Khanom babin

Khanom babin is a small Thai coconut cake that is said to come from Ayutthaya, also spelled kanom babin. The mixture is made from young coconut, rice flour, coconut milk, sugar and egg, and the finished cake looks like a tiny pancake with a taste that is not too sweet or greasy and a pleasant smell. Thai accounts give two explanations of its origin. One places it in the Tha Ruea district of Ayutthaya during the reign of King Rama V, when it was called khanom paabin and made by a woman known as aunt Bin. The other says it was influenced by the queijada de Coimbra, a Portuguese dessert made with cheese, with the Thai name echoing the end of Coimbra and young coconut replacing the cheese. The word babin itself means wild, crazy or daredevil. Once eaten on almost every occasion, the cake is now harder to find and is sold by a few vendors in local markets and at roadside stands.