IMBB 13 - Huat Kueh

It is good to be back on the IMBB wagon after missing the last two editions. IMBB 13 is hosted by one of my favourite food blogger, Maki of i was just really very hungry and the brilliant theme she has chosen is cupcakes.

Cupcakes, muffins or fairy cakes, I adore them all. I was having a hard time deciding what to make when I thought of the Chinese cupcakes I grew up eating. Known as huat kueh 发糕 (prosperity cake), it does not have icing and it is not even baked. However, the huat kueh is truly a cupcake as the cake is steamed in little Chinese tea cups.

A vital feature of the huat kueh is that the top of the cake has to crack open like a flower. A huat kueh that does not "bloom" loses its auspicious meaning even though it is still edible. That is probably the reason why in recent years store bought huat kueh tend to be over generous with baking powder to ensure the cakes bloom. After throwing away yet another huat kueh with a horrible chemical after taste, I decided to try making one myself. Just in time for IMBB too.

Huat Kueh (Fatt Koh)

Ingredients
200g muscovado or dark brown sugar
400ml water
300g Hong Kong flour (low gluten flour used in Chinese pastries, substitute with cake flour if unavailable)
60g rice flour
4 tsp double acting baking powder    

Bring the 400ml water to a boil and add sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolve. Leave the sugar solution to cool.

Arrange Chinese tea cups or a 12 bun ½ cup muffin tin in a wok. Add water to the wok and bring it to a boil. At the same time the tea cups will be heated up by the steam.

Sieve the Hong Kong flour, rice flour and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Slowly add the sugar solution into the flour, using a whisk to mix. Alternatively, if you are lazy like I am, use a standmixer. Make sure that there are no lumps in the batter. 

Make sure water in the wok is at a roaring boil. Pour the batter into the hot tea cups to at least 80% full. If using muffin tin, place cupcake liners in the tin before pouring the batter. Steam for about  20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the cake. Do not open the lid for the first 10 minutes however or the cake may go flat.

Don't mean to toot my own horn but these home made huat kueh are the best I have ever tasted. They are fluffy, moist and have that intense flavour of muscovado sugar which I love.

Comments

[Miss Tenacity]

I've got leftover black syrup from making Jamaican rum cake this winter.... thinking about trying these gorgeous little steamed babies with THAT stuff. It would have a deep flavor like perfect espresso, with a little sweetness.

Hmmm....

[MrsT]

Hey..ST,
I've never like Huat Kueh .. for religious reasons.. coz' they are always associated to prayer to the chinese Gods.. hah!! silly me.. but blame it on my mom.. she instilled this fear in us.. about eating .. huat kueh.. haha!! but i'm gonna try baking them ... ;)

[Carolyn]

This is truly and 18thC way of cooking! My hat's off to you! They look lovely and this steaming would prevent the lovely little cups from shattering when taking them out of a hot oven.

[Mary]

Hiiiii!!!!..ST,
Love reading your blog. Those huat kuih looks sooooo good! :p Please excuse me for asking. Is this a fool-proof recipe? The reason I ask is because I have been trying so many people's versions that it always failed. Either it doesn't flowered up or it's flat and not fluffy. I have been shying away from making this again. It looks so yummy and enticing that I think I will give yours a try.
Thank you for sharing.

[Journey Girl]

Hi there,

Thanks so much for sharing this recipe and part of your heritage/memories in the process. This was really fun to read, and I've added it to my list of stuff to try in my cook software. :) My husband can't stand cake (he thinks its too dry and the texture is unpleasant), but he loves bread pudding and he loves the taste of muscavado sugar, so I think I might try this on him and see how it goes. I do have one question though -- If you don't have a wok, would a stock pot work? I have a lovely lobster pot I could use, but with our teeny-tiny kitchen (7 by 12) we don't have room for more pots. :(

[ST]

Hi Miss Tenacity, what is black syrup? Is it like molasses?

Hi Mrs T, your mother may be right as I have come across some huat kueh that are really unfit for human consumption and seems to be made just as an offering for the gods. Better to make your own.

Hi Carolyn, thanks for the track back on your blog, I am so flattered. Your comment set me thinking about making this cake the authetic 18th C way or at least the old grandmother's way without the use of baking powder. My Mom told me the leaven used then were wild yeast and fermented rice.

