Cassava Cake with Custard Topping

Cassava Cake with Custard Topping is easy to make with only a few ingredients and simple steps. Soft and moist with a creamy flan topping, this classic Filipino treat is the ultimate snack or dessert. And it’s naturally gluten-free, too!

As a Filipino in the U.S. without complete access to indigenous ingredients, I, at times, have to make substitutions when recreating the Filipino dishes I grew up with. A good example would be my chicken tinola and ginisang munggo with chicharon; I usually use spinach leaves because the traditional malunggay or ampalaya leaves are not always easy to find, even at Asian supermarkets.

However, these later years have seen a considerable variety of Filipino food products being imported and made available for Filipino-American consumers. On most occasions, I have to forgo “freshness” as these items come pre-packaged or frozen, but the convenience and time-saving elements are tradeoffs I don’t entirely mind.

If I had to peel and grate kamoteng kahoy and crack and milk niyog, I’d just as soon forget to make this cassava cake with a custard topping. But by just heading to the freezer section for already-grated cassava and walking down the aisle for canned coconut milk, I can have it baking to sweet perfection in the oven in a matter of minutes.

Ingredient notes

Cassava cake consists of grated kamoteng kahoy, coconut milk, and condensed sugar, combined into a batter and baked until set. As with most dishes, the recipe may vary depending on the cook and may include other additions to the batter mixture, such as sweetened macapuno strips, young coconut meat, desiccated coconut, nata de coco, or cheese.

The cooked cake is usually crowned with a choice of topping, ranging from a simple sprinkling of shredded cheese to a more elaborate custard made with eggs, condensed milk, and evaporated or coconut milk, and then baked again until the top is set and golden.

How to prepare fresh kamoteng kahoy

1. Depending on the length, you might need to cut the tuber crosswise into halves or thirds to make peeling more manageable.
2. With a sharp paring knife, slice the tuber lengthwise through the thick bark. Carefully insert the blade between the bark and the flesh to loosen and peel.
3. If the skin won’t peel easily, cut off the ends of the tuber and stand the root up on its end. With the knife, slice vertically down the sides of the root to peel the skin.
4. Wash thoroughly and soak in water until ready to grate to keep from discoloring.
5. Grate the cassava using a grater with small holes or run it in a food processor to create a fine texture.
6. Using a cheesecloth, squeeze the grated cassava of the liquid, which could be bitter. Use in recipes as directed.

1. Combine grated cassava, macapuno strings, coconut milk, condensed milk, and sugar in a bowl.
2. Stir well. If using freshly grated cassava, add ¼ to ½ cup of water to the mixture to return the moisture lost from squeezing.
3. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9×6 baking pan and pour the cassava mixture into the prepared baking pan. If you use a smaller pan, adjust the cooking time, as the cake will become thicker.
4. Bake in the oven until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes clean. If the cake is browning too much, loosely tent it with foil.

1. Combine the egg yolks and condensed milk.
2. Add evaporated milk and gently stir in one direction to prevent bubbles.
3. Strain the mixture in a fine-mesh sieve to remove any stray whites.
4. Remove the cake from the oven and carefully pour the custard topping mixture over the surface to cover it entirely. Return to the oven and continue to bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the flan comes out clean.

Quick Tip