Thursday, September 21, 2006

Hot and Steamy

Nothing obsence here, just talking about the good old technique of steaming, which is used widely in Asian cooking. Think dim sum like Har Gow and Siew Mai, kueh kuehs like Kueh Salat and Kueh Kosui, main dishes like steamed fish, savoury glutinous rice and many more. So it’s no surprise that this technique can be used in cakes too. In fact, I had made some steamed cupcakes some time back.

This time my ‘inspiration’ came from the talented Lazychef, Rachel. She had used Dralion’s (a KC member) Steamed Moist Chocolate Cake recipe and made these pretty mini chocolate cakes. Borrowing her idea of making small individual cakes, I baked mine in muffin cups. Thanks Dralion and Rachel.

The cakes turned out great, wonderfully moist and deliciously chocolaty. Do not be fooled in thinking these cakes look dense, in fact, they are pretty light, since I devoured two cupcakes soon after they have cooled. Being a non-fan of frosting(unless it’s a special occasion), I skipped the fudge topping and sprinkled on some icing sugar.


Do give it a try, it’s simple to prepare, you don’t even need a mixer, and takes only 15 minutes to steam (for cupcakes). I kept one aside on purpose, just to see how soon they will dry out. 3 days and it’s as good as freshly made. Maybe it can last longer, that I’m not sure, because by the third day, I had ‘walloped’ the last one standing.

On a side note, my fellow blogger friends, have you ever haad undesirable people ‘barging’ into your blog and leaving non-constructive and negative comments, sometimes even personal attacks? These people either hide themselves under the ‘Anonymous’ cloak, or they use a nickname copied from someone whom you are familiar with. I started out by not moderating comments, until I start getting quite a few of these people on the comments page. Their words are not aimed at helping me improve on my baking/cooking, but they criticize simply because they are not happy. How do you deal with such people? Other than rejecting their comments, guess there’s not much to be done? Or am I opening a can of worms here?

22 comments:

^cherie said...

OOooo.. i love this one tons!!

I must say, this recipe has became my all time fav, or rather, hb's all time fav :D

It's really really good. Love the way you made them into a small individual cake and the deco too. Did u use muffin cups for the muffin pan when steaming?

Sammy said...

There seem to be more and more of these kind of annoynamous comments these days. I guess the only thing to do is to moderate comments. but don't be disheartened and continue baking!

Gracio said...

Angie,mm, does it taste very dense inside, like "huat kueh"? I like the way u deco the cake, very pretty and makes me wanna eat from the screen. :)

Dun bother about those nasty comments, they're insecure ppl with nothing better to do. I hope they will stop disturbing u soon! :)

Unknown said...

Sherie, this cake is good ya? ;p I use those disposable aluminium muffin cups, straight-sides, so no need for muffin pan coz it doesn't fit into my wok-steamer.

YD, thanks for your encouragement :) Yes, moderating seems to be the best way out.

Malou, thanks for your visit, and compliments. The cake is good, all thanks to Dralion's recipe.

Grace, thanks :). No, it's not dense at all, very soft and moist, just like a rich chocolate cake. And thanks for your wishes :)

Gattina Cheung said...

Angie,
oh I remember I did this cake too, you're right, it's very moist! I like the way you dress up this lil' sweet, and place on this classy leaf-dish, so attractive! Btw, what is kueh salat and kueh kosui?
Angie, agree with other folks, just keep moderating. For those who left nasty comments to Angie, please go visit other blogs that suit your liking, the internet world is so big, I'm sure you'll find your own space to have a life. See? we all have a good and fun life here!

Little Corner of Mine said...

Wow, you steamed chocolate cupcake look really soft and moist. I have been wanting to try Dralion's recipe for ages since it received such a good review. Guess my lazy butt is still lazy. LOL!

Sorry you received some nasty comments, guess you just have to ignore it and don't take it to heart.

Cuisine Paradise said...

Wow.. angie! Another great pic of tryout from you! This is sure a must try cos my family loves chocolate cake.. and i will sure give this a try....

Don't bother about those comments la...let them do wat they like. U can't really control them if they want to do it on purpose rite... just let them be loh.. We will always support u de.. Cheer Up, K! :)

Cuisine Paradise said...

Opps! Angie. Just wonder did u add in those mini chocolate chip that she added too.....?

LittleHands said...

Nice decoration, Angie. And I love yr cute little plate very much :-).

Angie, I was wondering where got things for them to critize leh. So, I guess they really must be very free. Just delete and forget about them lah.

Unknown said...

Gattina, thanks for your kind words :)

Kueh Salat is a kueh with two layers, glutinous rice-coconut milk layer on the bottom, a custard layer on top, very attractive. A pic here at Florence's blog: http://wlteef.blogspot.com/2005/10/kueh-salat.html

As for Kueh Kosui, it's made from tapioca flour, rice flour and palm sugar, steamed and then coated with coconut. A pic here:
http://www.sgkueh.com/kosui.JPG

You can find both recipes in KC, under Steamed Cakes & Kueh-Kueh :)

Unknown said...

Ching, ya, actually it has been on my list for a long time too. Seeing Rachel's pretty cakes finally gave me a big nudge to try, LOLz. Thanks for your support!

Ellena, great to 'see' you :) I didn't add in the choc chips. Yeah, do give this cake a try when you are back from your break ya :). And thanks for your supporting words too.

Jolene, a big thanks for your words of encouragment too! :)

Anonymous said...

nice cake....sorry to hear people leave their nasty comments...

well at least they don't leave virus...I got hit by pop-ups at my blog...

peony

SeaDragon said...

Angie,
Oh, sad to hear you got 'hit' by those comments too, I remembered Edith was too a while ago.
Isn't there a setting you only allow registered members to comment only, so all anonymous comments are not allowed? Otherwise just ignore them, that's the best policy, I think...

Unknown said...

Peony, been missing your blog. Not up and running yet?

SD, agree with you, best to ignore these people. Yes, I can set to allow registered-members comments only, but I have some friends who visit but they are not on blogger, so I shouldn't inconvenience them because of those pesky people.

Anonymous said...

i'm inspired by yr bakes! :) i'm yearning to try out the steamed choc cake real soon!

Unknown said...

Mariya,

Thanks! The cupcakes on your blog looks fabulous!

Gattina Cheung said...

Angie,
thanks for the further links... I love the first kueh, am now programming into my brain, hehee. Then I realize I haven't done your bi-color spongy cake... so many good cakes, so little time...

jadepearl said...

Wah seh...didn't visit your blog for so long (been real busy) and so many delicious food. Yummylicious!!! Keep up the good work!!!

Anonymous said...

yummy! i'm such a chocoholic! How did you possibly wait 3 days before eating the last one? Oh, please teach me about self control!

Unknown said...

Gattina, you're most welcome. Don't over work your brain ya :p

Jadepearl, nice to see you, you took a long break sia.

Diddy, you're so humourous. Indeed 3 days is a long wait, I just hide it away in an opaque container - 'see no evil', LOL. Can tell you're a chocolate fan, looking at the stack of choc chip cookies and the oh-so-fudgy brownies :)

Hugbear said...

Hi Angie, finally here visiting your wonderful blog. So far I have not moderated my comments. Wonder if I should start because even though I did not get nasty or rude comments, but I do get those irritating self advertisement type of post.

Unknown said...

Hi LeeLee, thanks for dropping by :)

How abt turning on the Word Verification? Can help to prevent those spamming advertisements.