Steamed Red Velvet Cupcakes

I have been helping a friend in her culinary classes recently. I decided to try on this recipe as I was inspired by the students' showcase recipe for this cupcakes . I actually didn't know much about this kind of cake.. What so special? After class, I went home, searching over the internet on this recipe ... I came across a number of this recipes ... I do not know how big the cake was going to be it how many cups would I be making based in these recipes... Because of my size of steamer... 

Anyway, I tried it out on Good Friday, hopefully  it turned out well so that I can have my friend ( the one I am helping )to try it. 

Actual recipe calls for all-purpose flour.. But I use what I have (cake flour instead) .. Thinking I have the red food coloring I started to prepare the ingredients until I realized that I ran out if the food coloring and the buttermilk. I rushed to two nearby supermarts but was not able to get them. 

Fortunately , my friend is staying next block and was lucky enough to get the main lead , that was the red food coloring . Next, I searche on web for the substitutes for buttermilk...

So here I continued .....

Ingredients :

For the cake ( makes 24 cups)

1. 2 cups cake flour 

2. 1 tsp baking powder 

3. 1 tsp baking soda 

4. 1 tsp salt

5. 1 Tbsp cocoa powder 

6. 11/2 cup sugar

7. 2 large eggs

8. 1 cup vegetable oil 

9. 1 tsp vanilla extract

10. 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

11. 1 oz. red food coloring ( I use only 11/2 tsp) 

12. 1 cup *buttermilk *

* Buttermilk- home made*

Ingredients :

 - milk (under one cup)

 - 1 Tbsp white vinegar or lemon juice

Methods :-

- place vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup . Add enough milk to bring the liquid to one-cup line. Let it stand for 5 min.

For cream frosting :-

1. 200g cream cheese ( room temperature )

   ( I use around 175g as this bar of cream cheese was the remaining that I used from previous cake making, so I guess was around there)

2. 200g unsalted butter ( room temperature)

3. 1 tsp vanilla extract

4. 1 cup powdered sugar 

Methods :

1. Sift items no. 1 to 5 together. Whisk well.

2. With a mixer, beat sugar and eggs together in a large bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, mix oil, vinegar , red coloring and vanilla extract together. 

4. Add step 3 to step 2. Beat till well combined.

5.  Add step 1 and buttermilk to step 4, alternating flour mixture and buttermilk . For the last addition of flour, fold in gently with a spatula.

6. Scoop batter into cups to 3/4 full. 

7. Steam for 12 to 15 mins on medium heat. 

Be careful when opening the cover as droplets of water condensation might dropped into cakes .. Like mine ...

For frosting:

Method :

1. Beat butter and cream cheese until creamy. Mix in vanilla extract.

2. Mix in powdered sugar gradually , beat until well blended and smooth.

These were all frosted and decorated by my daughter... 

I had my friend to try.. I had also asked my siblings to taste.. My nephew loved it but only the frosting ... Haha. 

My brother said the texture was ok but can be done softer. To me , I think it was soft enough.. Probably need to be finer. 

Anyway, it was a first try. 

Happy trying😃

    

Steamed Chocolate Brownies Layer Green Cheese Cake

Attracted to this recipe because of the green layer. However, first attempt was not really that fantastic. As the green layer didn't rise up properly. I was not sure whether the taste of the cheese layer should be cheesy as the chocolate taste seemed to have overtook it . Anyway, will try out again. 

For friends who would like to try out this recipe , it split into two layers. Here it is:

For chocolate layer :

Ingredients A:

60g butter

30g cooking chocolate 

Ingredients B:

4 egg yolks

2 egg whites

110g castor sugar 

Ingredients C:

25g plain flour

25g cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder 

Ingredients D

1 tsp chocolate emulco

Method:

1. Melt Ingredients  A , leave to cool.

2. Beat Ingredients B until fluffy. Add in step (1) mixture to the beaten ingredients B. Finally add in ingredients C, followed by Ingredients D.

