Vegan Jackfruit Cake

It is the start of the jackfruit season, and our fifteen or more bearing jackfruit trees are heavy with fruit. They don’t ripen all at once, but over a period of two to three months. So, that gives me ample time to prepare delicious jackfruit dishes to share with you all. The other day, my husband brought in one of our first mature ‘varikka’ jackfruits and set it down in the storeroom for ripening. There are many many varieties of jackfruit, but they are broadly classified into either koozha (pazham) or varikka. Koozha represents fruit which when ripe has fibery, stringy, watery pulp inside, whereas varikka stands for fruit which has firm, thick, juicy, relatively fiber-less pulp.

In three days, our varikka chakka (jackfruit) had ripened and was tickling our noses with its delicious smell. I cut it open and took out the delicious fleshy pulp pods (arils), discarding the seeds. Each mid-sized jackfruit easily yields three to four kilos of pulp. The four of us ate our fill, the children thoroughly enjoying the luscious fruit. When no more could be accommodated in our straining bellies, I found that half the pulp remained in the large bowl, and so I decided to bake a cake with it. This time, I wanted to use jaggery (unrefined cane sugar) in place of the regular refined white sugar we use in cakes. The jackfruit cake, as it baked, brought forth an irresistible, heavenly aroma. After an anxious wait for it to cool, the children cut the cake. As soon as I had a bite from my piece, I knew that here was born something rare, something precious, unique. I just had to share the recipe with you! Enjoy!

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Vegan Jackfruit Cake Yum

A sweet, delicious, moist, soft, healthy jackfruit cake with chewy jackfruit bits. Egg-free, dairy-free and refined sugar free.

Course

Dessert

Cuisine

Fusion

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

50 minutes

Passive Time

2 hours

Servings

servings

Ingredients

• 400 gm jackfruit arils (fully ripe, seedless jackfruit pulp pods)
• 200 gm all purpose flour (maida / refined white wheat flour)
• 10 gm baking powder
• 200 gm jaggery (unrefined cane sugar, best quality)
• 150 ml sunflower oil (refined)
• 5 pods cardamom
• 225 ml water
• 10 ml cooking oil to grease the baking tray / mould

Course Dessert Cuisine Fusion Prep Time 30 minutes Cook Time 50 minutes Passive Time 2 hours Servings servings Ingredients 400 gm jackfruit arils (fully ripe, seedless jackfruit pulp pods) 200 gm all purpose flour (maida / refined white wheat flour) 10 gm baking powder 200 gm jaggery (unrefined cane sugar, best quality) 150 ml sunflower oil (refined) 5 pods cardamom 225 ml water 10 ml cooking oil to grease the baking tray / mould

Instructions

To prepare:

1. Sieve the flour and the baking powder together, thrice, and set aside.
2. Chop half of the jackfruit pulp pods (arils) to small pieces and set aside.
3. Put the remaining jackfruit flesh into the wet-grind jar of your food processor. Pour in the water.
4. Shell the cardamom and tip in the seeds. Crush the jaggery and put it in.
5. Grind to fine paste (this will take a minute) and transfer to a mixing bowl.
6. Keep your blender ready nearby.
7. Grease a baking tray/mould. Turn your oven on to preheat at 180 °C (356 °F) for 3 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, tip the sieved flour into the bowl and use your blender to beat the batter thoroughly for a minute.
9. Sprinkle half of the remaining jackfruit pulp pieces (a quarter of the original quantity) uniformly at the base of the tray/mould.
10. Pour the freshly beaten cake batter over the pieces and sprinkle the remaining jackfruit pieces on the top of the batter.

To bake:

1. Put the baking tray/mould in the pre-heated oven and bake at 180 °C (356 °F) for 50 minutes.
2. Take out and let the jackfruit cake cool at room temperature for 2 hours.

   
3. Cut into pieces and serve fresh. Bon appétit!

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