Bolo de aipim (Cassava Cake)

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

Cassava cake is a typical dish of northern and northeastern Brazil, although, it is appreciated and can be found throughout the country. The recipe is simple, basically made from the same ingredients as traditional cakes, only replacing wheat with manioc. However, the end result is not a fluffy cake: it’s a rustic and tasty dessert, with the consistency of “polenta” (cornmeal mush).
Cassava cake can be kept at room temperature and, as with all recipes using coconut milk, it will taste even better the next day.

Ingredients
• 1 kg peeled cassava
• 400 ml coconut milk
• 400 g sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs (200 g)
• 100 g melted butter

Preparation method

1. Mix 100 ml coconut milk with 100 g sugar and set aside.
2. Cut off the ends of the cassava root, and cut it into chunks 5-6 cm length. Make a lengthwise slit (2 mm deep) along the cassava chunks. Slide your knife under the peel to separate it from the flesh and remove cassava peel (thin brown skin and thick and pinkish white in color cortex) by hand. Cassava peels can be easily detached from the flesh. Click here to watch the video “How to prepare cassava”.
3. Wash and cut the cassava chunks into small pieces and remove the tough core from the centre of cassava root. Place them, a few at a time, in a blender or in a food processor. Add a little water (about 500 ml for 1 Kg cassava) to help the blending process. The original recipe calls for grated cassava, but to grate cassava is very laborious and it takes a lot of time.
4. Pour the cassava pulp in a bowl lined with a clean dish towel. Squeeze the pulp through the cloth to remove all liquid mix. Set aside liquid mix in a bowl. You can use this liquid to make tapioca for “beiju”.
5. In a bowl pour the squeezed cassava pulp, add the remaining coconut milk (300 ml) and mix well.
6. Add the remaining sugar (300 g), salt, eggs, melted butter and mix well.
7. Line the bottom of a springform pan (24 cm) with parchment paper. Brush with melted butter inside of the mould. Pour the batter into the mould and level off the top.
8. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C. When the dough has hardened (it takes about 45 minutes), sprinkle with the sweetened coconut milk (set aside). Continue baking until golden brown. The total cooking time is about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
9. Allow to cool before unmould, if necessary run a sharp knife around the edge of the cake.
   

Posted on: 18 May 2015