skewer if the cake comes clean. If not, bake for another 10 minutes.

Leave the cake in the oven to brown for a while after turning off the heat. Slice the cake when cooled.

This cake can keep at room temperature for 30 hours during spring and autumn seasons.

- Acknowledgement : Mrs SYW for her inputs