Recipe
🍰 DESSERT
Buatoro (Pumpkin Coconut Cake)
A moist Kiribati cake of grated pumpkin or swamp taro baked with coconut milk and kamaimai, the islands' dark coconut toddy syrup.
I-Kiribati · easy · serves 8
prep 20 min · cook 60 min
~111 cal · 2g protein · 10g carbs · 8g fat · 2g fiber · 3g sugars · 7g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Buatoro, pronounced bwaturo, is a Kiribati baked pudding cake traditionally made from grated babai, the giant swamp grown in pits, though pumpkin has become a common everyday stand-in.
The grated flesh is mixed with te ran ben, thick , and sweetened with kamaimai, the dark coconut toddy syrup tapped from the palm, then bound with a little flour and baked in leaves until moist and sticky.
Part cake, part pudding, sweet but never sugary, buatoro is I-Kiribati home food, made in quantity for family and set out for everyday snacking as much as for celebrations.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and dairy-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 8
1.25 lbs pumpkin (or grated swamp /babai), peeled and finely grated
1/4 cup coconut palm syrup (kamaimai)
Hard to find? coconut sugar melted with a splash of water - lighter and less smoky than tapped toddy syrup, but the closest easy stand-in
3/4 cup full-fat
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
as needed banana leaves or foil, for wrapping
Instructions
1
Heat the oven to 350F (175C) and line a small baking dish with banana leaves or foil.
2
Stir the grated pumpkin, coconut milk, kamaimai and flour together into a thick batter, like a loose pancake batter.
3
Spoon the batter into the lined dish and level the top with the back of a spoon.
4
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until set, firm in the middle and lightly browned at the edges.
5
Cool, cut into squares, and serve with a little extra coconut milk poured over if you like.
I-Kiribati home baking tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Tarawa. The crop is genuinely at risk. Saltwater intrusion and rising seas are getting into the pits, and imported rice and tinned food have taken over much of the everyday diet. What the atoll still gives freely is coconut, in every form from drinking nut to toddy, and fish off the reef.
🗺️
Kiribati. Karewe, the toddy tapped from the cut coconut spathe, is drunk fresh and sweet or left to ferment, and it is boiled down into a syrup that keeps. The pits that grow babai are threatened by saltwater intrusion as sea level rises, which is a plain fact about these atolls rather than a metaphor.
🌍
Oceania. Oceania spans Australia, New Zealand, and thousands of Pacific islands, where the ocean and the coconut palm define the pantry. Traditional Polynesian and Melanesian cooking centers on root crops, taro, yam, cassava, and sweet potato, slow-cooked in earth ovens (the umu or mumu) alongside fresh reef fish and rich coconut cream. Modern Australian and Māori kitchens blend these deep roots with waves of Asian and European influence.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Kiribati
Babai with Coconut FishGrated giant swamp taro (babai) steamed with coconut cream, served with reef fish poached in coconut.
Kiribati Coconut RiceRice simmered in fresh coconut milk and sweetened with coconut toddy, a soft, fragrant breakfast from the atolls of Kiribati.
Kiribati Palu (Marinated Reef Fish)Raw reef fish cured in lime and salt, then folded through fresh coconut cream with onion and chili, a bright, no-cook lunch of the atolls.
Browse all Kiribati recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven.
Storing it: Keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and reheats covered in the oven. Most bakes can be assembled a day ahead and baked when needed.
Make it a Kiribati meal
Babai with Coconut FishDinner
Te KareweDrink
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Frequently asked questions
What is Buatoro (Pumpkin Coconut Cake)?
A moist Kiribati cake of grated pumpkin or swamp taro baked with coconut milk and kamaimai, the islands' dark coconut toddy syrup.
Where does Buatoro (Pumpkin Coconut Cake) come from?
Buatoro (Pumpkin Coconut Cake) is a I-Kiribati dish from Tarawa, Kiribati.
Can Buatoro (Pumpkin Coconut Cake) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Buatoro (Pumpkin Coconut Cake) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Buatoro (Pumpkin Coconut Cake) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Buatoro (Pumpkin Coconut Cake) take to make?
About 80 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 60 minutes cooking), serving 8.
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