Steamed Nescafe Soft Cakes

When you have nothing to eat in the morning, you can easily mix and steam some batter to make the Steamed Nescafe Soft Cakes. It takes only 45 minutes to make them as long as you have sugar, self-raining flour, baking powder, baking soda, oil or butter, eggs and Nescafe at home. They are good for tea-time too. They also make a good gift if you are visiting someone as these (I am certain) are not sold in shops.

Ingredients:

• Dry Ingredients:
• 150 g self-raising flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp Nescafe instant coffee powder
• 110 g brown sugar (can be slightly more)

• Wet Ingredients:
• 3 eggs
• 65 g corn oil or melted butter
• 100 g hot water

Method:

• Dissolve instant coffee powder in hot water. Set aside for it to cool down.

• Sieve self-raising flour, baking powder and baking soda.

• Beat eggs and sugar till sugar dissolves.

• Add corn oil or melted butter to the egg mixture and whisk till they are combined.

• Add the instant coffee liquid to it. Mix. 

• Add flour mixture to it and use a whisk to combine till no lumps can be seen.

• Sieve the batter.

• Pour the batter into 8 cup cake liners in a muffin tin.

• Boil water in a steamer.

• When the water has boiled steam the batter for 30 minutes over high heat. (Cover your steamer cover with cloth to prevent water from dripping onto your batter.)

• Remove the cakes from the muffin tin immediately after they are cooked onto a metal rack.

Black Sesame Seed Burger Buns

     

     

Baking bread is my passion. But my breads are only for our own consumption. Experimenting with the amount and types of ingredients to give different end results makes baking bread an exciting adventure for me in my kitchen. This round I ground the black sesame seeds and mix them into my dough. The result is yummy buns which can be eaten by themselves without any spread nor fillings. 

Ingredients:

• 600 g bread flour (makes 13 buns of about 95 g each)
• 7 g yeast
• 80 g sugar (can be slightly less or more)
• 60 g black sesame seeds, toasted and grind
• 400 ml warm milk
• 1 egg (Grade A)
• 40 g butter
• 1/2 tsp salt (if butter is unsalted)

Method:

• Activate the yeast - add sugar to warm milk, stir to dissolve the sugar and sprinkle the yeast on top. Set aside for 5-10 minutes.

• Once the yeast has been activated (there are bubbles in the yeast mixture), pour it into the bowl of the stand mixer.

• Add egg to the bowl.

• Add the bread flour, ground black sesame seeds and salt into the yeast mixture.

• Start the mixture on a low speed until all the ingredients are incorporated. Then increase the speed to medium high.

• When the dough has formed into a ball, add butter to it.

• Continue to knead the dough till it is smooth and elastic. Then transfer it to an oiled bowl.

• Cover the bowl with cling wrap and put a damp towel over it.

• Let the dough proof in a warm place till it has doubled in size.

• Lightly flour or grease your table top.

• Remove the dough from the bowl onto the floured / oiled surface.

• Punch out the air from the dough and knead it for about 5 minutes.

• Divide the dough into smaller pieces of dough of 95 g each.

• Roll each dough into a ball and place it onto a flattened cake liner.

• Let the dough balls proof until they have doubled in size.

• Pre-heat the oven at 175 degrees C.

• Eggwash (just egg yolk with some water) the dough and sprinkle some black sesame seeds on top before baking.

• Bake the dough for 28 minutes until the buns are golden brown.

• Let them cool down on a metal rack.

• Enjoy.

Kuih Kosui Gula Melaka / Kuih Lompang

 

Kuih kosui or kuih lompang is a traditional Malay kuih which is made from rice flour and tapioca flour and gula Melaka or pandan juice. Kuih kosui which is made using gula Melaka will be brown in colour and that with pandan juice will be green. It is eaten with coconut flakes. This kuih can be steamed in individual small round moulds or in a big square pan. Coconut flakes are added to the top of the kuih if it is steamed in small round moulds. If it is steamed in a big square pan, the kuih has to be sliced up and rolled in coconut flakes after steaming.

Kuih kosui can be easily found in markets. However, as it is easy to make, we can make it any time if we have the flours, gula Melaka and pandan leaves at home.

Ingredients:

• Coconut flakes from half of a coconut (without brown skin)
• 1/4 tsp salt

• 160 g gula Melaka
• 360 ml water
• 3 pandan leaves

• 120 g rice flour
• 60 g tapioca flour

Method:

• Steam coconut flakes with salt.
• Leave aside.

• Add gula Melaka and water to a pot.
• Add pandan leaves (knotted) to it.
• Boil till gula Melaka dissolves.
• Let the syrup cool down.
• Remove the pandan leaves.
• Sieve the syrup.

• Add water to a steamer and turn on the fire.
• Let the water boil.
• Oil 12 porcelain or stainless steel moulds.
• Put them into the steamer to heat them up.

• Mix rice flour and tapioca flour in a mixing bowl.
• Add the syrup to the flours.
• Stir till there are no lumps.
• Transfer the flour mixture to a pot.
• Place the pot over very low fire.
• Keep on stirring the flour mixture until it SLIGHTLY thickens.
• Sieve the mixture into a pouring jug.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared porcelain or stainless steel moulds.
• Steam the batter for 25 minutes or till it is cooked.
• Remove the kuih onto a plate.
• Spoon the coconut flakes onto the top of the kuih.
• Serve.