Suman na Kamoteng Kahoy (Cassava Steam Cake) for Kulinarya Cooking Club

The Kulinarya Cooking Club chose to highlight Suman this month. Suman are Filipino cakes that are wrapped in leaves and steamed. Every town or region have their own specialty. Most suman are usually made with glutinous rice and cooked in coconut milk. Some suman recipes require the rice to be soaked, even treated with lye, before being rolled in leaves. Banana leaves are usually used to wrap them into little logs before it goes to cook in a steamer. Other wrappings used are palm fronds or sometimes even placed inside a bamboo node. But definitely all suman are steamed.

Thanks to Sheryl and Divina for choosing suman this month. If it weren't for them, I would not have stepped out of my comfort zone and tried cooking suman from scratch.My family never bothered to make suman at our home since my mother knows plenty of friends that make them. Even though my family makes biko, puto, espasol and other kakanin, growing up I never saw suman being made at home which made me believe special wrapping skills is needed to pull it off. (Though my research showed me one that is: Suman sa Ibus, even my Mom confirmed it yesterday when I came over her house to make my suman.)

I hope to work myself to that level but first, let's start with something that would be the easiest to start with. I didn't use glutinous rice either with my suman. Only four ingredients were used in this suman: grated cassava, grated mature coconut, sugar and banana leaves. Even easier, the ingredients can be found in the freezer aisle of your local Asian grocer.

Suman na Kamoteng Kahoy
makes about 20

banana leaves
2 bags (1-lb each) frozen grated fresh cassava, thawed (about 4 cups)
1 bag (1-lb.) frozen mature coconut, thawed (about 2 cups)
1 cup granulated sugar

Prepare banana leaves. Wipe down both sides of leaves with damp towel. Cut into 9" by 9" square. Turn stovetop and pass leaves through the heat until it wilts slightly. This makes the leaves more pliable and resistant to cracks when rolling the suman. Be careful, the leaves will steam and turn darker as they are heated.

Prepare steamer by putting water to boil. While waiting, combine the cassava, coconut and sugar in a large bowl until thoroughly mixed. Spoon about 2-3 tablespoons of cassava mixture on center of banana leaf. Fold over the mixture with one end and roll over. Tuck the ends under and place on its seam. Put in steamer with the water in rolling boil for about 30 minutes. Let it stand to cool, about 10 minutes. You may serve warm or room temperature.

These suman were a success at my Mom's house. Everyone wanted several and was quite impressed that I made them from scratch. I had my mom watching over my shoulders the whole time but I think she approved since I saw her sneak another one to eat for later. :)  The banana leaves add a nice hint of flavor to the suman, it had a strong smell coming out of the steamer but mellowed out when it cooled. If banana leaves are not available, you may roll them in foil (as my mother suggested) or just spoon them into small cups for steaming. Though they won't be called suman anymore but called Pasingaw (to steam) which I realized I posted on it a couple of years back.

I managed to save a few for breakfast this morning and my boys ate them with some leftover ganache. They come up with great ideas, the ganache put them over the top! Next time, I will even use fresh cassava and coconut -- I'm sure the flavor would be even better!

Kulinarya was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney, who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colorful cuisine. Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino Food as we do.



Please visit my fellow Kulinarya members for their Suman creations:

Kath - http://www.acupcakeortwo.com/
Trisha - http://sugarlace.com/
Trissa - http://trissalicious.com/
Olive - http://www.latestrecipes.net/
Ninette - http://bigboldbeautifulfood.blogspot.com/
Peach- http://www.thepeachkitchen.com/
Althea- http://www.busogsarap.com/
Asha - http://forkspoonnknife.blogspot.com/
Malou - http://www.impromptudiva.com/
Cherrie - http://sweetcherriepie.blogspot.com/
Acdee - http://acdee.blogspot.com/
Valerie - http://www.acanadianfoodie.com/
Sheryl - http://crispywaffle.com/
Divina - http://www.sense-serendipity.com/
Anna - http://www.anniesfoodjournal.blogspot.com/
Dahlia - http://www.energychef.blogspot.com/
Joy - http://joyjoycreativeoutlet.blogspot.com/
Maribel - http://www.foodgeek.webs.com/
Tressa
Jen - http://www.jen-at-work.blogspot.com/
Pia - http://bisayajudkaayo.blogspot.com/
Malaka - http://thegrandinternational.com/.
Mimi - http://lapinchecocinera.blogspot.com/
Erika - http://ivoryhut.com/
Kat - http://www.caterersearch.com/tabletalk/default.aspx

Lavender-Vanilla Marshmallows, Cardamom-Lavender Ganache and Hot Chocolate

I love lavender, the scent and color but I have to admit I have had no experience cooking with lavender. So when I found out lavender is October's theme of International Incident Party I was stumped. When I asked my husband for ideas, he jokingly told me to make soap so needless to say I am on my own here.

