Bika Ambon

Ingredients

• 500 ml coconut milk
• 3 stalks lemongrass
• 5 kaffir lime leaves
• 2 pandan leaves
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 7 g instant dried yeast
• 50 g plain flour
• 100 ml lukewarm water
• 1 tsp caster sugar, for the starter
• 10 egg yolks
• 2 whole eggs
• 300 g caster sugar
• 400 g tapioca flour
• 2 tbsp butter, for greasing

Before you cook

• Bruise the lemongrass stalks with the back of a knife and tie the pandan leaves into knots.
• Separate the ten yolks from their whites and keep the whites for another use.
• Grease a 20 cm square cake tin thickly with butter.

Steps

1. Pour the coconut milk into a saucepan and add the bruised lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, pandan knots and salt.
2. Warm the pan over low heat for about 8 minutes until it steams, taking care that it never comes to a boil.
3. Take the pan off the heat and leave the coconut milk to infuse and cool to lukewarm, about 20 minutes.
4. Whisk the yeast, plain flour, teaspoon of sugar and lukewarm water together in a small bowl.
5. Leave the starter somewhere warm for 15 minutes, until it is foamy and has roughly doubled.
6. Whisk the egg yolks, whole eggs and caster sugar in a large bowl for 3 minutes, until pale and slightly thickened.
7. Strain the cooled coconut milk into the egg mixture and discard the aromatics.
8. Add the tapioca flour in three batches, whisking until completely smooth before adding the next.
9. Whisk the foamy starter into the batter.
10. Cover the bowl with a cloth and leave it at warm room temperature for 2 hours, until the surface is dense with fine bubbles and it smells faintly of beer.
11. Heat the oven to 180C and slide the greased tin in empty to heat for 10 minutes.
12. Stir the batter gently with a spoon to knock out only the largest bubbles, then pour it into the hot tin.
13. Bake for 25 minutes with the oven door propped open a finger's width, so steam escapes and the bubbles drill vertical channels through the batter.
14. Close the oven door and bake for a further 25 to 30 minutes, until the top is deep golden and springs back when pressed.
15. Leave the cake to cool completely in its tin for at least 1 hour before turning it out.
16. Cut into fingers with a sharp wet knife so the honeycomb is visible on every slice.