Cassava Cake : Baking in Two Places

This dish, if you may allow me, is another family tradition.  My aunt (we call her Tita Bam) used to make this cake during fiestas or family gatherings and in one of those times, I remember her telling me that she will never, ever going to make cassava cake ever again.  You know why? Back in the days, you have to do everything on your own.  From peeling the cassava to manually grating the root crop, and it's kinda hard.  I can imagine how difficult that was for her, most especially if the only thing I can do (then) was hand over ingredients and gadgets to her.  Nowadays, you can ask the market vendor to peel and grate it for you plus the fact you can use food processor (if you want to do it your own) to grind the cassava.  


Filipinos across continents are true fan of our delicacies, and Elizabeth Quirino (a.k.a. @Mango_Queen), a dear friend of mine (I came to know virtually) and a fellow food blogger,  is no exception.  Even if she is miles away from the Philippines, she still cooks Filipino food including cassava cake or Cassava Bibingka.  This particular entry is actually a twin post.  Tita Betty (as I call her) and I both agreed that Cassava Cake is a perfect way to show the world that Filipino food rocks! We also share the passion of letting the world know that you can cook and prepare Filipino dishes wherever you are in the world without compromising taste.

I’ve always like cassava cake most especially the top portion of it - the crunchy, sweet and salty top coating.  And cake itself is another story, the marriage of grated cassava, coconut milk and sugar is simply heaven.  Cassava cake can be a dessert or a snack and if you feel not eating rice, this Filipino favorite can fill our tummy anytime!

CASSAVA CAKE 


Ingredients
For the Cake
4 cups packed finely grated cassava
2 cups coconut water (or better second squeeze of mature coconut meat)
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar

For the topping
1 cup coconut cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup grated cheddar or processed cheese

Method:
Prepare steamer with enough water.  Bring to boil.  

Prepare topping by mixing all ingredients (except cheese).  Set aside.

Mix 'cake' ingredients and pour in a 9" pan lined with aluminum foil.  You may also use big muffin tray to have smaller cakes.


Steam cassava for 25 minutes.  

Preheat oven to 350C.   Use top grill/heat only if possible.

Remove Cassava Cake from steamer and pour topping mixture.

Bake cassava for 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and sprinkle grated cheese.  Return to oven and bake for another 10 minutes or until cheese has melted and toasted.

Remove from oven and let cool.



So you see, it's easy.  Cooking time may take longer than your usual cake but the process is really simple.  Good things come to those who wait, eh?  The cassava cake you are looking for should be soft with bits of cassava.

Cassava cake is a labor of love, by being so, isn't it great to serve this to your guests during holidays? Or better yet, give this as gifts!

Now I'd like you to meet Tita Betty, my co-baker in this post.  Elizabeth Besa-Quirino a true-blooded Filipino born and raise in Tarlac.  She also lived in Manila before she migrated to New Jersey with her family for more than 20 years now.  She is a freelance writter and the creative director of her two blogs - Asian in America and The Queen's Notebook. 

You want to see how she made her Cassava Bibingka?


Check out her post at Asian in America entitled Cassava Bibingka:  Baking in Two Places and choose what cassava cake you want to prepare.   Remember, you can do this even if you are in places where snow falls or summer is year-round weather *wink*

A sneak peak of her post:

"Cassava Bibingka was  one of the snacks I used to bake  when I lived in the Philippines . That’s why when we moved to the USA I worried about how I could make all the family favorites . I used to wonder how I could buy freshly grated cassava or get hold of a fresh coconut..." {Read more}



Sharing this lovely event with the foodies from : Food Trip Friday, Foodie Friday, Tastetastic Thursday and Food Friday

Comments

  1. Thanks for all your hard work on this twin posts, Dudut! Enjoyed baking with you,even if you're 20,000+ miles away.Thanks to today's technology, it felt like you were just next door, when we were checking on each other's "process". Hope you enjoy your Cassava Bibingka as we devour ours here! Happy 11-11-11 !

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  2. Thanks for the recipe! I love cassava cakes and will try this when I get around to buying an oven ;)

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  3. so it is steamed first? i never knew that!
    i love this dessert!!! makes me want to try it myself...i think the oven toaster can be used here, too..if your container is small enough to fit into the toaster. lol.

    good idea as a gift....you got me thinking! ;)

    thank you so much for another yummy food post for this week's Food Friday, Dudut
    enjoy the weekend!

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  4. yum..looks very delicious, am drooling too. I never make cassava cake :-) Dropping some love for Food Trip Friday, hope that you can return the favor too.

    http://www.adventurousjessy.com/2011/11/fried-chicken-with-corn-and-pasta-for-food-trip-friday-2.html

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  5. I love cassava cake, too. Delicious! Happy FTF! Here's my entry: http://www.delightmyappetite.com/2011/11/food-trip-friday-floating-island-restaurant/

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  6. I love cassava cake, and this one looks really good!

    Sarciadong Sardinas

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  7. I love cassava cake..at di naman ako marunong gumawa, so buy na lang ako sa goldilocks hehe. visiting from FTF. hope you can visit back.

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  8. miss ko na tong cassava cake :-(

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  9. Gorgeous! Where do you buy cassava?

    Thanks for linking up at A Little Nosh this week!

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  10. I don't know how to bake cassava cake but one thing I love about it is the cheese toppings. This one is drool worthy! Thanks for sharing the recipe. Maybe some day, I'll get the chance to make my own cassava cake.

    Visiting via Food Friday!

    Gene, meiji black chocolate

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  11. @sherry - thanks, glad you liked it!

    @maiylah - you can actually bake it directly but i prefer to steam it. it's tender and moist that way :) yeah, if it's just a small container, oven toaster will do.

    @jessy - thanks for dropping by. it's easy to make!

    @Kim - thanks! glad you liked it!

    @kat - you may want to try making them sometime, easy lang naman :)thanks for dropping by!

    @cecile - thanks for dropping by!

    @foodtripfriday - great! thanks for dropping by

    @amy - our local markets have cassava and it's all year round. glad to link it up to A Little Nosh

    @Gene - glad you liked it! let me know what happened, okay?

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  12. gr8 recipe with different style
    1st time here happy to follow u do visit mu blog

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  13. I've never had anything with cassava before. I had to look it up to even know what it was. Now I'm really interesting in trying this cake. It looks delicious and definitely a cake I could get my fork into.

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  14. That looks so yummm....first time to your blog....and enjoying it....lovely pictures too! Glad to be following you!

    Do stop by mine sometime!

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  15. @Santosh Bangar : thanks for visiting my site and i'm glad you liked this cake :)

    @MJ : glad you liked it! hope you can make one someday :)

    @Carol : glad you liked my site and thanks for following :) i followed you back via GFC

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  16. Great article on Cassava. If anyone is interested in buying Cassava supplements at a good price, there is a great place here because research has shown Cassava improves chances of giving birth to twins: http://www.foreverblessedtwins.com/

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