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Kanamadhu Cake
Kanamadhu Cake is a traditional recipe from the Maldives a classic cake containing kanamadhu (sea almonds) as a cake and topping ingredient. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Maldive version of: Kanamadhu Cake.
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
40 minutes
Total Time:
60 minutes
Serves:
8
Rating: 
Tags : Vegetarian RecipesMilk RecipesBaking RecipesCake RecipesMaldives Recipes
Kanamadhu, also known as sea almond, tropical almond, country almond or Indian almond is the edible kernel of the fruit of
Terminalia catappa a member of the leadwood tree family, Combretaceae. Here it's ground into a flour and used just as you would ground almonds.
Ingredients:
For the cake:
130g (1 cup) whole kanamadhu (sea almonds)
120g (1 cup) flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2 eggs
100g (½ cup) sugar
125ml (½ cup) oil
125ml (1/2 cup) milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ tsp instant coffee powder
For the topping:
65g (1/3 cup) butter
100g (½ cup) brown sugar
80ml (1/3 cup) milk
3 tbsp condensed milk
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
75g (½ cup) kanamadhu
Method:
Place the kanamadhu into a spice or coffee grinder and render to a powder. Divide into two halves, one for the cake and one for the topping.
Add 2 tbsp oil to an 18cm (7 in) diameter cake tin. Use your fingers to grease the sides and the base. Dust the tin with 1 tbsp plain flour then set aside.
Pre-heat your oven to 180C (160C fan/355F).
For the cake, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add in the ground kanamadhu and stir with a fork to combine. In a bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar and oil until pale and creamy (if doing it manually beat for 10 minutes, if using a mixer beat for 2 minutes).
Add 4 tbsp of the flour and kanamadhu cake mixture to the egg mixture and stir to combine. Now add 2 tbsp of the milk and stir to combine. Now, alternating between the flour and the milk add them to the eggs until everything is included. In each case, just mix until the flour is all incorporated and be careful not to over-mix.
Finally add the vanilla extract and the coffee powder, mixing until just combined. Pour the resultant mixture into the floured cake tin, transfer to the centre of the pre-heated oven and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake emerges cleanly. If the cake is browning too quickly cover the top with foil and continue baking until done.
When done, remove the cake from the oven and set aside to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. At this point carefully remove from the cake tin and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
In the meantime, prepare the topping. Tip the butter into a saucepan and place over low heat until it has melted. Add the brown sugar, increase the heat to medium and stir until dissolved. Whilst stirring constantly bring the mixture to a boil. Add this point, still stirring constantly, add the milk. Reduce the heat to a simmer and allow the mixture to thicken enough so that, when stirring, you can see the bottom of the pan.
Now add the condensed milk, vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Take off the heat and set aside to cool slightly.
Pour over the top of the cake and spread in an even layer. Sprinkle over the ground kanamadhu. You can just cover the top of the cake or the top and sides. Alternately, you can split the cake into two halves, use 1/4 of the topping mixture to sandwich the two cake halves together then top with the remainder.
Allow the topping to set, then slice the cake into wedges and serve.
Note that this cake also works with almonds, hazelnuts, pecans or walnuts substituted for the kanamadhu.
