Steamed Chocolate Cheese Layered Cake

I made this cake 2 days ago and it was gone the next day. In fact, I make this cake every year for Raya as the recipe is simple and easy to put together. The worst thing about this cake is that it goes so fast so normally I will double it. But honestly, I am not personally a fan of this cake but my family is.

Last year my brother’s DIL was craving for this cake when she was pregnant with her second child. The baby boy was then nicknamed Bxxxx.  So that’s how this cake got its nickname ‘Bxxxx’s Cake’.

This is a really simple but delicious cake. No butter, just oil in this recipe that delivers a rich, cheesy and chocolate-y in about 2 hours.

I don’t remember where I got this recipe from but anyway, I would like to thank him / her for sharing this simple but great recipe. May our gracious Lord bless and repay him / her for his / her kindness and generousity.

Steamed Chocolate Cheese Layered Cake

This recipe yields a 8x8-inch square cake.

Ingredients A

2 whole gr. A eggs
1 cup castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
½ cup boiling water
½  cup fresh milk / evaporated milk
½ cup corn oil
1 cup plain flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder 

Instructions

Start by boiling the water in the steamer over medium heat.

Grease the cake pan and line with parchment paper. Grease the top of the paper too. Set aside.

Sift the plain flour together with cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.

Beat the eggs and sugar until fluffy. Add the vanilla and salt. Continue to beat for 30 seconds.

Add the hot water, milk and oil. Beat at medium speed until well-mixed.

Add the dry sifted ingredients a little at a time and mix to combine well. Rest the batter for a while then divide the mixture into two equal portions. Measure well or else the layers will not be of the same height. Set aside.

Ingredient B

250 gm cream cheese
60g castor sugar
1 whole gr. A egg
1 tbsp plain water
1 tbsp plain flour

Instructions

Beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.

Add the egg and then followed by the plain water and flour.  Continue to beat until smooth and creamy. Set aside.

Now we’re ready to steam the cake.

Pour in one portion of the chocolate cake batter into the cake pan. Level the batter. Cover the pan with cling wrap and steam for 25 minutes.

Remove from the steamer and discard the cling wrap. Add the cream cheese batter and cover with cling wrap then continue to steam for another 20 minutes.

Remove from the steamer and discard the cling wrap. Pour in the other portion of the chocolate cake batter onto the cheese layer.

Then cover with cling wrap again and steam for another 45 minutes or until the cake is cooked. Check with a prick.

Leave the cake to cool in the steamer for a few minutes. Remove from the steamer and let it cool completely before removing it from the cake pan.

Coconut Milk Pancake

I love to eat pancakes. They are warm and light yet very filling. Great for breakfast on cold mornings. They are good with honey or maple syrup. This recipe serves 4 people, fewer if they are very hungry and it uses only 5 ingredients you probably already have. Anybody can add water to a boxed pancake mix but you are better than that.

I make this for my family quite often.  You can make it extra special with berries. But my family likes to eat it with Sambal Ikan Bilis (Dried anchovies cooked in hot sauce).

Coconut Milk Pancake

Ingredients

1 cup coconut milk

1½ cup water

2 cups plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt / to taste

Directions

In a large bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Make a well in the center and pour in the coconut milk, water and salt. Mix until smooth. Leave it to rest for 15 minutes.

Heat a lightly oiled frying pan over moderate heat. Ladle the batter onto the pan, using approximately ¼ cup for each pancake, tilting the pan to move the mixture around for a thin and even layer. Return the pan to the heat then leave to cook, undisturbed for 45 seconds - 1 minutes until it turn golden underneath.

Flip it over to cook the other side, for another 45 seconds - 1 minutes. Continue with the rest of the batter.

Serve with Malaysian Sambal Ikan Bilis or honey or maple syrup. Enjoy!

Banana and Glutinous Rice in Sweetened Coconut Milk

Just got back from my vacation and while I am sad that it is over, I am happy to say that more posts will be coming soon! But before that, today, I would like to talk about the 2016 Primary School Assessment Test (UPSR).

The results of the 2016 UPSR were announced today. This year’s candidates are the 1^st cohorts who sat for the test under the new UPSR format in line with the implementation of the Primary School Standard Curriculum which also emphasizes elements of the Higher Order Thinking Skills.

