Delicious Goan Coconut Cake

Baath (also called baathk or batica) is a traditional, Goan coconut-semolina cake. It’s a delicious one-bowl cake. And though the batter can be whipped up in minutes, it needs some standing time to set. To let the semolina or rava soak up all the moisture and fluff up, the batter is traditionally set aside overnight and the baath cake baked the next morning. My youtube video will show you a quicker version of this popular Goan coconut cake, made in a much shorter time without compromising on the taste or texture in any way.

Ingredients

1 ¼ cup (200g) fine semolina or rava

1 cup (200g) granulated sugar, coarsely ground

(Or 1 tbsp less than 1 cup fine castor sugar)

1 ¾ cups fresh grated coconut (170g)

(You’ll need approx. 2 small coconuts.)

3 eggs

7 ½ tbsp (100g) salted butter

Around 6 – 7 tbsp milk

⅓ tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cardamom

1 tsp vanilla extract

A handful of chopped cashew nuts and pistachios for decorating the cake. (optional)

Procedure

1. Dry roast the rava for around 5 minutes on low heat.
2. If you’re using regular sugar, grind it coarsely.
3. Grind the grated coconut in a mixer-grinder with just as much milk as you need to grind it easily. I needed around 6-7 tbsp of milk. You don’t have to grind the coconut to a fine paste.
4. In a mixing bowl, whip the butter and sugar, add in the eggs all at one time, and whisk these ingredients well.
5. Add the ground coconut and whisk the mix till you have a smooth, lump-free batter.
6. Mix in the ground cardamom, vanilla extract, and baking powder.
7. Finally, with a spatula, mix in the rava. Make sure the batter has no lumps.
8. Cover the batter and set it aside in the fridge for 1 hour and ½ hour on the kitchen counter.  (1 ½ hours in all)
9. Stir the batter again. If it’s too dry, add a little milk to it. The batter should not be thin, but have a loose, dropping consistency.
10. Bake the cake at 160 C for around 40 to 50 minutes or till a skewer inserted into it comes out clean. The cake will have a golden brown crinkly crust when it’s done, but will be soft and moist inside.
11. Unmould and cut the cake only after it cools completely.

Enjoy!