3. Combine mixture evenly and pour I to an (8"x8") square mould. 

4. Steam for 35 minutes under high heat.

For the cheese layer ;

Ingredients A:

1 egg

30g castor sugar

1/2 Tbsp ovalet (cake stabilizer)

Ingredients B:

30g superfine flour (HK flour)

20g corn flour

Ingredients C:

100g cream cheese

1 Tbsp condensed milk

1 tsp apple green coloring

Ingredients D:

50g oil

Method :

1. Beat A until fluffy and thick .

2. Sieved flour into egg mixtures and mix well. 

3. Beat Ingredients C until soft and add into step (2) mixture. 

4. Finally pour in oil and mix well. 

5. Pour directly onto chocolate mixture and steam for another 30 minutes under high heat.

Happy steaming.....:)

Steamed Japanese Cheesecake

Steamed Japanese Cheesecake

(Abstract from Little Teochew, happy flour )

I have been wanting to make this cake long time ago.. I made it the first time and 

was unsuccessful , cake turned out to be  a bit tough. I knew I failed. I guess was because of the mixing stage and I missed out the use of aluminium foil to cover the pan when steaming.

Recently , I have not been making steamed cake , until I bought cream cheese last weekend. As I was quite free today, I suddenly thought of trying out the Japanese cheesecake again. 

Yes, today I succeeded . It's soft and spongy, moist and melt in your mouth. Just like those sold in the Jap restaurant . Haha. Too exaggerated ! Pardon me.

It was honoured to have a long lost friend of mine to happen to visit me tried out first. After so many years, we met again... 

As this recipe can make a 8" round and approximately another 6" plus round cake tin.

My hubby tried too and was quite amazed, even my youngest son who doesn't really fancy cheesecake , tried too... 

Oh yes, the taste was not that sweet and also slight smell of lemon . Yes, for mine, I add in lemon zest and juice.

Now to the recipe :

Ingredient :

A:

100ml  fresh milk

250g cream cheese

50g butter (softened )

B (sieved)

60g cake flour

20g corn flour 

1/4 salt

C:

6 egg yolks

1Tbsp lemon juice 

Whole lemon zest

Little vanilla essence (optional)

D:

6 egg whites

1/4 cream of tartar

140g sugar

Method:

1. Line an 8" cake tin with greased proof paper. Set aside.

2. Double boil ingredients A until cream cheese melted completely . Set the mixture aside to cool .

3. Whisk egg yolks into cream cheese mixture until well blended.

4. Fold in ingredient B and lemon juice , lemon zest and vanilla essence. Mix until smooth batter.

5. With a hand electric mixer , whisk egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Add in sugar and whisk until soft peak form.

6. Fold in 1/4 of step ( 5) mixture  into the cheese mixture until combine. Fold in the rest of step (5) mixture until well combined.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and cover with aluminium foil. ( I covered the whole tin )

8. Steam at medium low heat for 45 to 50 minutes (I steam for 45mins.)

Happy steaming !

Steamed soft banana chocolate walnut cake

Steamed soft banana chocolate walnut cake

This was my second time making this cake. The first that I made was simply banana and chocolate . Since my husband bought lots of walnuts and almonds, I thought , maybe I can add some walnuts into it. Oh yes, this cake has two portion, one is the banana and the other is the plain. The top plain layer is soft .

It was a hazy morning, Singapore had been under hazing and humid weather for nearly a week..Since I would be meeting two little sisters in the afternoon , I would love to make them my steam cakes .  I realised that I ran out of Hong Kong flour. As it was hazy outside , I didn't want to make any trip to the supermarket . Therefore, I measured how much flour I was short of and I substituted the remaining with cake flour.

I have this recipe from aunty Yochana . She really made great cakes. I loved reading her blog.. Hopefully , I can meet her in person one day.

