Bebinca

Ingredients

• 12 egg yolks
• 400ml thick coconut milk
• 250g caster sugar
• 160g plain flour, sifted
• 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp fine salt
• 200g ghee, melted and kept warm

Before you cook

• Warm the coconut milk gently with the sugar and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved, then let it cool to room temperature.
• Whisk the egg yolks in a large bowl until pale.
• Pour the sweetened coconut milk into the yolks in a slow stream, whisking constantly.
• Sift the flour, nutmeg and salt over the top and whisk until the batter is smooth and about as thick as single cream.
• Strain the batter through a sieve and rest it for 30 minutes.
• Line the base of a 20cm round cake tin with baking paper and brush it generously with melted ghee.

Steps

1. Heat the oven grill to high and set a shelf about 15cm below the element.
2. Ladle roughly 100ml of batter into the prepared tin and tilt it so the layer sits even.
3. Grill for 5 minutes, until the surface is set and freckled deep brown at the edges.
4. Pull the tin out and brush the hot layer generously with about a tablespoon of melted ghee.
5. Ladle the next 100ml of batter straight onto the ghee and tilt the tin to level it.
6. Grill for another 5 minutes until this layer browns.
7. Carry on with the same ghee-and-batter routine, grilling each layer for 5 minutes, until all the batter is used; expect twelve to fourteen layers and around an hour of work.
8. Give the final layer an extra 2 minutes under the grill so the top goes properly dark.
9. Rest the tin on a wire rack for 30 minutes.
10. Run a thin knife around the edge to loosen the cake.
11. Turn the bebinca out, peel off the paper, and leave it to cool completely for at least 2 hours before cutting.
12. Slice into thin wedges with a long serrated knife so the layers stay clean and visible.