Having celebrated Iftar with Muslim family friends since I was a kid, Ramadan season is a special month at home especially since my mother starts making Iftar themed treats.
One of the special treats she concocted this month is the Caramel Drizzle Wattalapam Cake, a cake twist on the traditional Wattalapam pudding dessert from the Malay cuisine of Sri Lanka. Wattalapam, a popular Sri Lankan dessert, is a steamed pudding made from coconut milk, eggs and jaggery (palm sugar).
Hope you try out a slice of this tasty cake! Ramadan Mubarak!
I am bringing this cake over to Angie’s Fiesta Friday #125, co-hosted this week by Elaine@Foodbod and Quinn@Dad What’s 4 Dinner and for the first time over to Saucy Saturdays #50, hosted by The Flavor Bender, La Petit Chef, Mid-Life Croissant, Take Two Tapas.
Caramel Drizzle Wattalapam Cake
Ingredients:
- Coconut milk – 1 cup, thick
- Jaggery – 1 cup, crushed
- Eggs – 2
- Margarine or butter – 1/2 cup
- Semolina – 1 cup
- Flour – 1 cup
- Baking powder – 2 tsp
- Baking soda – pinch
- Crushed cardamom – 1 tsp
- Vanilla essence
Caramel drizzle:
- Sugar – 3 or 4 tbsp
Method
- Sift the flour and add the baking powder and soda.
- Whisk together the butter, milk, jaggery and eggs.
- Add the vanilla essence and crushed cardamom.
- Add the flour mix to the wet ingredients bowl and mix.
- Bake for approx. ½ hour at 150C.
- Transfer cake to serving tray and let it cool, while you prepare the caramel syrup.
- Heat the sugar over low heat till it caramelizes.
- Drizzle the caramel syrup over the cake.
- Slice and serve with a cup of Sri Lankan tea.
Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.
A Taste of Sri Lankan cuisine 
This cake looks so yummy! I will have to look up what Jaggery is though! Can’t wait to try it.
Thanks, Susan. Jaggery is palm sugar and is wonderful in puddings. My mother tried it out in a cake.
Ahila- Looks amazing! So fun to try new recipes with ingredients I have never used! I saw your post at Fiesta Friday! See you at Saucy Saturdays tomorrow!😉
Michelle
Thanks, Michelle. Do try some jaggery (palm sugar), if you can get some. It has a unique flavour, which I like to use in baking.
What can I use instead of jaggery? I will not find that here in rural France.
Brown sugar can be used instead of jaggery, Nadia. Treacle or molasses might be an interesting substitute as well, though the flavour might differ slightly.
Thank you.
Most welcome and hope you do try it out. Have a lovely weekend!
The caramel looks luscious over that cake! thanks Ahila!!
Thank you, Rhonda.
Thanks for sharing with us at Fiesta Friday. Happy FF!
Thanks for co-hosting the fiesta this week, Quinn.
This cake looks so luscious. I love anything caramel and your photos have me drooling.
Thank you, Julie!
A truly mouth-watering dessert ! This is the first time I am reading about this cake and I already want to make it at home. Thanks for this lovely recipe.
My mother likes to experiment and create her own fusion recipes. Do let me know if you tried it out.
Sure, I will 🤓