Wingko Babat with Pandan

I have been terribly curious to make this delicious coconut cake called Wingko Babat. This cake is made with glutinous rice flour. A wingko goes very well with strong black tea or espresso coffee.

Many different recipes can be found online. With or without coconut milk or butter, white in color or green, with an egg through the batter or only on top of the cake, with or without sesame seeds.

Originally these cakes from the city Babat (Indonesia) are round and are baked in a cast-iron pan like small pancakes, jus like bika ambon. But a wingko can be baked in the oven too (also like bika ambon). I will try that today.

A wingko is traditionally a snack that you bring when you go on a visit because these cakes are sold to travelers a lot on the train or at bus stops. Maybe that is because this cake is heavy and a great snack for traveling. You do not need a lot to feel satisfied for a long time.


Wingko Babat
The version of this wingko recipe is a light variant, without coconut milk or butter, but with sugar of course.

Ingredients

  • 300 grams of glutinous rice flour (ketan flour)
  • 300 grams of sugar
  • 100 grams of grated coconut
  • 300 ml of coconut water
  • 2 pandan leaves
  • sesame seeds (black or white)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  1. Place sugar, salt, pandan leaves and 200 ml of coconut water in the pan and bring to the boil until the sugar has dissolved.
  2. Add 100 grams of grated coconut and simmer this mix for 5 minutes
  3. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
  4. Place a sheet of baking paper in the baking tin.
  5. Add the ketan flour to the mixture with the rest of the coconut water (100 ml). This ensures that the batter becomes like thick porridge.
  6. Take out the pandan leaf and add 1,5 teaspoons of pandan extract.
  7. pour the batter into the baking tin on the baking paper.
  8. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.
  9. Bake the cake for 15 minutes first.
  10. Take it out of the oven and carefully spread (it is still soft) a beaten egg on the top.
  11. Sprinkle some (black) sesame seeds over it for a nice effect.
  12. Bake for another 25 minutes at 150 degrees, until done.

Place sugar, salt, pandan leaves and 200 ml of coconut water in the pan and bring to a boil until the sugar has dissolved.

I buy coconut water at a local Asian store, but you can probably get it at a supermarket too. It is slightly sweetened water from inside a coconut. It works better in this cake than ordinary water and is not as fat as coconut milk.

I do not stir too often, otherwise, the sugar doesn’t dissolve well. When the sugar is almost gone, I add the 100 grams of grated coconut. I let this simmer for a minute or 5. The coconut sucks up the flavor of the pandan and becomes tender because of the water.

I remove the mixture from the heat and let it cool down. Meanwhile, I place a sheet of baking paper in the baking tin.

Then I scoop the ketan flour through the batter. The batter becomes thick and bit dry. Now I pour in the rest of the coconut water (100 ml). This ensures that the batter becomes liquid like a thick porridge.

I do not use all the coconut water in the beginning because a part evaporates as a result of cooking. By adding water at the end I have more control over the thickness of the batter. If the batter becomes too thick, the cake will become too compact and too dry. It really has to be a running batter that you pour into the mold.

I now take out the pandan leaf and add 1,5 teaspoons of pandan extract.

I pour the batter into the baking tin on the baking paper. I preheated the oven to 150 degrees Celsius. I bake the cake for 15 minutes.

I take it out of the oven and carefully spread (it is still soft) a beaten egg on the top. Then I sprinkle some black sesame seeds over it for a nice effect.

Now I bake the cake for another 25 minutes at 150 degrees, until done. I check with a skewer. Ketan flour is sticky, so if you stick in a skewer a little batter bit will stick to it, but that’s okay.

When it is done, I take the cake with the parchement paper out of the baking tin and let it cool on a cooling rack. I cover the cake with the paper (a bit) so it will not become too dry.

Even before my wingko has completely cooled down, I cut it into bite-sized chunks. I make diamond shapes this time. Looks beautiful!

I keep my wingko in a plastic container that I can close properly. They stay nice and tender inside and will not dry out.

We eat our wingko as snacks with coffee or tea.

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