Toisan Steamed Tapioca Cake Recipe (with Video)

Prepare the batter
1. In a pot, boil the water and brown sugar until the sugar is fully dissolved.
2. 225 g Chinese brown sugar slabs, 225 ml water.
3. In a large bowl, add the tapioca flour and room temperature water.
4. Mix until there are no more lumps, then add the hot sugar water.
5. Mix until fully dissolved.
6. 180 g tapioca starch / flour, 225 ml water.
Steam the tapioca cake
1. For a cake height of about 1 inch, you'll want to use a heat-proof dish that's about 6 inches in diameter.
2. Bring a pan of water to boil, making sure the top of the water doesn’t touch your steaming dish.
3. Brush the inside of the steaming dish with a tiny bit of oil.
4. Give the brown sugar water mixture a good mix to dissolve any settled tapioca starch.
5. Ladle just enough of the brown sugar water to cover the bottom of the dish.
6. Lower the heat to medium, and steam for 3-4 minutes or until the layer has solidified and looks completely translucent.
7. Repeat layer by layer until you’ve run out of batter.
8. Periodically check the water levels in the pan and add more if needed.
9. The last few layers may require 1-2 extra minutes of steaming each.
10. Once it’s all done steaming, let it cool slightly before adding the toasted sesame seeds and shredded coconut on top.
11. Shredded or dried coconut, Toasted sesame seeds, Peanuts, Jujube / red dates.
Cooling and storage
1. Let the cake cool completely at room temperature.
2. Use a lightly oiled knife to slide around the perimeter of the dish to release the cake.
3. To get the nicest and cleanest cuts, use an oiled cleaver to cut straight down on the cake.
4. Kitchen scissors also work for cutting them into smaller pieces.
5. If you prefer the texture to be on the firmer side, you can refrigerate it before serving, but it’s normally eaten at room temperature.
6. For storage, we store this at room temperature (covered).
7. If you plan to eat this over the next several days, store it in an airtight container, covered, in the fridge.
8. It should last up to 3-4 days.
9. It will be more firm, but you can re-steam it to soften the texture.