My name is Debbie Domingo and I am the recipe developer, food photographer, and blogger for The Earth Kitchen. I create plant-based vegan recipes as a way to bring awareness and educate plant based living in the island of Guam. I grew up in an Asian American Pacific Islander community with Filipino parents that migrated to a U.S. Territory before I was born. Since going vegan, I had found interest in cooking and developing recipes from my culture because it wasn’t very known at the time I went vegan. In a meat-heavy food culture, I wanted to take on the challenge and show others that it is very much possible to incorporate plant-based food with cultural meals.
Vegan Cassava Cake
My mom is not a baker. She is horrible with giving directions and went by intuition and baked with her eyes and taste. One of her specialty desserts happens to be cassava cake.
Upon developing my own version of cassava cake, I had asked my mom, “so how do you bake it?”
She responds in typical Asian mom fashion, “well, you just mix it and monitor until it’s done in the oven.” And that’s all the directions I got.
She makes one of the best cassava cakes, in my opinion. Best, because she made it vegan for me. But every time she baked it, there was always something special about it. And her enthusiasm for the dish radiated through every time she would give me a slice. For those who don’t know what cassava cake is, it’s a gluten free Filipino treat made from cassava starch, coconut milk, sugar, butter, and eggs. Because this is a vegan version of the recipe, we will be substituting butter and eggs to make it dairy and egg free.
Cassava cake has a mochi-like texture with a similar flavor profile of custard pie. It’s got a cake base and a coconut caramel topping. There are many variations of cassava cakes – some have cheese, some have coconut shreds, or special flavors. In the Philippines, cassava cake is either served as a snack paired with coffee or as dessert. This cake, unlike the traditional Westernized cake, has minimal ingredients and is very forgiving for bakers and non-bakers.
There are two parts of this recipe: one (1) for the cake base and two (2) for the coconut caramel sauce.
Cassava Cake
Equipment
- 9 x 13 inch Baking Dish
Ingredients
Cassava Base
- 1 packet (454g) Frozen Grated Cassava, Defrosted
- ½ cup (105g) Organic Cane Sugar
- 1 cup (246g) Full Fat Coconut Milk
- 2 tsp (5g) Vanilla Extract
- 2 tbsp (25g) Melted Vegan Butter
- Cooking spray for baking (coconut or canola)
Coconut Caramel Topping
- ¼ cup (50g) Coconut Cream
- ¼ cup (50g) Coconut Condensed Milk
Optional Toppings
- Grated Vegan Cheddar Cheese
- Coconut Shreds
- Cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C. Line a baking dish with parchment paper and spray with cooking oil.
- Remove the grated cassava from packet and place in medium size mixing bowl.
- Mix in cane sugar, vanilla extract and melted butter. Whisk together.
- Bake in oven for 40-45 minutes or until batter has set or has slightly turned to a light golden color.
- While the cassava base is baking, in a small mixing bowl, whisk together coconut cream and condensed milk until well combined.
- Once the cassava base has set, remove from the oven. Pour coconut caramel mixture onto cassava base. Spread an even layer until the entire mixture has been poured.
- Add desired toppings.
- Set the oven to broil on low for 15-20 minutes or until the coconut caramel topping has turned brown in color and caramelized.
- Allow cassava cake to cool on cooling rack for 2 hours before serving.
Notes
