and Coconut Frosting
Featured in Apartamento Cookbook #8: Tuber, or Not Tuber?, illustrated by Olga Prader, along with Vadim Otto Ursus‘ ‘Beetroot with Sloe Berry and Labneh’, Alice Moireau’s Manioc Enyucados with Cheese, and Rosie Healey’s ‘A Salad of Jerusalem Artichokes, Parmesan, Walnuts, and Mint’, which you can read here.
Of all the tubers, I love taro most, a realisation made when I left home for school in Bangkok at the age of 15. I adore its nutty flavour, light sweetness, and creaminess, not to mention its pale purple shade when cooked. In my home province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, I love dense taro cooked in syrup, topped with salted coconut milk, along with many variations: taro balls made with coconut milk and sugar stirred over low heat, boiled taro with coconut meat in fragrant coconut milk syrup and shaved ice, or chiffon taro cake with fresh cream. My taro cake came from imagining how I feel when eating these treats. This loaf would make a nice breakfast, made even better with frosting! Picture a layered taro cake garnished with sweet, dried fruits such as dates or figs, topped with garden flowers.