Delicious Goan Bebinca

This layered delight, called Bebinca or Bebic, is the crown jewel of the Goan cuisine! The Bebinca is made with traditional ingredients including coconut milk and egg yolks, and is the perfect dessert for the festive season. This recipe is sure to bring back many fond memories!

Ingredients

• 12 Egg Yolks 

• 400 grams White Granulated Sugar

• 800 ml Coconut Milk

• 200 grams All Purpose Flour

• ¼  tsp Nutmeg

• ¼ tsp Cinnamon

• ¼ tsp Salt

• 2 tsp pure Vanilla Extract (Optional)

• 100 grams Pure Ghee

Method

1. Mix the flour with ground cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg and salt. Whisk together and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, add the egg yolks and sugar. Whisk until creamy and light until you get an egg flip like consistency.

3. To that, add the coconut milk and the flour mixture, alternating between the two, starting with the coconut milk.

4. Strain the mixture using a sieve (optional).

5. Weigh the mixture and divide into two to three equal portions

6. To one portion, add ½ to ¾ cup of caramel (depending on the darkness of your caramel) to form the darkest layer

7. To another portion, add ¼ to ⅓ cup of caramel (depending on the darkness of your caramel) to form the medium coloured layer

8. Leave the third portion without any caramel to form the lightest layer

9. To bake the bebinca, use an 8” x 3” circular cake pan (you can use a square cake pan if you prefer)

10. Brush some melted pure ghee to the base and sides of the cake pan

11. Place a parchment sheet on the base of the cake pan and brush it with the pure ghee

12. Preheat the oven to 400F (200C), turn it off and switch to broil on high

13. Pour in ¾ cup of the darkest batter into the cake pan and place it on the stovetop on medium heat to cook till it’s almost set. Then take it off the heat and place it on a baking sheet (since the bottom layer is the darkest layer and we don’t want it to burn).

14. Put it in the oven on the fourth rack from the bottom (I’m using a big oven) to broil for approximately 3 minutes till it cooks and gets some colour (keep an eye on it and adjust the time so that it does not burn).

15. Using a little pressure, brush on some melted ghee on the top

16. Now pour in ¾ cup of the medium coloured batter and place it back into the oven and allow it to broil for approximately 4-5 minutes until it cooks and gets some colour (remember to keep an eye on it)

17. Now remove it from the oven and once again use light pressure to brush on the melted ghee

18. Pour in ¾ cup of the lightest layer and place it back into the oven to broil for approximately 4 – 5 minutes until it’s cooked and gets some colour

19. Repeat the process to get the shaded layers until the batter is oven

20. Once you are done baking the bebinca, leave to rest for 8-12 hours to cool and firm up

21. To unmold the bebinca, place it in a hot water bath for about 2 minutes

22. Run a knife around the edge to ease the rim

23. Place a plate face side down on top of it and flip it over to unmold

24. Cut into desired size slices and serve