Baath / Badca – Traditional Goan Coconut Cake

A while ago, a reader had requested for a traditional Goan Baath recipe. That was a while ago, but eventually I got around to getting a picture of this delicious cake before it disappeared. So I’ve taken the opportunity to share the recipe with you. Baath or Badca – whatever you are used to calling it, is a delicious traditional recipe for a Goan coconut and semolina cake. Its not your run of the mill light fluffly sponge cake, but a more dense and rich one. A good baath cake should not be dry and should be mildly flavoured with ground cardamom. We typically make this for Christmas and it is a part of our Kuswar (Christmas platter).That being said, there is absolutely no reason you can’t eat this any time of the year. It goes down an absolute treat with a cup of tea / coffee.

This is a simple cake to prepare and does not require you to bring out the heavy equipment. A mixing bowl and wooden spoon should suffice. You start of by making a sugar syrup and cook off the coconut and dessicated coconut in it. Then add the eggs and bake.

Baath


200g dessicated coconut
2 cups water
2 cups semolina
2 cups sugar
6 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
6 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
A generous pinch cardamom seeds, crushed  (Seeds from about 6 large pods)

In a heavy bottomed pan, bring the water to a boil.

Add the sugar to the pan and let it melt.

Once the sugar has melted, add the coconut and the ghee and let it come to a boil, stirring frequently.

Add the semolina and let it cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the crushed cardamom seeds.

Take off the heat and cool.

After the mix has cooled

Preheat the oven to 180ΒΊC and line and grease a baking dish / cake pan.

When the mix has cooled, add the baking powder.

Just before baking, add the beaten eggs. Mix well till the eggs have been incorporated well.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake till done. (Till a skewer pierced in the center of the cake comes out clean.)

If the top starts to brown too quickly, cover the top with some aluminium foil.

Cool down and enjoy!!!

NOTE – Add the eggs only just before you bake the cake and not in advance. Preheat the oven in time to bake the cake.

Watch the video recipe here –

20 thoughts on “Baath / Badca – Traditional Goan Coconut Cake

    1. It all depends on the size. It takes a little longer than a regular sponge cake. So if you are making half the recipe, it would take about 40 minutes. That being said, please keep an eye on it as it bakes. Oven temperatures differ.

    1. Hi there, personally, I've never tried it out using fresh coconut, so I really have no idea about the conversion. But if I come across something I'll add the information here. Thanks for stopping by.
      πŸ™‚

    1. In an authentic baath cake, cardamom is the main flavoring agent. But if you don't have access to it, you can consider powdered nutmeg or even vanilla. But the flavor profile will be very different.

    2. Hi Trisha ! This recepie sounds really good ! What size cake tin would you recommend for this recepie? Thanks

    3. For this recipe I use a 9 inch square cake tin. It is not a very tall cake. If you want a taller cake, use a smaller tin, but baking time will increase. I find that a 9 inch tin cooks it nice and evenly and I always use that size. In the picture above, I had used 2 large loaf tins. Again, I did not make very tall cakes so that it cooked well without drying the cake out. I hope this helps.

  1. most baakth recipes call for the mixture to be kept (or proofed) for some hours or even overnight – how come this recipe does not require this step?

  2. Hi
    Trisha

    It was lovely watching Ur vedio luks very tempting… Just wanted to ask if I can make dis in cooker?? Nd if yes Dan wat will be the estimated time??

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