Last minute inspiration came from my pantry, a jar of vanilla sugar staring right at me. You see, every time I use vanilla, I save the vanilla pods and put it in a jar filled with sugar. So I took some of the vanilla sugar and added some lavender buds in there. I let it "marinate" a few days but I'm sure my lavender-vanilla sugar is not enough for this party. So just made simple marshmallows with them.

Lavender-Vanilla Sugar

2 cups sugar

1 pod vanilla

1 tsp. lavender buds

Place sugar in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Split vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with the tip of a paring knife. Add the vanilla "caviar" and lavender to the sugar and stir to combine. Place the vanilla pod in as well. Let the sugar steep for several days before using. The longer it "marinates", the more scent is absorbed by the sugar. (Alternatively, add sugar, vanilla and lavender in a food proccessor and pulse until incorporated. Transfer into a glass jar. Add the vanilla pod, close jar and let it steep at least several days before using.)

Lavender-Vanilla Marshmallows

3 TBSP unflavored gelatin (3 envelopes of Knox brand)

3/4 cup water, divided

2 cups lavender-vanilla sugar

2/3 cup corn syrup

pinch salt

1 tsp. vanilla

confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Grease a 9- X 13-inch glass pan and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, set aside.

In a bowl of a stand mixer, pour 1/2 cup water and sprinkle gelatin. Let gelatin bloom, at least 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup water, sugar, salt and corn syrup and bring to a boil in high heat, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved.

Once boiling, lower heat and put in a candy thermometer. Let sugar syrup boil until it reaches 250 degrees F, this will take about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Turn your mixer on low and drizzle in the sugar syrup. Turn up the speed a little at a time, being careful not to splatter the hot syrup. Once syrup begins to foam and/or turn white, you may turn to highest speed. Let it whip about 8 to 10 minutes, or until you notice volume stopped increasing.

Add vanilla and stir it in for a minute. Pour out into the prepared pan. Flatten with an oiled spatula or hand (be careful, it will still be quite hot). Let it set at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Sift more confectioners' sugar and turn it out into a cutting board and cut into desired shapes.

It's been raining for a couple of weeks and that means hot chocolate in our house. And of course, my boys would always ask for marshmallows when hot chocolate is involved. The added lavender to our usual vanilla marshmallows gave them a woodsy scent, almost like rosemary. The heat from the hot chocolate accented this scent further. But I should say that lavender was missed on my boys, even my husband. They were just happy to be sipping hot chocolate with cute marshmallows to keep them warm. :)

I thought I was finished with this lavender project until I saw the beautiful picture of Lavender-Honey-Cardamom-Lemon-Dark Chocolate Tart by Desserts for Breakfast this week. Then I read more about the combination of lavender with cardamom in Meeta's Flan at What's for Lunch, Honey? which was intriguing so decided to whip up some Cardamom-Lavender Ganache to go with the Marshmallows. Cardamom and lavender were not ones I would thought of combining, but they go so well together.  I made marshmallow buttons and filled the cut-out centers with the ganache.

Cardamom-Lavender Ganache

8 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp. lavender buds

2 pods cardamom

Place chocolate in a medium, heat-proof bowl. Set aside.

In a small pot, heat cream, lavender and cardamom over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Remove pot from heat immediately. Strain cream through a strainer, pouring over the chocolate. Tap bowl slightly on counter so cream settles all the way to bottom of bowl. Let it sit for a minute undisturbed.

Using a rubber spatula, incorporate the cream into the chocolate until it is completely dissolved. It will thicken as it cool. Pour into the marshmallow cut-outs or as desired.

Cardamom-Lavender Hot Chocolate

4 cups whole milk

4 TBSP finely chopped semisweet chocolate

2 TBSP cocoa powder

1 TBSP sugar

1 tsp. lavender buds (optional)

1 pod, cardamom, slightly crushed (optional)

In a medium pan, bring all into a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently to melt the chocolate. Do NOT let it boil. Pour into mugs (strain if using lavender and cardamom) and top with marshmallows.

Please head on over and click below to see what the others have created with lavender.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pound Cake for The Cake Slice

I'm finally baking! Just in time for this month's installment of The Cake Slice. We start off our third year of baking from the book: Cake Keeper Cakes, a promising cookbook filled with different types of cakes: from round ones to loafs, bundts to crumb cakes, chiffon and snacking cakes. I'm excited to get this year started with this book.

The first cake our group chose is Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pound Cake to keep with the season's baking. October signals Fall and Halloween so a cake with pumpkin is a perfect choice. The addition of chocolate chips and walnuts along with cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg truly fits in with the season. A great cake to enjoy with creamy coffee or tea, even a tall glass of milk.

My youngest son requested one without nuts so I obliged him and just added more chocolate chips. This is the picture you see here. (The first loaf were eaten right away that I didn't get a chance to take a picture!) Please see how other members of The Cake Slice did with this cake and get baking, just print the recipe.