Alhamdulillah, my husband and I are relieved that my daughter has obtained good results for all subject except for her B.Malaysia – Writing paper which is less satisfactory. I felt sad for her as I know how hard she studied. She reads well but she is weak at writing, when she writes essay, she would first write it in English then later translates it to B.Malaysia. We even sent her for private tuition to help her improve in B.Malaysia.

She comes from an ideal Malaysian ‘muhibbah’ family – father is Malay-Indian, mother is Kadazan-Chinese and yet is unable to speak the national language fluently. Yes, I know what you people out there might think of us. The thing is that my husband and I speak different languages so as not to confuse the children more, we decided to choose only one language to be our home language and our children dominant language.  It was difficult in the beginning with our first child. Although I’m bilingual it felt strange speaking English so I also spoke my home language to my children but then my husband didn’t understand me!

Our son go to government school whilst our daughter is studying at a missionary school therefore they get plenty of B.Malaysia at school but when they are home, we speak to them in English even when they respond in B.Malaysia, we maintain English environment.  That is the least I can do to help my children since I can’t afford to send them to boarding schools in UK or international schools in Malaysia.

I am not saying that my English is good enough to teach my children but the point here is, like it or not, English is the universal language and the main issue that is more significant is about the declining standard of education in Malaysia -- that includes the shocking standard of English taught in our schools.

I still remember a few years ago when my estranged father called my working place to look for me then left a message to return his call as I was engaged on the other line; my colleague was so amazed that it became the hottest topic of the day -- my father speaks English very well. She said she didn’t know that my father is an educated person considering that (unlike her) I come from a rural area. She was more surprised when I told her that my father was the product of a British school. Even my maternal grandfather speaks English fluently because he studied at a missionary school. However, should I be ashamed if my parents don’t know how to speak English or speak broken English? Why should I, it’s not their native language. 

Okey dokey…Let’s get down to our main business!  So, in order to cheer my little girl up and get her mind off of the ‘less satisfactory’ result (at least for a little while), I decided to make this dessert.

Banana and Glutinous Rice in Sweetened Coconut Milk

Ingredients

2 cups thick coconut milk

2 ½ cups water

¾ cup palm sugar

½ tsp salt

10 pcs Sabah banana - peeled

½ cup small pearl sago – washed and drained

1 pandan (screw pine) leave – washed and knotted

Directions

In a pot, bring to a boil, 5 cups of water and drop the pearl sago in. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Occasionally stirring to prevent it from sticking to the bottom or the side of the pot.

After 10 minutes, it will turn partially translucent. Turn off the heat and let it stand (covered) for 10 minutes to continue cooking by itself. Then rinse it through a sieve to remove the excess starch. Set aside.

In another pot, combine the water, palm sugar syrup, salt and pandan leave and bring to a boil over medium heat.  

Add the coconut milk and bring it to a boil once again. Keep stirring at this stage as we don't want the coconut milk to curdle. Discard the pandan leave.

Add the bananas and turn down the heat then simmer for about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the cooked pearl sago. Leave to cool completely.

Serve with glutinous rice.

Note:

This is also delicious with durian in place of the bananas. You don’t need a thickening agent for this dessert as the gravy will thicken a bit as it cools.

Steamed Glutinous Rice

Ingredients

500gm glutinous rice

200ml coconut milk

400ml water

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

Directions

Wash the rice and soak atleat for 3 hours.

Drain the rice and put them into a steaming tray.

Combine the coconut milk, water, sugar and salt then stir to mix well. Pour over the rice. Steam the rice for 15 minutes.

Take out the steaming tray and fluff up the rice and continue to steam for another 15 minutes or until the rice is done.

Remove the steaming tray. Set aside to cool.

Fried Red Bean Paste Buns

Food is one of the best ways to tie us to our past and our memories. One of my most precious childhood memories is sitting in my grandparents’ kitchen watching my grandmother cook for me and my grandfather.  I lost both of them 19 years ago and I still missed my grandmother so much and cried when I thought about her.

