“As a tourist to the Freetown Christiania commune in Copenhagen, I came across the drømmekage, which translates literally to ‘dream cake’,” writes Raymond Tan in The Baker’s Book, a new collection of recipes from 30 leading Australian bakers and chefs. “Traditionally, this Danish cake is a fluffy vanilla sponge topped with sweet, sticky caramelised coconut. At Raya, we of course put our Malaysian twist on this cake, replacing the vanilla with freshly squeezed pandan juice and making the caramelised coconut with palm sugar. We hope the Danes approve.”
Tan – of Melbourne’s Southeast Asian-infused bakery Raya and its “Scandinasian” sibling Dua – contributed his take on the drømmekage to The Baker’s Book, just one of more than 60 recipes that run from the traditional (buttermilk scones and classic chocolate cake) to the contemporary and creative (Negroni chocolate tart, and peach and sour cream cake). They’re by the bakers behind some of the country’s best-loved bakehouses, including Sydney’s Flour and Stone and AP Bakery and Melbourne’s Beatrix and A1 Bakery.
Here, Tan shares his drømmekage recipe. He says the preferred leaves to water ratio for making the pandan juice is 1:1, but the quantity in the ingredients list makes more than you will need, just in case. For this recipe you’ll also need a 23cm square or round cake tin, a stand mixer with whisk attachment, and a pastry brush.
Raymond Tan’s pandan drømmekage
Serves 8–10
Preparation time: 40 minutes, plus 30 minutes cooling
Cooking time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Ingredients
Melted butter, for greasing
Pandan juice
125g pandan leaves, washed and cut into 2.5cm-long pieces
125ml water
Cake
225g plain flour
22g baking powder
2g salt
150ml pandan juice
150g coconut cream
3g pandan essence
3 large eggs
200g caster sugar
150g vegetable oil
Coconut topping
150g butter
135g dark brown sugar
135g gula melaka (palm sugar)
75g milk
8g salt
85g desiccated coconut
50g shredded coconut
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan-forced (200°C conventional). Use a pastry brush to brush the bottom and side of a 23cm square or round cake tin with melted butter and line the bottom with baking paper. For the pandan juice, blend the leaf pieces with the water. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth. Always stir the pandan juice before using, as it tends to have sediment.
For the cake, sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. In a separate medium bowl, mix the pandan juice, coconut cream and pandan essence. In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the eggs and sugar on medium speed until pale yellow. Turn the speed to low and gradually add the vegetable oil until emulsified. Gently fold in the flour mixture, alternating with the pandan juice mixture, until just combined. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Prepare the coconut topping while the cake is baking. Melt the butter with the dark brown sugar, gula melaka and milk in a medium saucepan over low heat until the sugar is just dissolved. Fold in the salt and desiccated and shredded coconut and stir until the coconut is completely coated. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.
Once the cake is cooked, spoon the coconut mixture over the top and spread out evenly. Bake for a further 10–15 minutes, until the coconut is toasted and crisp. Cool in the tin for 30 minutes before cutting and serving.
Images and text from The Bakers Book edited by Ruby Goss, photography by Rochelle Eagle, illustrations by Beci Orpin. Murdoch Books, RRP $45.00.
