Maldives ginger cassava cake with coconut frosting
Drawing inspiration from a traditional Cassava Coconut cake called Aluvi Baokibba, but being unable to source fresh cassava in South Africa, we landed up with this; a recipe that pays tribute to a few of the home-grown flavours of the Maldives - Coconut, Ginger and Cassava. It’s light yet rich and morish and embraces the aromatics of the island.
2⅔ cups cassava flour
1T baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup butter, softened at room temperature
3t vanilla extract
1½ cups coconut milk
4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup icing sugar
6T coconut milk
4t ground ginger
Juice of one lime
TO DECORATE
Desiccated coconut
Pawpaw flowers
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Grease a 20cm x 30cm baking pan.
For the cake: In a stand mixer (you can also go old school and mix by hand), sift together the cassava flour, baking powder and sugar. Set to a slow speed to combine. Add the butter, vanilla extract and coconut milk. Set to medium to mix well. With the mixer on medium, add the eggs, one by one. Mix until a smooth, slightly thick batter is formed.
Pour the batter into the greased pan. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and set aside.
For the glaze: In a medium bowl, combine the icing sugar, coconut milk, lime juice and ginger. Mix well (use a whisk to avoid lumps). The icing should be between a runny glaze consistency (add more coconut milk or a dash of water if needed).
Serve: Evenly drizzle the glaze over the cake while still slightly warm. Sprinkle with the desiccated coconut and decorate with pawpaw flowers. Serve and put some smiles on some faces. :)