The smell of these buns always reminds me of my childhood. These buns are the one I find myself dreaming about when hunger and nostalgia come together. 

Now I'm getting hungry again!

Fried Red Bean Paste Buns

Ingredients

500gm Pau flour / plain flour

300gm red bean paste (I use store bought)

6gm instant yeast

50gm veg oil

½ tsp salt

100gm caster sugar

250gm luke warm water

Instructions

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl.

In another bowl, combine luke warm water (hot water will kill the yeast), yeast, veg oil, sugar and salt then pour into the mixing bowl. With dough hook attached, mix it in medium speed for 7 minutes until the dough is smooth.  The dough should be a little sticky at the end of kneading.

With floured hands, tip dough out on lightly floured flat surface and shaped it into a long log then divide it into 50gm each piece. Shape each piece of dough into a smooth ball. You should get between 26-28 pieces. 

Cover the dough with cling wrap and let it proof for 10 minutes.

Divide the red bean filling into 26 – 28 pieces or depending on how many dough balls you have and shape them into a ball. Set aside.

Dust the work surface with flour. Flatten each dough ball and place the filling in the center of the dough. Wrap the dough around the filling and pinch the edges together, forming a ball again. Gently press the ball until it is shaped like a mini pancake.

Let it proof again for 1 hour.

Deep fry over medium heat until golden brown and serve warm.

(Adapted from Rasa.com)

P.S. This song reminds me of my grandma. (The first Malay song that I learned to sing) 

Little Chef Workshop At The Curve, Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya

Their very first culinary lesson!

 Learning from the Pro. Hands-on workshop with the friendly chef. 

Kota Bharu - Day 4

We slept really well and were looking forward to breakfast. We woke early at 7am to prepare for our 2 and a half hours flight to Kota Kinabalu. Jumped straight into the cold shower and then headed over to breakfast at 8.30am at Kopitiam Kita.  As always in this fantastic haven, the food was amazing. It’s our last day. After a quick breakfast of tea, milo, toast, chicken curry puff and nasi lemak, we organized our bags and checked out, jumped in Mr. Nazaruddin’s Mercedes Benz and headed to the airport to check in our bags.

Mr. Nazaruddin then took us to a restaurant not far from the airport for brunch. I don’t remember the name of the restaurant but the food was awesome. I had a freshly made grilled honey chicken with rice, Hub had ayam masak merah (chicken in spicy tomato sauce) and veg dalca with rice while my daughter had tamarind fish curry with rice. I tried to have a light meal as it was a travelling day but couldn’t stop eating those pengat pisang (banana in sweetened coconut milk)! I really loved it!  

Then it was time to say good bye to our friend and it was with more than a hint of sadness that we did so as they had been so incredibly welcoming of us. Before he left, Mr. Nazaruddin presented us with 2 small boxes of the best murtabak in Kota Bharu, keropok lekor (fish sausages) and a packet of beef floss.  

We’re not sure we’d make a return journey to Kota Bharu but we really enjoyed our short stay there. 

This was the first time on our travels that I was very conscious I was the only female who didn’t have a head scarf on. Nevertheless, we were very impressed with the friendliness of the people here. Even though Kota Bharu is a large city, it had the feel and accessibility of a small town.

Kota Bharu - Day 3

We woke quite late at 8am. We had a half an hour trip to Pengkalan Kubor, so we jumped into an invigorating cold shower, packed our bags and headed over to breakfast at 8.30am. It’s at Kopitiam Kita again. We had hot tea and milo, nasi ayam gulai Kak Wok, nasi lemak, chicken curry puff and nasi dagang with chicken curry.  

  

We left Kota Bharu at around 10am in Mr. Nazaruddin’s (Hub’s friend) Mercedes Benz and arrived in Tumpat at 10.30am. There are also Buddhist temples in Tumpat.

Pengkalan Kubor is located at Golok River estuary and bordered with Tak Bai of Thailand. There is no bridge joining Tak Bai and Pengkalan Kubor. The residents of both border towns cross the river by boat or Ferry. 

Tak Bai Town

It is another duty free zone and popular for electronic goods, kitchen wares and clothes. Apart from clothing, a wide range of foods are also available at Pengkalan Kubor Duty Free Zone. We bought a Muay Thai shorts for Ben, my nephew, a teapot set and brass betel set. My children stocked up on water and chocolates.

