Vietnamese Cassava Cake (Banh Khoai Mi)

Staying in the spirit of Chinese and Vietnamese New Year, the year of the Ox, I have just prepared a traditional Vietnamese dessert that has been a long time favourite of mine, among all other favourite foods. I crave for it every year, especially around the New Year. I usually prefer baking during weekends, as I have more time, but this cake is so quick to make that it’s ready to eat, when piping hot, with a blink of an eye.

The easy part is the preparation. The hard part is to wait for that golden beauty to bake to a dense, yet very moist cake.

Cassava, also known as Manioc, Yuca or Mandioca in other countries, is a root that releases an interesting blend of coconut and red bean aroma. You’ll have to try it to understand what I mean. I tend to find its taste and texture to be very close to a custard flan, but a little denser and drier. Yet, the cake is incredibly moist when eaten when taken right out of the oven, and even chilled. Its consistency can also be compared to a sticky-rice cake, without the rice! This is due to the starch found in Cassava. Cassava can be bought pre-packaged at a local Asian grocery store, but if you don’t mind the extra work of grating fresh cassava root, fresh cassava can also be and is preferably used for this recipe .

cassava (aka Manioc, Yuca or Mandioca)

It’s up to you to find out, and I do strongly encourage you to try it, especially if you are one to have a weakness for flans and sticky rice cakes. How odd, you might think.

Trust me on this one. It’s a cake that you will certainly love eating.

Preparation: 15 minutes, Baking time: 45-50 minutes

Recipe “au pif”:
1 ½ cups finely shredded cassava (aka Manioc, Yuca or Mandioca)
3 eggs
1/3 cup raw cane sugar (or 1 cup regular granulated sugar)
1 can (about 400 ml) good quality coconut milk
1 tsp shredded lemon peel
2 tbsp rum
2 sheets of banana leaves (found in most Asian grocery stores)
2 tbsp melted butter

Preheat oven at 375F.

Squeeze the shredded Cassava to remove water. Put aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar. Stir in the coconut milk, lemon peel, rum and cassava.

Mix well until all ingredients all well combined.

Pour the batter into a round baking dish (about 8” diameter and 3” deep) lined with the banana leaves gently greased with the butter.

Bake for about 45-50 minutes, uncovered, until the cake is golden.
Serve warm or chilled, with a nice cup of your preferred tea.

Serves 6-8 people.

Enjoy.