Ok , this is the recipe to share with:

Ingredients (A):

200 gm. mashed banana
1/8 tsp. vanilla essence
1 tsp. Bicarbonate of soda
a pinch of salt

Ingredients (B):
3 small eggs
100 gm. brown sugar
80gm. pao flour / Hong Kong flour / superfine flour & 20gm cake flour 
1 tsp. Baking powder
65 gm. melted butter

TOP LAYER:

2 eggs
60 gm. sugar
25 gm. water
65 gm. cake flour


Method:

(1) Mix all the ingredients (A) together and set aside.
(2) Whisk eggs and sugar together till flurry, add in flour and baking powder and mix till well combined. Add in mashed bananas mixture and cornoil and stir till well combined.
(3) Pour into a greased and lined loaf pan and steam for 15 to 20 mins till cooked.
(4) For topping: Whisk eggs and sugar till fluffy, add in water and flour and mix till well mixed. Pour on top of steamed banana cake and steam again for another 15 mins. or till cooked.
(5) Serve

Steamed cheese chocolate-mocha cake

This is the first time I tried this recipe . As I ran out of chocolate emulco, so I thought of using leftover cooking chocolate melted and mixed with homemade mocha paste.

However , after laying the final layer, I steamed more than 10 mins, thinking that the overall cake might not be really cooked. End product came out still nice . It as not that really spongy soft but still the taste is fine, not so sweet. Great for those who dislike sweetness. 

Ingredients:

4 eggs - separate egg yolks and egg white
100gm. sugar
250 gm. cream cheese
150 gm. whipping cream
100 gm. Superfine flour
30 gm. cornflour
1 tsp. vanilla essence
3 Tbsp. Melted chocolate with mocha paste

Method:

(1) Beat cream cheese, salt and 1/2 of the sugar in a mixing bowl till creamy then add in eggs one by one , followed by whipping cream.
(2) Fold in flour and corn flour and mix evenly. Add in vanilla essence.
Whisk egg white with the balance half of the sugar until fluffy. Fold into the cream cheese mixture.
(3) Take out 1/4 of the mixture and add in chocolate - mocha paste . Stir till evenly mixed. Put batter into a piping bag.
(4) Divide Plain mixture into 3 parts. Pour 1 part of the plain batter into a square tray 7" x 7" (lined with paper) and pipe some chocolate mixture on top. Steam for 10 mins. Repeat process till finished.
(5) Cool cake on a cooling rack.

Steamed Mocha Marble Cake

In my whole life, I have never ever try making a cake. This idea came up to me when I stopped working and started to be a S.A.H.M

Now, I have more time to think what I like and want to try and do for my life. My kids love CakEs.

So I thought that wouldn't it be nice if I can learn how to make a cake for them one of these days.
No oven for me at home, so how should I make a cake. Never thought of getting one as I am afraid that I might not be using often.

Then, I came to know that cakes can be made using Steaming.
Yes!! Sarawak kek lapis are made not only baking BuT also steaming.
I thought it was a great idea. So I started looking up books on cake making as well as receipes for steam cakes.
As a novice, know nothing about Cake making, have to try a lot of experiments.. Yes.. I made the first one, failed! Second , third , fourth and so on... One type of cake, I can be experimenting on many times! Trying out with different kinds of flour.

Now.. more or less, I am improving.

I will like to share this recipe which I think is quite nice.. Steamed Mocha Marble cake

Ingredients:

• 3Tbsp melted butter
• 3-4 Tbsp milk
• 1/2 Tbsp condensed milk
• 3 egg whites
• 4 egg yolks
• 180g castor sugar
• 180g cake flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 100g cooking chocolate (melt over hot bath)
• 1 Tbsp mocha paste

Method :

1.  Lightly greased and lined a 19cm round mould. Preheat steamer.
2. Separate egg yolk and white and set aside.
3. Beat egg whites with 50g of sugar till stiff. Set aside.
4. Beat egg yolks , remaining 130g of sugar and condensed milk. Beat on high speed till stiff and creamy.
5. Fold in half of the sieved flour and baking powder. Mix well. Add in melted butter and fresh milk. Finish adding the other half of the flour mixture.
6. Add half of (3) into the batter and mix well. Pour the balance and fold.
7. Take 1/3 of the plain batter and mix well with cooking chocolate and mocha paste.
8. Pour the two different coloured batter alternately into the mould.
9. Steam over high heat for 30 to 35 mins. or when a chopstick inserted comes out clean.

I have tried using Hong Kong flour and it turned out more softer. Taste great after refrigerating.

Do try out !