[Julia]

Hey ST, I love how beautifully your huat kueh "bloomed". :) The cakes must have smelled and tasted wonderful with the muscovado sugar. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

[ST]

Hi Mary
Thanks for visiting my blog :) I am not sure if it is a fool proof recipe but I have been lucky. My kueh flowered on my first and subsequent attempts. Besides making sure that the water is rapidly boiling and the other pointers I have mentioned in the recipe, I find that I get a nicer "flower" using teacups and cupcake liners that are cylindrical compared to containers with sides that flare. Another tip I was given but have yet to try is to make a cross on the batter using sugar or oil before steaming.

[ST]

Hi Journey Girl, glad you like the recipe and I am happy to share. A stock pot can be used, in fact, any deep pot will do. You just need a cooling or steaming rack that fits the pot. If you cannot find a rack that fits, just invert a heat proof bowl or saucer with a bit of height and balance the muffin tin on top.

Hi Julia, thanks. Are you back to cooking up a storm now that the water pipes in your estate are fixed?

[stef]

those are so pretty! i will have to try your recipe. i have been craving these babies for a while now. YAY! thank you thank you!!

hey, another thing, TOOT your horn all you want. You don't TOOT, I'll TOOT for you ;)

[Allen Wong]

Hey ST,

The Huat Keuh look great! I'm used to seeing the flourecent pink and yellow ones all the time during the Lunar New Year. It's nice to see one more natural looking. I didn't know they were steamed in cups. They're called Fatt Goh in Cantonese. Fatt meaning "to bloom." Neato.

By the way, what is muscovado sugar? Is it less refined sugar from sugar cane or from a different plant like palm sugar is?

[Lynn]

Hi, I'm so glad I clicked on your entry. I've been wanting to make this for a long time but didn't know what it's called or how to make it. Thanks for sharing!

[pinkcocoa]

hey ST
I thought those were chocolate huat kueh! :p Looks really yummy. Maybe I should just make them for breakkie tmr ;-) Thanks for sharing the recipes!

[Reid]

Hi ST,

Sorry I haven't been round in a while. =(

These look so delicious. I'm sure these were nicely flavored and light. I'm going to try these as I've never made steamed cakes before. Thanks so much for sharing!

[ST]

Hi stef, you are welcome. Toot toot :)

Hi Allen, I have seen those flourecent pink and yellow fatt ko. They look pretty scary to me and I am just glad those never caught on in Singapore.

Muscovado sugar is unrefined brown sugar from sugar cane. I prefer it to brown sugar because the taste is richer and it is also more nutritious. If you like you can also use palm sugar, what we call gula melaka.

[ST]

Hi Lynn, you are welcome. Try the recipe and let me know how it turns out

Hi pinkcocoa, I actually have a recipe for chocolate huat kueh which I wanted to try but the family prefers the traditional variety.

Hi Reid, I have not been around much too. So good to hear from you again.

[Mellie]

Yummy... i am still salivating!! :) Think I´ll go get a bucket before I wet the whole floor! hehe.... Will definitely give this recipe a try!

[Judy Pang]

I have tried to steam this Huat Kuih, it's yummy. I loves the brown sugar taste very much.

[LC]

Hi - tried your steamed sponge cake and it came out wonderful but I tried the Fatt Koeh 2x and it did not blossom! Maybe I did not convert the metric system into ounces correctly?

[J. Santiago]

Hey ST, your site & recipes rock! I'm just waiting for a dried mango/candied fennel seed angel food cake (not kidding) to emerge from my oven & came across these little cupcakes. I think I'll make them as my next party offering. Keep the cool stuff coming. JSS

[thebizofknowledge]

I stumbled across your blog while I was doing some online research. As someone who had the privilege of living in China for a number of years prior to returning to the United States, this post brought me pleasant memories of
huat kueh. Ymmmm.

[Ling]

Hi, I tried your Huat Kueh recipe for the first time it 'bloomed' so much I almost couldn't believe it. Thanks! I couldn't find double acting baking powder so I tried with self-raising flour in place of the plain flour and 2tsp of normal baking powder. I am pleased with the 'bloom' and the texture but the kueh left a slight after-taste of sap in my mouth. What can I do to avoid this in future.

[ST]

Use normal baking powder in the same quantity as the double acting baking powder.

[mumusings]

Hi,

Been trying various recipes and will give yours a shot. Very lousy at gauging quantity when it comes to cakes so let's see how it goes!

Lovely photos you have in your blog and very cheerful content.