While I was going through my sugar fast, I was craving basically everything with sugar. This dessert specifically was one of those sugar-deprived fantasies I conceptualized around two desserts that are notoriously sugar-laden. One of the inspirations was basbousa, an Egyptian semolina cake that is baked with tahini for a nutty texture, and is normally soaked with rose syrup. In this case, I went with a similar tahini-semolina situation, but instead of soaking it with rose syrup, I went with salted coconut milk, which is more common in Southeast Asian desserts. That is because I wanted to pair it with biko, which is a Filipino caramelized rice cake, just to add more nutty flavors and of course, more sugar. Biko is made by caramelizing coconut milk, in this case I also used coconut sugar, and cooking rice into that into a hearty, rich dish. While it sounds extremely weird to pair Egyptian food with Filipino food, in this case, it does work, since there is a lot of synergy there between the coconut and tahini. Even though semolina flour is something not often associated with Asian kitchens, it is used in Burmese cooking to make cakes, so this all does tie together by way of gorgeous Southeast Asian cuisines, despite the initially Egyptian inspiration for the cake! I will be honest, this cake is not delicate, light, and not-too-sweet. It is sugar laden and meant to set me back the 2 months of fasting from sugar I suffered due to stress eating and poor life decisions(eating this cake kind of being one of them, but it’s dessert so who cares). This cake is meant to be enjoyed more like a brownie and less like a layer cake, being relatively self-contained and eaten by the rich, decadent slice.

For the layers, we have a semolina-tahini cake that is leavened with coconut yogurt and flavored with brown butter for that extra nuttiness. It is soaked with salted coconut milk, resulting in a similar texture to a basbousa, but a lot less sweet(since the sugar is being layered in from a lot of the other components anyways). The next layer is a biko, made with caramelized coconut sugar and milk, and sticky rice. The cake will take a while to bake anyways, so I spent a decent chunk of time on the biko while the cake was baking, but so long as you are working on the biko while the cake is in the oven, both components should be done in similar times. Treat this like a rice pudding or a risotto, but cooked down to an even thicker consistency! The final portion is a caramelized coconut and sesame layer, meant to add more texture(and sugar) to the dessert, meant to tie in the coconut and tahini from the rest of the cake! The entire recipe is meant to be rich, fulfilling, and soul-satisfying(trust me, my soul needed this after attempting to convince myself that canned fish, lentils, and kale-infused quinoa was an appropriate replacement to my sugar addiction), but definitely meant to be eaten in moderation(I ate just one slice of it, it was sinfully delicious, and felt like I needed to add another month to my sugar fast). So I recommend enjoying it with friends and family, just to share the love(and caloriesI would say diabetes but I don’t need to be cancelled by you internet trolls like I was on Masterchef season 10 for making that joke).

For the semolina-tahini cake:
1 cup semolina flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
5oz coconut yogurt
1 stick unsalted butter, browned
2oz tahini paste
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla

In a bowl, mix everything together to form your batter. Pour the batter into a lined 9-inch by 9-inch square pan and spread into an even layer. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes.

For the biko:
1/2 cup sticky rice
3 cups water
1/2 cup coconut sugar
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup coconut milk

Rinse the sticky rice under water until the water runs clear. Place the sticky rice into a pot with 3 cups of water and heat on medium, covered, until cooked through, roughly 20 to 25 minutes. In a pan, heat up coconut sugar and salt until it begins to melt and brown, then add to that the coconut milk, stirring until the sugar is fully melted into the milk. Then add to that the sticky rice, stirring, until the rice is a dark brown color.

For the salted coconut soak:
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp salt

Mix the ingredients together in a bowl.

For the caramelized toasted coconut-sesame seed layer:
2 tbsp coconut sugar
2 tbsp coconut milk
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup toasted coconut flakes
2 tbsp toasted black sesame seeds
2 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds

In a pan, heat up the sugar until it begins to melt and brown. Add to the sugar your milk and salt and stir on low heat until a caramel sauce forms. Fold in the remaining ingredients.

To assemble:
Start by soaking the semolina cake with the coconut milk. Then pour over that the biko, then spread over that the caramelized toasted coconut-sesame seed layer. Freeze the cake until firm, then unmold the cake. Allow the cake to fully thaw, then cut into slices to serve.