Baked Cassava Cakes

For my birthday I got a small Thai baking book. I love it, although I have to google half of the ingredients....never mind it is always exciting to try something new. Only thing concerns me, that I can't evaluate the end result, as I never had an authentic Thai dessert. But I baked this one and first it was a bit weird as I compared to a "western" bake, but if you get your head around the fact that it isn't the usual texture...you going to love this. This bake doesn't contain any flour, therefore it is light, jellylike and you can consume even in the evening.

Baked Cassava Cake

Ok in case you don't know what cassava is:

"Cassava (Manihot esculenta), also called yuca, mogo, manioc, mandioca and kamoting kahoy, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae (spurge family) native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its ediblestarchy, tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates. It differs from the similarly-spelledyucca, an unrelated fruit-bearing shrub in the Asparagaceae family. Cassava, when dried to a starchy, powdery (or pearly) extract is called tapioca, while its fermented, flaky version is named garri.

Cassava is the third-largest source of food carbohydrates in the tropics.Cassava is a major staple food in the developing world, providing a basic diet for around 500 million people." Wikipedia

Ingredients

1kg cassava(you can buy them in International Food stores)

75g sugar

120g freshly grated coconut

300ml warm water

2 vanilla pods (the recommended 1 tbsp pandanus essence, but I couldn't find it in any shop-now I sent my contact to Singapore, hopefully I can lay may hands on it soon)

100g dessicated coconut

Preheat the oven to 180C. Peel the cassava and grate into find strands with a grater. Wrap in a muslin cloth and squeeze dry. Set aside. (Ok I didn't have the time for that so I squeezed it with my hand...in the end I had 500g of cassava flesh, (the rest was the water and skin))

Combine the cassava, sugar, grated coconut, water fragrant essence or vanilla seeds and the dessicated coconut in a mixing bowl until well blended.

Transfer to a baking tray and bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until the inserted wooden skewer comes out clean. 

Remove and set aside.

Cut the cassava cake into the desired shapes. Serve warm or at room temperature with coconut or vanilla ice cream.