Mainly Tapioca Cake

Cake or kueh, you decide !

My maternal grandmother wanted to have nothing to do with tapioca or sweet potato. Those were her wartime food and up till now, she would shudder at the mention of these root vegetables.

On the other hand, tapioca cake ( she called this 'kueh' in Teochew ) was my late mother's regular contribution to my school funfair  because it was the kind of cake that she could make at a whim. It was not my friends'  favorite, a point she happily ignored, because it was too marketplace.

Nostalgia  made me do this, but what I had in mind was the type sold at Bengawan Solo ( kueh bengka ubi )  and nowhere near as colorful as this. I have never intended the end product to look like this.  But when I discovered that I was running short of tapioca, I used the lone sweet potato lurking in the dark recess of the fridge  to make up for the shortfall. Then, I selected the wrong   grating plate for the processor  and what ended was this colorful gritty-looking cake with plenty of bite. It just goes to show that there are mistakes and then there are happy mistakes.

What's worth celebrating was that the folks at home who would have nothing to do with tapioca actually helped me finish this cake . Now, that's  cause for celebration.

Ingredients :

1 egg

150g fine sugar ( 120 g for a less sweet version,  but a much less sweeter version will reveal the bitterness of the  tapioca )

Pinch salt

300g grated tapioca, finely grated

80g orange sweet potato, finely grated

200ml coconut milk

50ml water

4 pandan leaves, bruised and intact

In a big mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients ,including  pandan leaves.

Remove leaves and transfer the ingredients to a lined / non stick pan, 7 inches.

Bake at 170C for 30-40 minutes until top is caramelised.

Cool tapioca cake in its tray.

Lift cake from tray and remove parchment.

Cool further on a rack.

Serve hot or cold.