Gâteau de couac à la noix de coco (Cassava Semolina and Coconut Cake)
Gâteau de couac à la noix de coco (Cassava Semolina and Coconut Cake) is a traditional French Guianan (Guyane) recipe for a classic cake made with couac (cassava semolina) in a coconut milk base with eggs and flour. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic French Guianan version of: Cassava Semolina and Coconut Cake (Gâteau de couac à la noix de coco).
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I think this cake was originally a French North African recipe made with wheat semolina and oranges, but it seems to have been adapted to make use of French Guiana's couac (cassava semolina).
I first encountered couac as cassava meal that was a Brazilian import into a South African supermarket (go figure!). My wife immediately identified it as the coarse meal that is left over after extracting starch from processing cassava. see the Saint Vincent Bambam (Cassava Bread) recipe.
It's also called cassava semolina and can be cooked in pretty much the same way as wheat semolina is prepared. In French Guiana it's made into a tabbouleh-like accompaniment or salad (as in this recipe), used in making gratins but not really much else.
Ingredients:
100g butter + 20g
125g sugar + 1 tablespoon
4 tbsp fresh coconut, grated
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and with seeds scraped out
2 tbsp dark rum
salt
100g couac (cassava semolina)
30g plain flour
750ml coconut milk
3 eggs, beaten
1 untreated lemon
Method:
Pour the coconut milk into a saucepan then stir in 125g sugar, 2 pinches of salt, the finely grated lemon zest, the split vanilla pod and the vanilla seeds. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
Gradually pour in the couac. When it returns to a boil, cover, reduce the heat, and simmer gently for 20 minutes, until all the milk is absorbed. Remove the vanilla pod and discard (I tend to keep it, dry it and add to a jar of sugar to make vanilla sugar).
Wit the pan the heat, stir in flour, 100g of butter, the beaten eggs, 2 tablespoons of the gratedcoconut, and the rum. Preheat the oven to 180°C (gas mark 6).
Grease a springform cake tin liberally with butter then sprinkle the bottom and sides with a tablespoon of sugar before mixing in the remaining coconut.
Pour in the mixture into the prepared cake tin, smooth the surface wit ha spatula then transfer to the centre of your pre-heated oven. Bake for 10 minutes until golden on top and firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and turn out onto a wire rack.
If desired, you can garnish with desiccated coconut and chopped nuts.
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