Mmm pone. A sinfully sweet childhood memory. Not a pudding, not a cake, but something somewhere in between. Cassava is intriguing in that although it appears excessively dry when in its raw state, once baked it melts and morphs into a wonderful ‘gelatinous gloop’
INGREDIENTS
1 ¼ cups brown sugar
1 lb. raw cassava grated
1 cup milk
½ tsp. nutmeg or mace
½ pack dried coconut flakes
2 cups hot water
1 cup coconut milk
2 tbsp. melted butter
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp, ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
METHOD
1. Combine cassava with milk, sugar and spices and mix well.
2. Add raisins (if using), coconut, hot water and melted butter.
3. Mix briskly and taste for sweetness desired.
4. Add more sugar if necessary, pour into greased Pyrex dish. (This time around I used a non-stick baking pan. As it was black I lowered the temperature from 375 to 350 F.)
Another great dessert from our Island of Trinidad is Paw Paw Balls also known as papaya. Very simple!
Ingredients
1 paw paw, peeled and grated
1 teaspoon lime zest
2 teaspoons lime juice
¾ cup sugar (per every cup of paw paw)
green food coloring or red food coloring
Method
Squeeze excess juice out of the grated paw paw. Measure the paw paw: to every cup of paw paw, add ¾ cup sugar. Mix the paw paw, sugar, lime peel and lime juice in a saucepan. Cook slowly over medium/low heat until the mixture "gels". Add a few drops of food coloring. Cool. Shape into balls and roll the balls in granulated sugar.
The smell of black cake at Christmas. This is another must haves at Christmas time here in Trini. Just make sure you don’t have too much!
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
1 lb unsalted butter
1 lb sugar
8 eggs
1 tsp lemon essence
2 tsp lime rind (zested)
2 tsp almond essence
2 tsp vanilla
1 lb all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
THE FRUIT BASE
1 lb pitted prunes
1 lb raisins
1 lb currants
1 bottle cherry brandy
1 bottle rum
THE BROWNING
1 lb brown sugar
1/2 cup boiling hot water
Method
Usually folks have their fruits soaking for as long as one year for this recipe. But the minimum I would say you should soak your fruits for should be one month.
Chop all the fruits and place in a large bowl. Pour cherry brandy and rum and leave in a cool corner, covered, so that it can soak up the alcohol. One month before is optimum but the longer you leave it the better!
Baking day – Blend Fruits:
Pour the soaked fruit and remaining juices into a blender and blend until thick and chunky.
Prepare The Browning:
Burn the sugar until it has caramelized and add hot water gradually. Let this mixture cool.
1. Preheat oven to 275F
2. Cream the butter and sugar.
3. Add eggs one at a time, mixing in
4. Add lemon zest, almond essence and vanilla
5. Mix and sift flour, baking powder, mixed spice and nutmeg.
6. Gradually add sifted ingredients to creamed mixture
7. Mix in fruit base and ‘browning’ prepared earlier
8. Pour batter into greased baking dishes
9. Bake for 3 hours
10. Once removed from the oven soak with equal portions of rum to your liking.
Hey folks, soo all this food and no desert???? So today I'm sharing with you the recipe for tamarind balls. it's a very simple recipe and doesn't take long at all. I know I said desert so you're thinking something sweet right, wrong this is a spicy desert!!
Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs White sugar
1 lb Tamarind (cleaned)
Salt
Pepper (finely minced) or
Pepper sauce
Method
Put 1/4 cup sugar in a shallow plate. In a bowl combine tamarind, pepper, salt, remaining sugar and a touch of hot water. Using your hands, mix all ingredients together. Divide the tamarind mixture into bite size portions and shape into balls. Roll the tamarind balls in the sugar from the shallow plate, coat evenly.
