I’ve been told that I don’t do enough dessert recipes, so with some time on my hands I decided to raid the cupboards and come up with a dessert recipe to share with you all. This recipe is somewhat refined from the one my dad would do, but it’s just as delicious and if I may be bold enough.. better that his! He’s old school when it comes to making sugar cake, as he prefers to get fresh dry coconut and do his thing with the grater. Besides not liking to grate coconut like a mad-man (my fingers still show battle scars from the last time I grated coconut), I noticed that I had some per-packaged shredded coconut so it was going to be a recipe for sugar cake I’d be sharing.
You’ll Need…
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
2 cups desiccated coconut (unsweetened)
2 bay leaves
thick slice of fresh ginger
4-6 drops red food coloring (optional)
Important: If doing this dessert according to a gluten free diet, do go through the ingredients mentioned above to make sure they meet with you specific gluten free dietary needs.
The first thing we need to do is start the syrup we’ll need as the base for this. In a deep saucepan heat the sugar, water, bay leaves and a thick slice of ginger. Bring up to a rolling boil and allow to cook until it reduces and gets thick. (about 5-7 mins). You’ll have to constantly stir with a spoon or a whisk as I did.
Now it’s time to remove the bay leaves and ginger from the pot and discard (if you like the strong aroma and taste of ginger and bay leaves.. you can always grate the ginger into the syrup and crush the bay leaves). Add the essence and stir in the desiccated coconut (shredded or flaked coconut).. now add the drops of coloring and stir constantly. It will require about 5-7 minutes (on medium heat) to get to the consistency we’re looking for.(you can always follow along with the video below)
The idea is to burn off as much liquid as you can from the pan, so you have a thick and sticky consistency. A good sign that you’re close to where you want it to be, is when the coconut mixture starts coming away from the sides of the pan and somewhat clump.
On a parchment lined cookie sheet I then took spoon full amounts and made small heaps to form little sugar cakes. This will need to set (cool and take shape) before you can fully enjoy them. Remember we just made a syrup with the sugar so this will be extremely hot… do have some patience. Your kitchen will have the lovely aroma and coconut, essence,ginger and bay leaf… and I’m sure you’ll and your kids will love this tasty treat.
* If you have a 1 inch deep pan you can pour the cooked mixture into it and allow to cool, then cut into even squares. You can also be creative and do different colors and stack them to form a rainbow effect if you wish.
Store in an airtight container for maximum freshness and do refrigerate if you plan on keeping them more than a few days.
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Based on 59 Review(s)
Just made these and they are fantastic. Bake sale tomorrow and they will gobble them up. Thanks from Bermuda.
Made these couple days ago. Thanks for the recipe they came out perfect. I had mine spread out on a flat baking dish to set.Later I cut them into nice little squares. The wax paper kept it a bit moist but once removed and left to sun a bit they firmed up. Family loved them.
I tried this and it just became sticky, it never hardened. what did i do wrong ?
I’m thinking it’s because you didn’t cook out the liquid when it was on the stove enough, because once you do that the sugar makes it harden up after.
Awesome cookies and tasty thank you for sharing
Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks for the great recipe! Any hints on how we can adapt to make pineapple sugar cake? Used to get this in Trinidad many years ago, but the chef has long passed, and the family still yearns for it, and would love to replicate one day!
since my mum told me about this site ive been eating proper now ,Ive just tried the sugar cake and yes that’s what im talking bout ,perfect
do say hello to moms for sharing the site with you.. and happy cooking
Thank you, Chris! I’ve been waiting for this…I even thought about this yesterday! As I have been recently diagnosed as pre-diabetic, I will substitute the sugar with xylitol, a natural sweetener without the aftertaste and without the spike in the glucose level. Thanks again! BTW…I’m from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Ate this a lot as a kid, especially during Carnival time!
Nice
Wow… Made these a few weeks ago with a fresh coconut and added some Baker’s coconut as it was not enough. Used fresh and powdered ginger. We make these in Bermuda as well. Thanks for your recipe. If I had it before when I was making mine, I would have used bay leaf, too. Rather than put in on the cookie sheet, I sprayed a mini muffin pan and filled the cups with the mixture. Neat, even and cute … Delicious! Yummmm
Thanks for sharing! Maybe I missed it, but how much essence do you use?
Great snack. In Barbados we also flavor them with molasses and mint (separate flavors). Fresh grated coconut gives the best flavor. Yeah, I still do that
PS What about nut cakes?
