Samantha Seneviratne’s coconut cake snowballs condense the essence of the original into charming three-bite treats.

Zinara Rathnayake is a writer based in India and Sri Lanka with bylines in The New York Times, BBC, CNN, Atlas Obscura, and others. Her work largely focuses on travel, food, and culture, among others.

When I walk into Saumya Dharmasiriwardena’s home in Canoga Park, I am immediately transported to balmy December evenings at the Galle Face Hotel in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, the sweet smell of ...