10 servings; 15 min preparation; 50-60 min cooking time.
Thai cuisine is one of my absolute favorite. The complexity of the dishes is incredible. At the same time, they use all fresh ingredients, which makes it difficult to resist. For today I’ve chosen a Thai dessert that is light and sweet treat and melts in the mouth. In comparison with other fishes, this one quite easy to make.

Noum Bak Keng is a coconut custard cake with infuses pandan taste. The essence comes from pandan leaves that are very typical for dishes from Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Pandan is a wild plant that grows in South-East Asia and it’s often use as an essence in cakes and sweets. You will recognize it by the vibrant green color. You can find pandan leaves in every Asian store.

It’s entirely up to you if you want to make the shallot topping. I assume that not everybody would like it, since we are not used to eat shallots in desserts.

Ingredients

for the cake batter:

• 9 eggs
• 300 g palm sugar
• 700 g coconut milk
• 35 g rice flour
• 4-5 pandan leaves or 1 tsp pandan essence

for the topping:

• 4 shallots, minced (optional)
• 2 tbsp oil for frying

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C/350 degrees F.

Batter: Crumble the palm sugar very fine. Crack the eggs in a big bowl. Add the sugar and mix well until the sugar dissolves. Add the pandan leaves and squeeze well so that they can release their aromas. Use your hands to mix everything.

Add the flour and coconut milk. Whisk well until smooth. Strain the mixture so that there are no lumps left. Pour the mixture into a baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 min.

Topping(optional): Heat the oil in a pan or wok-pan over medium heat. Mince the shallots fine. Fry the shallots until golden. Leave on a piece of kitchen paper. Put the shallots on top of the cake and return in the oven for 5 to 10 more minutes.

Remove from the oven. Let the cake cool completely. Enjoy!