Greetings Chris,
Well i will be trying this in the future—thanks for telling me about not giving these to kids before bedtime LOL….
Ciao,
Carmen
Wondering how long it takes to completely cool and set…does anyone know? Is it overnight or like an hour?
Love, love coconut. I’ve been looking for this recipe. Thanks.
Great and easy, I kept the ginger in and chopped it up very small.
Thanks. You made it look simple and delicious! I now have the courage to try it for myself. Thanks again. I too would love to see puddin & souse.
any trinidadians try this? is it any good? can a real INDIAN trini post a recipe if this one is not good? that’s all. thanks.
Hi Ram, this recipe is the same for Indian, Africans, Chinese, Native Indians, all others and in between. I an Indian Trini and all ah we is one family who loves good Caribbean foods.
Thank you 😊 AllAWEISONEFAMILY! You’re sooo right ONE CARIBBEAN! We speak the same language but different (twang) /tongue! One Love ❤️ Always!
These look awesome Chris. I miss being in barbados where I was buying these from the supermarket. This looks easy to make so I think I may try it for my daughter’s bake sale. Thanks for the video.
Love your recipe but I also add cinnamon stick and clove..
This coconut sugar cake looks good better with the grated coconut 🙂
Thanks for the recipe. I tried this when I was in Trinidad and really liked it. Can't wait to make it.
Thank you for posting this.. I enjoyed sugar cakes as a child and no w I can make my own.
I really enjoyed watching you cook up a storm.. Its brilliant that we actually see the dish being cooked from stage 1 to the end.. a lot of videos always show the chef/cook and you hardly see the dish.. Good Job.. Your cooking looks so clean and tasty.. I am going to a Heroes Day later and might try make some sugar cakes to go on my stall… Colours are so vibrant really emjoyable to watch and your narrative is cool too. Keep cooking…. How about some Pudding and Souse I am from Barbadian parents… 🙂
Looks delish, I am going to try it .Iam from guyana but live in barbados. So can u show in your video how to do hot cross buns? thanks you.
Yum! Looks amazing…anyone ever make these with coconut sugar? Just wondering…
I made these for my daughter's class to distribute after a presentation on Crop Over carnival and they were delish! Reminded me of when I was a kid in Barbados–so easy to make!!! Thx
wow , that looks amazing
I've been asked to make a treat for cultural day at my work. My husband actually found this website for me. We lived in Trinidad for 5 years and ate this all the time. So I gave it a quick try tonight (didn't have Bay leaf or Essence and really didn't know about dessicated coconut. What does that really mean? So I used sweetened. I know I substituted a lot, but it turned out really good and edible. I promise to make it right next time. THANKS!
Thanks for this recipe Chris 🙂
i feel like eating all of it by myself ill make a bunch and i mean a who cahari full
Hi Chris
I was just wondering how much Essence goes into this recipe??
Thanks
i always wanted to make this. thanks soooooo much!
Oh my goodness, I almost forgot about this! Watching it, I could almost taste it….This is about the 4th recipe tonight I've looked at. Makes me miss my dad and grandma….Just to comment on some of the concerns raised above, ginger is subject to the taster. If you picture the size of a quarter/dollar coin up to the old silver half-dollar coin size about 1/4 inch thick I think is what he means. And Essence is vanilla extract-you can get artificial one that's cheaper by a few$ compared to real vanilla extract.
Jeff,"Essence is usually Vanilla flavoring
Or Almond
What is "Essence". It is not mentioned in the ingrediants, but referred to in the instructions.
Hello Chris, you said that you could grate the ginger and leave in the syrup? When you gate the ginger, should you have 1 or 2 tablespoons of ginger? Trying to get an idea of how much grated ginger I should use? In terms of a "thick piece of ginger" should it be about 1 or 2 inches long?
This has brought back fond memories with my sister and I making sugar cakes with our friends. i love how simplistic your recipe is, and love the visuals.
Wow, this sure brings me back to being a kid in Jamaica and watching my mom make these.
If you don't have bayleaf try the recipe without it. Still great tasting.
Very simple method.
is it ok to grate your our dry coconut and make the sugar cake or u have to use the one that's in the video?
Those look yummy, and quite easy to make. I’m wondering where I’d find bayleaf here in Queens Ny. Any idea?
You can find bay leaf by one of the oriental food stores by the subways or if you have one closer to you
in just about any food store lol…i live in Queens NY also..
my mom was just sayin she feeling to make some sugar cake…this looks really good!