Ingredients
Starter
- 50 gplain flour
- 80 mlwarm water
- 7 ginstant yeast
- 1 tspsugar
Infused coconut milk
- 500 mlthick coconut milk
- 6kaffir lime leaves
- 2 stalkslemongrass, bruised
- 3pandan leaves, knotted
- ½ tspsalt
Batter
- 300 gtapioca starch
- 250 gsugar
- 10egg yolks
- 2whole eggs
- ¼ tspground turmeric, for colour
Directions
- Mix the starter ingredients and leave 20 minutes until frothy.
- Simmer the coconut milk gently with the lime leaves, lemongrass, pandan and salt for 10 minutes without boiling, then strain and cool to lukewarm.
- Whisk the sugar, yolks and whole eggs together, then whisk in the tapioca starch and turmeric, then the cooled infused coconut milk, then the starter. Whisk until completely smooth.
- Cover and ferment at warm room temperature for 6–8 hours. The batter will smell sour and be full of bubbles. This long ferment is what generates the gas that makes the honeycomb, and it cannot be shortened.
- Stir the batter down gently and strain it into a jug.
- Grease a 22 cm tin well and heat it in the oven at 180°C (350°F) for 5 minutes, then pour in the batter.
- Bake with the oven door propped very slightly open for the first 30 minutes. This is the key: an open door lets steam escape so the bubbles rise all the way to the surface as continuous channels instead of collapsing, which is how the honeycomb forms.
- Close the door and bake another 15–20 minutes until the top is golden and set and a skewer comes out clean.
- Cool completely in the tin before turning out — the texture is chewy and elastic and it will tear if moved warm.
- Cut with a wet knife to show the vertical honeycomb channels running through it.
Technique
- The propped oven door is the technique. A conventional closed bake gives a dense yellow cake with no holes.
- Tapioca starch only, no wheat flour in the batter, which is what makes it chewy rather than crumbly.
- Judge the ferment by smell and bubbles rather than the clock — a warm kitchen is faster.
Substitutions
- Sago starch in place of tapioca, which is traditional in some Medan bakeries.
- Fresh coconut milk gives a noticeably better result than tinned.
Variations
- Bika Ambon pandan, coloured and flavoured green rather than yellow.
- A durian or cheese version, both sold in Medan, which is the cake’s real home despite the name.
History
A Medan speciality despite its name; palm wine or yeast gives the batter its distinctive open honeycomb crumb.
Frequently asked questions
What is Bika Ambon?
Bika Ambon is a dessert from Indonesia: yellow honeycomb cake of tapioca and coconut milk, chewy and faintly fermented. A Medan speciality despite its name; palm wine or yeast gives the batter its distinctive open honeycomb crumb.
How long does Bika Ambon take to make?
Bika Ambon takes 30 min plus 8 hr fermenting of preparation and 50 min of cooking. The recipe makes 1 cake, 12 pieces. It is rated hard to make.
What can I substitute in Bika Ambon?
Yes, within limits. Sago starch in place of tapioca, which is traditional in some Medan bakeries. Fresh coconut milk gives a noticeably better result than tinned.
What is the most important thing to get right in Bika Ambon?
Bake with the oven door propped very slightly open for the first 30 minutes. This is the key: an open door lets steam escape so the bubbles rise all the way to the surface as continuous channels instead of collapsing, which is how the honeycomb forms.
