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Bebinca

Bebinca

Bebinca. Poetry from Goa on a plate. A mellifluous symphony of coconut milk and eggs. Guaranteed to bring a smile of contentment on your face
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Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Goan
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup plain flour
  • 9 egg yolks separated
  • 3 cups thick coconut milk
  • 1 cup thin coconut milk
  • 1 cup sugat
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
  • ghee for greasing
For Caramel
  • 4 tbsp sugar

Method
 

To make Caramel
  1. In a saucepan, add the sugar and 1 tbsp water, cook over a low heat till the sugar starts to melt and starts to turn a gorgeous dark brown. Keep a close eye, you do not want the sugar to get burnt.
  2. At this stage, add 1/4 cup of water with extreme precaution, as the caramel shall be very hot and might splutter. Continue cooking over a low heat till the caramel thickens. Keep aside.
For Bebinca
  1. In a bowl take the plain flour, salt and nutmeg powder. Sift and keep aside.
  2. Take the egg yolks in another bowl, beat till fluffy. Add sugar. Pour in the thick coconut milk. Mix until the sugar dissolves completely.
  3. Add the sifted flour and thin coconut milk in batches to the coconut milk - egg yolk mixture, give it all a hearty whisk to make a lump free batter.
  4. Strain the batter, keep it covered for 7-10 minutes.
  5. Give it another hearty stir. Now divide the batter equally into two bowls. Add the caramel to one of the bowls to make a darker batter.
  6. Preheat the oven at 180C.
  7. Grease a 9x 5” pan generously with ghee.
  8. Pour 1/2 cup of the lighter batter, bake for 12-14 minutes. Keep a close eye. Take the pan out of oven when you start seeing brown specks form on the surface.
  9. Change the oven mode to broiler / grill with top heating only. Reduce the temperature to 170C.
  10. Carefully brush ghee on the top of the first layer of the bibinca and the sides of the pan.
  11. Give the batter a good stir, now pour 1/2 cup of the darker batter gently on top of the first layer of bebinca.
  12. Cook for 8-9 minutes. Take the pan out of the oven.
  13. Continue greasing with ghee and baking layers as described above, alternating between dark and light layers. Remember to give the batter a hearty stir each time before pouring.
  14. Once you are done with baking the last layer of the batter (I could make eight layers with the above mentioned quantities), brush ghee generously on the top.
  15. Allow the bebinca to cool down completely, refrigerate for at least 5-6 hours till completely set.
  16. Take the bebinca out from the refrigerator, gently loosen the sides with a knife. Very carefully flip it over a serving plate. Slice and serve.

Notes

The layers might puff up during baking Don’t panic, that’s perfectly alright . Keep it aside for 5 minutes out of the oven, the errant layer shall automatically settle down, in the worst case, gently prick the puffed layer with a toothpick to release the trapped air .