‘Baath Cake’/ Goan Coconut cake topped with toasted fresh coconut

‘Baath Cake’/ Goan Coconut cake topped with toasted fresh coconut

 

Seasons Greetings everyone!

I hope you’ve all had a very Merry Christmas and are all set to gear up for the New year?

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2015!

Having not being able to visit the family this year, I have been celebrating the festive season with near and dear friends who have spoilt me with delicious food and gifts. While growing up in India and Kuwait, it was not uncommon for fellow Indians, particularly Goans and Mangloreans, to exchange home made Christmas sweets or “Kuswar” during this festive season. I did receive some from a couple of my Indian friends here – the M & M’s, which reminded me of the traditions back home.

It is often a competition, to some extent, of who can make the most amount of sweets and the best tasting sweets, but all in good spirits of course. Mum, my grandmother (Mum’s side), my sister and I would often begin preparing large quantities of these sweets on weeknights after school or work in November staying up late to odd hours of the night in order to be able to begin distributing plates of these to close friends and family in early Dec with visits to their home for a cuppa and to drop off/ exchange sweets and wish them the seasons greetings. The best part would be after you came back home and had all these sweets to try out from what people had given back to you and it was interesting to taste variations in recipes of several of these Christmas sweets.

While there are several of these recipes that I love, my favourite one has always been the “Baath cake” or Goan coconut cake. So this year, I decided to make Mum’s recipe my own and reminisce with some of my fondest Christmas memories.

While this is a Goan Christmas recipe, it could quite easily be enjoyed throughout the year if you’re a fan of moist and fluffy coconut cake.

 

Baath cake/ Goan Coconut Cake

Adapted from – my Mum
(Serves 12-15)

Ingredients:

2 and 1/4 cups fresh finely grated coconut (preferred) OR desiccated coconut
2 cups Sugar
2 cups Semolina (also known as ‘Rawa‘)
8 Eggs – separated (whites and yolks)
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
300gm Butter (melted)
1/4 tsp Nutmeg powder (optional)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon powder (optional)
1 tsp Rosewater (optional)

Butter to be melted

Separate 8 eggs

Separated eggs yolks and whites

 

Method:

Mix the butter, egg yolks while adding in the sugar gradually.

Butter, egg yolks and sugar mixture

Next add in the semolina a little at a time, followed by the 2 cups of grated/ desiccated coconut. The batter should start to get quite thick at this stage.

Lastly add beaten egg whites (to soft peaks) and fold in gently. Make sure the batter in mixed evenly.

Beaten egg whites

Gently fold in beaten egg whites into batter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cover and leave this batter to rest aside for a minimum of 3 hours. 6 hours – overnight is preferred – this step allows the semolina to soak in the moisture and fluff up.

When you’re ready to bake, pour the batter into a suitably sized baking dish and spread evenly.

Pouring batter into a suitably sized baking dish

Batter spread evenly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spread the remaining 1/4 cup of grated fresh coconut or desiccated coconut evenly over the top of the batter.

Fresh coconut sprinkled on top

Baath batter topped with fresh coconut

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preheat the oven to 200ºC and bake the mixture for 25 mins – the cake should progress slowly to a beautiful golden brown.

Light golden brown

Medium golden brown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the 25 mins have elapsed, check if the batter is cooked by inserting a clean butter knife – if it comes out clean, the cake is ready – else you might need to bake it for a few more minutes. The coconut spread on the top should have toasted in the oven, if it hasn’t, broil the cake for a couple of minutes.

Golden brown baked cake

Toasted coconut topping

 

Remove the cake and set aside to cool slightly. This cake is best served at warm to room temperature.

 

Serving suggestions:

This cake is great served on it’s own, accompanied by a good cup of tea (preferably Masala Chai) or alternatively with some ice cream. I’ve served it both ways.

Suggested ice cream flavours if you decide to go the ice cream route –

Vanilla:

Moist and fluffy Baath cake with Vanilla ice cream

 

Mango and Coconut:

I have to say this version was my favourite. I also did have a nice cup of tea on the side.

Moist and fluffy Baath cake with Mango and Coconut ice cream

 

I do hope you enjoy this cake as much as I do!