Pandan Huat Kuih 香兰发糕

Huat kuih gets its name from its explosive top. The word huat in this context means expand, and kuih basically means our local traditional cake. Traditionally huat kuih is used by the Chinese as a prayer offering to deities or god. The more explosive it looks signifies the more prosperous and good fortune for the family.

There are many methods or ingredients used to make the explosive top. The normal or traditional ones usually uses rice flour and yeast. Some also uses ENO or carbonated drink as a leavening agent. I try my best to keep things simple by using simple pantry ingredients. I used baking powder with the addition of creaming the eggs until pale and fluffy to incorporate as much air into the batter. I also swapped rice flour for wheat flour as a personal preference. As I do not use the huat kuih as a prayer offering, my main aim is to make the huat kuih as tasty and appealing (explosive) as possible.

Pandan Huat Kuih 香兰发糕

Makes 12 medium Huat Kuih



Ingredients
A
3 cup superfine flour (300g)
3 tsp baking powder


2 egg
1/2 cup castor sugar (50g)
1/2 cup oil (110g)
2/3 cup coconut milk (150g)
1/3 cup pandan juice (juice from 7 pieces blended pandan) (80g)
1/2 tsp salt

Cooking Instruction

1. Prepare steamer. Make sure steamer has enough water for 20 minutes of high heat steaming. Sieve together ingredient A.

2. Beat eggs and sugar until thick and creamy.

3. Add in coconut milk, pandan juice and salt.

4. Gently fold in A. Lastly, add in oil.

5. Pour into individual moulds. Fill up to the brim. Steam for 15 mins in highest heat. Remove when skewer comes out clean.


*If using store bought pandan paste, using one cup coconut milk instead.


Fail-proof tips:
1. Do not open steamer cover during the duration of steaming
2. Fill the batter up to the brim.
3. Batter must be steamed on high.