How many octopus cakes does one woman need?
Sri Lankan butter cake, with mango and ginger
Sri Lankan butter cake, with mango and ginger. So nice with a cup of tea.
Jaggery & Treacle Gingersnaps
Jaggery & Treacle Gingersnaps
(30-45 minutes, makes 36 cookies)
Take a classic gingersnap, but use jaggery and kithul treacle for complex & subtle flavor. For an interesting variation, a little flake salt beautifully plays with the sweetness and spice.
3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened
1 c. plus 2 tablespoons jaggery (or dark brown sugar), divided
1 large egg
1/4 c. kithul treacle (or molasses)
2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 t. baking soda
2 t. ground ginger
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. salt
1 T small-grain flake salt, optional
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Cream butter and 1 c. jaggery until light and fluffy; beat in egg and treacle.
2. In another bowl, combine next five ingredients; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well to combine.
3. Shape spoonfuls of dough into balls. (If desired, mix 1 T flake salt into remaining jaggery.) Dip one side into jaggery (or jaggery-salt); place 2 inches apart, sugar side up, on greased baking sheets.
4. Bake until medium brown and crinkly, 10-12 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.
Pineapple marshmallows
What a Good Wife I Am
Me, seeing that a box of peaches has arrived for Kevin, part of a gift subscription from his parents for his birthday last year: “I hope you’re not going to ignore the peaches I’ve spent FIVE YEARS growing for you, just to eat those.”
Kevin: “This could be the subject of an entire sitcom — do I eat your peaches, or my mother’s peaches?”
Dear reader, do not fret! I saved Kevin from this fraught decision, taking the ripest of his mother’s peaches and slicing it up to have with strawberry ice cream, yum.
What a good wife I am, looking out for him that way.
Sri Lankan Butter Cake with Passionfruit Frosting, Fresh Mango, and Lemon Curd
I’ve never tried to write up a complicated cake recipe like this, so please let me know if any of the steps are confusing!
(I feel like it was a good choice to put 25 stars on my 50th birthday cake, and just 1 candle. 
I thought about 50 stars, but it was getting crowded…)
*****
Sri Lankan Butter Cake with Passionfruit Frosting, Fresh Mango, and Lemon Curd
I’m always a little disappointed by American birthday cakes, because I grew up with Sri Lankan butter cake, which I much prefer. It’s a slight variation on the classic British pound cake, and a legacy of colonization. Historically in Sri Lanka, margarine would often be used instead of butter, due to cost, but butter tastes better. This is a somewhat dry cake, which makes it work beautifully with tea if served plain, and pairs well with your choice of fruit filling and frosting for a celebration cake.
NOTE: This recipe is designed for either a square or round cake cooked in a single 8″ or 9″ pan. If you plan to use different sizes of pan, adjust cooking times accordingly. For a classic ribbon cake, you’ll want to cook in separate batches or in multiple pans at the same time, so you can color each layer of cake differently. For 3-4 thin layers cooked separately, bake for roughly 15-20 minutes.
Butter Cake:
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 1/4 c. butter, room temperature
1 1/4 c. sugar
4 eggs + 1 egg yolk
1/3 c. milk, room temperature
1 T rosewater (or a few drops rose essence)
2 t. vanilla extract
zest of one lime (or lemon)
Passionfruit Frosting:
2 c. unsalted butter, room temperature
5 c. powdered sugar
6 T passionfruit puree
food coloring (optional)
Mango & Lemon Curd Filling:
2 c. chopped fresh mango (thawed from frozen works fine)
1/4 c. lemon curd
*****
MAKE CAKE:
1. Preheat oven to 325. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl; set aside. Butter and flour the pan(s) (baking spray with a mixture makes this easy).
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, scraping down sides a few times.
3. Beat in eggs and egg yolk one at a time, then add vanilla, rose, and lime or lemon zest.
4. Fold in milk and flour mixture alternately. (If adding food color, divide as desired and color at this stage.)
5. Add finished cake batter to a round 9″ pan and bake for 30-40 minutes (adjust as needed for your pans), until a toothpick comes out clean; turn out onto wire rack and let cool. Serve as is with a nice cup of tea, or add frosting for birthday cake.
NOTE: Cake may be made and refrigerated a day or two ahead (wrap tightly in plastic wrap once cooled), and then frosted, if desired.
MAKE FROSTING:
1. Beat butter until pale and fluffy, scraping down sides a few times (about 5 minutes).
2. Add half of the powdered sugar, beat on low until mostly incorporated, then scrape sides, turn up to high, and beat until light and airy. Add remaining sugar and repeat process.
3. Slowly add in passionfruit puree; add food coloring if desired. Your frosting is ready to spread on a cake (or eat straight from the bowl).
MAKE FILLING:
1. Combine mango and lemon curd.
ASSEMBLE 4-LAYER CAKE:
1. Layer cake, a thin layer of frosting, filling; repeat twice. (You may not use all the filling.)
2. Add the final layer and frost entire cake. Chill to set. Serve with any extra mango & lemon curd filling on the side, to add as desired.
NOTE: Americans often ask me where to find passionfruit puree. I’ve tried several, and so far, like Funkin Pro the best for strong passionfruit flavor, available online. It can also sometimes be found in the Mexican section of the grocery, in the frozen fruit section.
Not the Neatest Cake Froster
I am not the neatest cake froster, so you have to be a little forgiving here. Someday I’ll learn how to do a better job with it, maybe. Kesar mango (from frozen works just fine) with lemon curd for the filling, Sri Lankan butter cake for the cake. Recipe in next post.
Does the Internet Want My Shortbread?
Bopped over to check the Kickstarter (it’s the last two days, so after ignoring it for weeks, I’m now obsessively checking it every hour or so), and we broke $7000, woot! The question is, will we get to the $7500 stretch goal before time runs out?
How badly does the internet want my shortbread?
https://www.kickstarter.com/…/vegan-serendib-a-sri…
I feel like I should now be singing something about my shortbread bringing all the boys and girls and gentlebeings to the yard…
Making Mango Fluff
Mango fluff recipe is over at the Serendib Kitchen blog: https://serendibkitchen.com/…/mango-lime-pineapple-fluff/
Along with a video of me and Kavi making it together:
https://serendibkitchen.com/2020/04/13/mango-fluff-2/
Kavi made this for me for…Mother’s Day? Something not so long ago. Very kid-friendly recipe.
I’ll note that you can totally use vegetarian gelatin for this. I haven’t been able to get vegetarian gelatin to set well enough for actual marshmallows yet, but it works fine for fluff.
I’m not sure how to make it vegan — I’d need a substitute for the Cool Whip, which has skimmed milk in it. I’m guessing you can whip coconut milk? I should try that sometime soon; if I can, then I can include it in the Vegan Serendib cookbook.
More of a Family Party
Mango fluff all done, although if I get a chance to cut up some fresh mango and use it to decorate the top I will — there’s crushed pineapple in there already, but fresh mango will make it a) tastier and b) prettier.
It’s also a little disconcerting not having all my pretty serveware, but I’m cooking at Jed’s and then transiting up to Alex and Christa’s, so I decided that foil trays really were the better part of valor here. I’m sure they have some pretty serveware I can use, but since I have to transport anyway, foil trays are just practical as heck. This is more of a family party than a formal party.
