Saturday, October 21, 2017

Malay cake (马来糕)

Adapted from http://mykitchen101en.com/dark-brown-sugar-ma-lai-koh-with-yeast/

The problem isn't with the recipe, it's with me. I misread the instructions. It didn't come out as fluffy as expected but not too bad. The cake tastes a bit soapy but could be because I didn't follow the steps. I've transcribed the original recipe and my steps.

Ingredients
3 eggs
⅔ C evaporated milk
3 tbsp water (or pandan juice if available)
180g plain flour
1 tsp yeast
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
50g (3½ tbsp oil)

Method
1) In a bowl, sift the flour and salt. Add the dark sugar, salt, yeast and mix well.
2) In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Add the evaporated milk and water (or pandan juice) and whisk well.
3) Add the wet to the dry slowly until a batter forms. Do not over beat. If desired, sieve the batter into another bowl to ensure that you don't have lumps of dark sugar.
4) Cover the bowl and proof for 2 hours.
5) Bring the water to a rolling boil. Wrap a cloth around the cover so that the condensation doesn't drip onto the cake during steaming.
6) Ensure enough water to steam for 40 minutes. Take a small bowl and add 4 to 5 tsp of the batter into it. Sift in the baking soda and baking powder. Add the oil and mix everything well. Return this batter back to the main batter and mix well.
7) Pour into a lined cake tin (mine was 28" rather than 29" stated in the recipe).
8) Steam for 40 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Do not lift the lid to peek until at least after the first 30 minutes otherwise the cake will collapse. Switch off the flame and let the cake rest for 10 minutes to stabilise.
9) Remove the cake tin onto a wire rack and unmould to cool.
10) Serve warm if possible.

Less well rise compared to the blogger

This is my wrong method. I think perhaps the yeast deactivated the baking soda or vice versa. But it still comes out moist and light, perhaps due to the steaming rather than baking.
1) Whisk the eggs and oil until pale. 
2) In another bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Add the dark sugar, yeast and salt and mix well.
3) Add the dry to the wet gradually and fold in. Do not overmix. Cover and proof for 2 hours in a warm place.
4) Give the batter a stir and pour it into a cake tin. It will be very runny. 

The rest of the steps are the same. This recipe will be updated eventually with a new picture when I do it correctly.

Update: This version also uses brown sugar but uses baking powder and steams. It is more similar to steamed egg cake.

Monday, October 16, 2017

Portuguese egg tart

To me, this is the cheat's version of the HK or Cantonese egg tart because it's 'hardier' and the egg custard isn't soft and quivering like the Cantonese one. This also uses puff pastry, which in my case, has already been ready made. Therefore, this recipe is like the introduction to baking egg custard and if I get this right, I can move on to the pale HK egg tarts.

Recipe adapted from https://www.littlesweetbaker.com/2016/01/29/chinese-egg-tarts/
She used 2 eggs and 1 yolk but as I can never figure out what to do with the extra white so I added it in. Maybe that puffed it up more than normal.


Ingredients (makes 16 to 20 tarts)
2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
3 eggs, beaten
⅓ C + 1 tbsp (80g) sugar
⅔ C warm milk
⅓ C evaporated milk
½ tsp vanilla essence

Method
1) Warm up the milk and melt the sugar. Let it come to room temp. Preheat oven to 200 deg C and place the oven shelf at the lowest third of the oven.
2) Beat the eggs with evaporated milk and vanilla. Add the sugary milk. Strain into a pouring jug.
3) Unfold the pastry sheet and lay it over a lightly floured surface.
4) Using a round cookie cutter (9cm for tart tin and 10cm for muffin tin), cut out as many rounds as you can squeeze in. Place them into the oiled tart or muffin tins. Trim off any excess.
5) Pour the egg mixture into the pastry case but leave a rim. Do not fill to the brim or over fill or else the mixture will overflow during baking and stick the tart to the tin.
6) Bake the tarts at 200 deg C for 15 minutes. In the last 5 minutes, watch out for when they start to puff up. Open the oven to let out the hot air escape. If not, they will deflate after removal from the oven. Reduce the temp to 175 deg C and then bake for a further 14 minutes (tart tin) to 16 minutes (muffin tin). Check for readiness by inserting a toothpick which will stand upright unaided.
7) Remove from oven and leave to cool in the tins. Once the tins are cool enough to handle, remove from the tin. Once fully cooled, store in an airtight container.

Monday, October 09, 2017

Matcha chiffon

This is probably the worst chiffon that I've made. It didn't rise properly and the top seemed to stick. I knew something was up when I stirred the batter. It was so sticky that it made it hard for the meringue to give it enough lift, despite the ½ tsp of baking powder inside. I also wonder if it could be because I 'played' more with the meringue this time compared to previously in an attempt to incorporate it, to spread it out in the tin more evenly, and finally, to dispell the big air bubbles. The latter didn't seem to have work though. Not likely to try this recipe again soon because to begin with, match is such an expensive ingredient. I paid $4 for 20g of culinary grade matcha (the cheapest brand available) and the entire 20g is needed in the recipe.

Adapted from http://thedomesticgoddesswannabe.com/2016/04/matcha-chiffon-cake/ to increase the liquid in an attempt to make the batter less sticky and added more baking powder for 'lift'

Ingredients
7 eggs, separated
160ml milk (from 149)
100ml oil (from 93)
35 + 135 g sugar (no change as the sweetness is needed to counter the bitterness)
½ tsp salt
21g matcha powder
1 tsp baking powder (from ½ baking powder)
½ tsp cream of tartar

Method
1) In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Sift the ingredients twice so that the matcha is well incorporated with the flour.
2) In another bowl, whisk the yolks and 35g of sugar until pale. Add the oil and beat until pale. Add the milk and mix well.
3) Sift in the dry ingredients in 2 batches and carefully fold in.
4) In a very clean bowl, beat the egg whites. Add cream to tartar to stabilise. Beat until stiff peaks.

Oddly shaped and cracked

5) Add the meringue in 3 batches to the batter. The first addition is to lighten the mixture so you can be less careful but carefully fold the second batch and then tip the entire batter into the left over third of meringue. Fold in until no streaks remain.
6) Pour into the ungreased chiffon tin and take care to spread more batter at the outer edges. Use a spatula to make zigzag slashes to dispel the bigger air bubbles. Drop the tin 10cm onto the countertop several times to dispel more air bubbles.
7) Bake at 170 deg C for 65 minutes. Remove and immediately invert the tin so that the cake 'hangs' to cool.
8) Once completely cool, carve out the cake from the tin.
Hardly rose and very big air pockets


Buchujeon (Garlic chives pancake)