On the way back to Kota Bharu, we stopped off at Kampung Laut, Tumpat to buy etak or etok and got to taste it the way the Kelantanese has been enjoying it for generations. According to Mr. Nazaruddin, etok is a freshwater clam which lives at the bottom of rivers and canals. Mostly found in the shallows and sandy parts of the river and only in fresh waters as it is very sensitive to the quality of the water. Mainly eaten as appetizer to go with rice especially nasi kerabu. We were told that the etak at Kampung Laut are special as they are roasted in the hot sun after marinating it in a paste made of salt, blended with lemon grass, shallots, ginger and garlic. This way will ensure that the flesh will be succulent enough. The marinating process takes at least an hour. Before marinating it, the etak must be washed clean and soaked in clean water. The soaking will make the etak purge all sand particles and mud within itself which may make it feel gritty when eating it if it is not totally purged. Soaking it over a minimum of 3 hours is necessary and overnight will be best. Mr. Nazaruddin even taught us how to open the etak with our teeth. Another friend of Hub, Hj Akmal, taught us to open it with the sharp edge of the shell, use it the same way as a knife.  

Mr. Nazaruddin then took us to Warung Pak Mat Pulau Pisang which is located at the Medan Ikan Bakar Kedai Buloh spot near Pantai Cahaya Bulan for lunch.  This place is famous for its teh tarik madu (honey milk tea) and fish head soup. Pak Mat uses madu (honey) for natural sweetness to the teh tarik drink instead of condensed or evaporated milk. This results in the drink being so bubbly that it overflows over the glass. Worth a try. Have it together with their signature dish which is steamed fish head served in beef stock. Match made in heaven. Sounds a bit weird but the taste is beyond imagination. The fish head was so fresh, flesh was really sweet, soup was done perfectly and a bit lemony tastes with a hint of chilly...Heavenly..!! Apart from the teh tarik madu, Mr. Naza also ordered daging korban goreng kunyit and omelette with white rice. Overall the soup and all the dishes were really good. No disappointment. Best in the world! 

On the way back to Kota Bharu, we stopped off at Kampong Kedai Buloh (Che Faridah Che Ahmad Tok She) to buy some raw and freshly made fish crackers to bring home.

We then made a stop at Che Minah Songket, at Kampong Penambang. Cik Minah Songket is a renowned songket and weaving company in Kelantan that has been around since the 1930s. They sell songket in various designs, batik and local handicrafts.  You can also see how the intricate songket design was made at the ground floor. The age old songket weaving technique has been passed down for many generations.  A fine silk songket with unique design can easily reach up to Rm2000 in price. 

Mr. Nazaruddin dropped us at the hotel and we then rushed to Istana Jahar before they closed for the day. It is a royal residence. It was built in 1855 by Sultan Muhammad II of Kelantan for his grandson Long Kundur. The palace has a pentagon-shaped and it is currently houses the Museum of Royal Traditions and Customs of Kelantan.

Then off to Bank Kerapu at Jalan Pejabat Pos Lama.  This building was built by Mercantile Bank in 1912. In 1941, Japanese troop landed near Kota Bahru. During the occupation, Bank Kerapu was used by the Japanese as their police station for war coordination. Upon the fall of Japan and the return of British, Bank Kerapu continued to function as bank until 1992 when it was turn into a war memorial by the Kelantan Museum Corporation. It houses more than 1,000 exhibits relating to the war and a mixture of Japanese tool used during the occupation, including Japanese bicycle, photographs, articles and artifacts.

It had been a long day, so we made our way to the hotel and cooled down with a cold shower.  We were so tired so we had to decline Mr. Nazaruddin’s invitation for dinner at Yati Ayam Percik but he was so generous to buy for us Yati’s signature dish which is Ayam Percik (grill chicken with special coconut gravy) and ikan percik (grill fish) for dinner. Then at around 9.30pm Hub and my son then went to Kedai Kopi White House to buy rice to eat with the scrumptious ayam and ikan percik.

Full and exhausted, we finally climbed into bed and crashed.