What do I really need at the moment? Comfort food such as this Steamed Pandan Cake. This cake brings back my memory the day I first came to Australia 13 years ago, My sister used to buy pandan cake every week in asian grocery, even though the cake they sold didn't really cut it but it was always making me homesick every bite I had. Most of home made pandan cake is cooked with fresh pandan leaves, which doesn't turn artificial green color and leaves the chemical flavor.
Well, Here's also another story, If you read my previous post on Meringue with Mocha Bailey Cream, you will have heard about my devastation on my blew up oven. I was planning to bake a pandan cake in the first place but when I was about to put them in the oven then I found out that the electric element on the oven was split into half. I can not waste of this beautiful pandan batter and I immediately remember that I once read the recipe about Steamed Pandan Cake, this was the time I should try that!
Steamed Pandan Cake
Ingredients
Steamed Pandan Cake
Ingredients
60 Pandan Leaves
75 ml or 1 table spoon Coconut Milk
7 Egg Yolks
125 ml Vegetable Oil
225g Plain Flour
300g Caster Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
8 Egg Whites
1 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
Method
1. Greased very lightly 23 cm Round Chiffon cake Pan
2. Snip Pandan Leaves into short lengths with scissors, then blend in a food processor for few minutes until reduced to grassy pulp. Transfer pulp to fine sieve and squeeze for juice. Measure out 115 ml of juice (if not enought, make up difference with water) into a bowl, add coconut milk, egg yolks and vegetable oil and whisk until smooth. Set aside
3. Sift plain flour into a large bowl. Add sugar, baking powder, salt and whisk well to blend, then add egg yolk mixture and whisk until smooth
4. In a clean grease free bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar at hight speed until soft peaks form. Gradually beating until stiff peaks start to form. Fold egg whites into batter in three additions, folding just until incorporated. Pour batter into pan, level surface with spatula, and steam for 55 to 60 minutes.
The above picture is the emergency procedure I had to do due to the broken oven. I wish I can provide you with a better image.
5. Invert cake onto a rack and leaves to cool upside down in the pan. Cut around edge and base with thin bladed knife to release cake from pan.
This recipe also works for baking as well. I made lots of baked pandan cake in the past and this was the first time I ever made the steamed version. This is one of the yummy, moist, soft cake. YUMMY!!
Hi Paula,
ReplyDeleteThis is very innovative! You turn something so beautiful and successful in an emergency! Imagine you could think of steaming the cake when your oven broke down. If it were me I think I´ll sit down , moan and groan over the oven and then toss the whole cake batter out in2 the garbage bin, lol! I think you are such a natural when it comes to cooking. have been enjoying your cooking posting on fb, silently though.
One question I would like to know is , I noticed you don´t have to cover your cake /batter when you steam the cake like we do it the old fashion way in a wok of boiling water under it.
Well done Paula. Will have to try this cake out!
Regards,
Mrs. Lim
Hi Mrs Lim,
ReplyDeleteThank You for your compliment..:) Tell you the truth, I was sitting on the kitchen floor and was really close to toss the batter in the bin but I didn't have the heart to waste the beautiful batter. Fortunately, I had a go on steaming this cake and turned out really yummy:)
However, regarding your question, I had to cover the cake during steaming and there was boiling water under it, otherwise the cake won't rise if I let it open during cooking.
Good luck Mrs Lim:)