Cara Bikang - A Traditional Cake from Javanese

Bikang is one of Javanese traditional cakes which now has been a bit rare to find. Most elder people love it because it used to be inserted in Indonesian traditional ceremony meal box. The traditional ceremony meal box itself consists of a big box of main course and a small box of snack consisting 4 or 5 traditional cakes including Bikang.

Now days, though it is not easy, you can find this rare cake in some modern stalls put in front of big supermarkets or in some modern markets. The price is doubled compared with the ones that are sold in traditional markets.

Bikang is made from rice flower, coconut milk, sand sugar, (from 3 leaves), vanilla, and salt. The coconut milk should be boiled first. And when it is warm, it is mixed with all other ingredients with hands. We need to be careful with how much water we put because the mixture should not be too thick nor too light.

The mixture is usually divided into two or three different colors. As three colors are needed, the mixture is divided into three different bowls. Each is mixed with two or three different food coloring such as red, green or yellow. 

Using special  Bikang pan, the mixture then is cooked by putting in three different colored mixture, each a tea spoon,  in one hole of Bikang pan cake. We can fill in all holes in the pan with different mixed colored mixture.

The mixture is then baked until almost completely done. Using a wooden stick or special Bikang baking spoon, it is taken out in such away to make the cake bloom into a nice flower cake.

The taste of Bikang is very spesial. It is not too sweet yet  not too savory either. We usually have Bikang with with warm tea or coffee in the morning or in the evening with some family members.