Hong Kong Malay Cake

Last week, my colleague bought a recipe book from the Fairprice near our work place. I browsed through the recipe book and found the foods to be rather interesting. It's call "Olden Tasty Treats" published by Seashore Publishing (M). It's a collection of recipes from Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

As I flipped through the book today, I decided to try the easiest possible recipe. As I haven't been baking for the whole week, I decided to do some baking. The past week was a bit crazy. I was sick, then followed by my organisation's anniversary dinner. There were just too many activities in the day which tired me out by evening time.

Anyway, I decided on Hong Kong Malay Cake from the recipe book. I was rather surprised that proving is required. After steaming, the cake turns out rather high and well. However, when I cut through the cake, the centre part wasn't too cooked. The skewer didn't show when I inserted it. I was rather disappointed because the top and sides looked so nice. I think maybe a further 10mins is required.

Even though centre wasn't cook, the texture was rather good. It also wasn't too sweet as I've reduced the sugar. In case you would like to try, I'm sharing the recipe extracted from the book.

Recipe for Hong Kong Malay Cake
(makes a 8" round)

Ingredients A (sifted twice)
240g Cake flour
2 tsp Baking powder
½ tsp Baking Soda
60g Custard powder

Ingredients B
6 Large whole eggs
260g Brown sugar (original was 360g)
½ tsp vanilla extract
160g Margarine (melted)

Method:
1. Beat eggs, add in brown sugar gradually and beat mixture until it thickens.

2. Fold in sieved ingredients A and mix well. (I added the flour mixture in batches and used the mixer to mix)

3. Add in vanilla extract and leave to prove for 30-60mins. (I proved mine for 50mins)

4. Add in melted margarine and mix well. (After 50mins, the batter thickens with lots of bubbles surfacing)

5. Pour the mixture into a bamboo steamer lined with paper and oil at the base.

6. Steam over high heat for 40mins. (Original recipe was 30mins. However, mine wasn't cooked in the centre, so I figured 40mins should be just nice.)