Margarita's International Recipes

Goan
Baath

Semolina Coconut Cake

I've been meaning to make this date for months but I'm not much of a baker so I've been putting it off. That proved fortunate, as I was able to get my daughter to make it. It was fairly simple – though it does take a lot of time because the cake needs to rest – and the results were pretty delicious. This is a cake that tastes much better than it looks.

I did make several changes from the original recipe. Rather than using fresh coconut, I saved time by using packaged sweetened coconut flakes. That made me decrease the required sugar from ½ a cup to ¼ cup. The cake was perfect for me, not overly sweet, though you may want to increase the sugar by a couple of tablespoons if you prefer your desserts on the sweeter side.

The recipe called for rawa or "semolina," and after some digging I realized that the closest substitute would be cream of wheat. I think it gave the cake the right consistency.

When I made the cake, I had the batter rest in the refrigerator overnight. Only later it occurred to me that perhaps it was supposed to rest at room temperature. In any case I removed it from the fridge several hours before I baked the cake. It didn't rise too much, but then again I don't think it was supposed to.


Semolina Coconut Cake

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 cup semolina or cream of wheat
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 3 Tbsp. all purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 Tbsp. butter, melted
  • 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 Tbsp. raisins

    Directions

    Beat the eggs until frothy and set aside.

    Beat together the coconut and the water until you create a paste. While beating, gradually add the semolina, followed by the sugar, the flour, the cornstarch, the baking powder and the salt. Mix until fully combined. Add the melted butter and mix until combined once more. Cover the bowl and let rest for at least 6 hours or overnight.

    Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8"x8" oven-safe cake pan.

    Add the vanilla extract to the batter and mix well. Pour batter onto the prepared pan. Press raisins onto it. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes or until the cake is dried in the inside.


Adapted from a recipe at Hilda Touch of Spice.

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