Cassava Cake, not kuih

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Yes, cassava cake, not cassava kuih. This is cake, soft and fluffy like a cake. Not fluffy like sponge cake, but like a butter cake, at least not as dense like kuih.

Sigh… my cake smelt of durian. The reason? My FIL kept some durians, not air tight, in the freezer where I kept 10 blocks of butter. What can I say…???? Nothing, just kept quiet. I only realized the butter smelt of durian when I took a piece and used. The whole batter smelt of durian….when baked, it still smell and tasted durian, bit not too much, but it’s distracting.

Inspired by Mat Gebu. I adapted from his adaptation from AlongRoz (myresipi.com) who adapted from Mesra.net. BTW, is this AlongRoz the same Roz from HomeKreation?

His recipe uses yellow food colouring, but mine didn’t, cos I used yellow cassava. Feel free to use some colouring, if you wish to.

As for the cassava, I measured it after I peeled, grated and squeezed it. Before I squeezed it, it felt wet, but after I squeezed it, it was as moist as freshly grated coconut. Not too dry though. And I packed it tight into a measuring cup, to see how much it’ll be. Cos I found that some tapioca planted elsewhere may have a higher amount of moisture. Therefore it is hard to gauge how much to use in weight before squeezing. So, I measured it after I squeezed, and use volume rather than weight to measure for the sake of those having moist cassavas.

Cassava Cake
Adapted from Mat Gebu who adapted from AlongRoz (myresipi.com)

190gm butter
160gm sugar
3 large eggs
½ Tbsp vanilla extract
½ cup evaporated milk (I used so much more, cos I read wrongly, but not a bad decision :p)
140gm self raising flour (or substitute with 140gm cake flour + 1/2 Tbsp baking powder)
1 cup packed tightly, finely grated squeezed dry cassava (about 300gm, how much it weighs depends on how dry it is)

1. Preheat oven at 160/180C.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
3. Put in eggs, one by one, beating well after each addition.
4. Put in vanilla and beat for a while.
5. Put in half the flour and mix, then half the milk. Repeat the flour and milk sequence.
6. Fold in grated cassava.
7. Pour batter into a lined 9 inch square pan (You can use 8 inch, just that you’ll get a higher cake, I like mine shorter)
8. Level the surface and bake for 40 mins or until surface is golden and toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Verdict:
Something’s missing, just like when we bake with pandan, coconut is a must. Maybe same goes for this. I think I’ll either replace the evaporated milk with coconut milk or put in freshly grated coconut. And I’ll definitely reduce the butter in this. A bit too oily in my opinion. 115gm may have been enough. The sweetness is just nice, no need to adjust.