I decided to bake a keto coconut pandan cake after baking a few batches of keto pandan cupcake. After looking up the recipes for keto sponge pandan cake, I realized that the ingredients and quantities are quite similar to my regular keto pandan cupcake. So I used it with a slightly different method.
The initial plan was to try out whipped coconut cream. I bought a small carton (200ml) of coconut milk (17% fat) and coconut cream (24% fat). Unfortunately it did not divide into the hardened cream on top and the liquid on the bottom. That was disappointing but I managed to improvise. I guess it contains stabilizers to prevent the separation.
Keto Pandan Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Adapted from Vered De Leeuw.
63g Lakanto
4 eggs
84g Coconut Flour
1 tsp baking powder
265g Pandan Coconut Milk= 200ml coconut cream (24% fat), 5 pandan leaves, 200ml coconut milk (17%fat)
Method
1.Preheat oven to 160C convection.
2.Make the pandan coconut milk
Wash pandan leaves and wipe it dry. Cut it into pieces and blend it with 200ml (196g) of coconut cream. Sieve the coconut cream +pandan leaves mixture. Weigh pandan coconut cream and top up coconut milk so that the total weight is 265g. There will be leftover coconut milk.
3. Mix pandan coconut milk, baking powder and coconut flour together until it forms a paste using a spoon and put aside.
4. Beat eggs and lakanto until creamy and fluffy using a hand mixer.
5. Add in the paste and mix using a hand mixer.
6. Pour it into a 6 inch round baking tin lined with parchment paper
7. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until cooked.
8. Cool it down. After 5 minutes, remove the cake from the cake tin and cool it upside down.
I chilled it in the fridge overnight. The flavour and texture develops better after that. Another option would be to freeze it after cutting it into two layers.
Maybe I should do it chiffon style next time. E.g. mix yolk with the rest of the ingredients and whip the meringue separately.
Preparing Coconut Cream Frosting
I refrigerated the coconut cream, poured it out and whipped it. It thickened slightly.
Adding gelatin
Bloom gelatin by soaking it in water. I used 1 tsp gelatin and soaked it in 1 tbs water. I microwaved it for 10 sec medium heat and the gelatin mix was smooth.
It wasn’t enough. Should have added 1 tbs gelatin in 3 tbs water.
Chilling it
Chilling it should harden it so I left it in the fridge for 2 hours. But it soften after I removed it from the fridge.
Adding Xanthan Gum
Depending on the consistency, the quantity of xanthan gum is 0.1-1%. So I added 0.5% (1g) of xanthan gum and it thickened up to a more gum like texture.
It is still not pipe-able though.
Frosting the Cake
The cake was easy to cut into 2 after being in the refrigerator overnight. I just held it side ways and did vertical cuts.
I spread a thin layer of frosting between the keto pandan cake layer. I did a ‘naked cake’ and then added some green colouring for the top frosting.
Decorating the cake
It looked a bit too plain so I added some roses made from pandan leaves and used a toothpick to fasten it.
I did wash and dry it before hand but was worried regarding food safety even though it came from my garden (pesticide free, commercial fertilizer free, composted soil) so I blanch it in boiling water for a few minutes after making the roses.
I happened to drop by the baking supply shop and bought some desiccated coconut. Prior to topping it with desiccated coconut, I checked online to make sure that there is no added sugar in it during the drying process and did a taste test. It wasn’t sweet so it was fine.
What is the timeline when preparing the cake?
Some people assume that cakes are prepared fresh. But for me, it takes days to prepare. Keto cakes are best consumed cold. And even for non keto sponge cake, it ‘sets’ after being left overnight too. It is also not fun frosting a warm cake.
Day 1: Bake cake, cool it down and refrigerated it overnight.
Day 2: Prepare frosting and frost cake.
Day 3: Decorate cake and serve it.
Feedback?
For those non-keto food tasters, the texture is different, harder than a regular sponge/ chiffon cake and not as airy. It also has a slightly artificial sweetener taste and does not taste like sugar.
For keto food taster, it is a pass. Looks wise, sweetness and flavour. They were surprised only 63g of lakanto (monk fruit sweetener) was used. And it is very fragrant. It is suitable for diabetics as it is low GI sugar free. And also those with lactose intolerance (dairy free)
Update 5/10/2020
Keto Low Carb Coconut Pandan Cake (Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Sugar Free)
Changes I have made:
250ml of pandan coconut milk/ mix consist of 5 pandan leaves, 200ml of coconut cream and top it up with some water and coconut oil
Sieve the coconut flour so it is easier to mix and not clumpy
Gluten free baking powder: 2/3 cream of tartar & 1/3 baking soda