Khanom Tan - Toddy Palm Cake

Having eaten and enjoyed the frozen Thai Khanom Tan, my beautiful Bride though to make some fresh. Toddy palm flesh can be bought bottled from most Asian supermarkets and is the sugary sap, called toddy, extracted from the flower clusters of certain palm trees grown in hot climates (India, Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka). We used shredded coconut flesh, though you could use desiccated coconut in a pinch. The small bowls came from our other previously enjoyed Thai dessert, Ka-Nom-Tuy. These turned out quite delicious and much tastier than the frozen prepared ones.

Toddy Palm Cake
2-1/4 cups coconut milk
1-2/3 cups sugar
2-1/2 cups rice flour, sifted
4 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup toddy palm flesh
shredded coconut flesh mixed with a little bit of salt for garnish

Mix coconut milk with sugar and boil it until sugar dissolves.

Filter it to remove any undissolved chunks. Bring back to a boil, then set aside to cool.

Mix together the sifted rice flour with toddy palm flesh until it becomes fine-grained (small lumps). Slowly add the prepared sugared coconut milk, kneading as you add, until it comes together into a dough. Add the rest of coconut milk and mix together. Cover with a lid and sit it for 6 hours or overnight.

Add 1 teaspoon of baking powder per 2 cups of the batter. Mix well.

Pre-steam the small bowls in the steamer for 10 minutes. Put the batter in the heated small bowl just to the rim. Steam the cake for 20 minutes. Garnish them with prepared shredded coconut. Take the cake out of the bowls to serve.