Monday, March 29, 2010

Angolan Food: Desserts. Yum!

For the most part, dessert is not a part of the traditional Angolan meal. Most Angolan desserts consist of simple fruits, but there are also western-like puddings like Cocada amarela, which was inspired by the Portuguese cuisine; since Angola was previously ruled as a Portuguese colony, some of its food and cuisine owe much to the culture of Portugal.

Cocada amarela (yellow coconut) is the best known Angolan dessert and its main ingredients are: sugar, water, whole cloves, coconut, egg yolks and ground excellence.  The yellow color is derived from the abundance of egg yolks in the recipe. There are several recipes for this dish, but the differences between them are represented mainly by the cooking technique. Since Cocada amarela is a very sweet and heavy dessert, it is best served in small portions.  ENJOY!

Cocada Amarela

Ingredients
2 cups Sugar
4 whole cloves
12 egg yolks
6 cups water
4 cups grated coconut
ground cinnamon

Directions
Combine the Sugar, cloves and water in a 4 to 5 quart saucepan. Bring to a boil. Continue boiling and stir
constantly until syrup reaches 230°F on a candy thermometer. Reduce heat to low, take out cloves and add coconut. Mix thoroughly and cook 10 minutes on low heat. Take off heat.

In a deep bowl, place 12 egg yolks. Beat them with an electric mixer for one minute. Stir in 1 cup of Sugar, coconut mixture and then pour yolks into saucepan with rest of syrup. Cook at medium heat 10 minutes. Pour in 1-inch deep platter or individual dessert dishes. Sprinkle with cinnamon and refrigerate for 2 hours.
(Retrieved from http://www.cookbookwiki.com/COCADA_AMARELA)
 
I will include more Angolan dessert recipes at a future date.  One of my favorite topics!

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