Experimenting with my Kueh Bahlu moulds

Recently I had bought 2 kueh bahlu moulds. I had seen the recipes somewhere but I guess I didn't bookmark it down then. After buying my moulds, I was very tempted to try out baking some kueh bahlu myself and I had came across some recipes for trial and error... So let's see which ones are your favourite??

These Kueh Bahlus were quite tricky. Getting the right texture wasn't easy, and I had read some of the comments that the flour has to be fried, sugar had to be toasted, the eggs & sugar had to be beaten till ribbon stage... Though all the simple ingredients that they had, getting the right texture was a challenge.

I had made some modificiations to 2 recipes that I had tried and finally got the right texture, the way I wanted them to be.

Crispy on the outside and soft in the inside. These kueh bahlus still stayed the same texture as they were when they were freshly baked. and even after a few days.

My hubby and the kids, my helper and my friends said that these bahlus were fantastic. Especially my hubby who finished quite a bit of them.

These are my moulds, the big one of 12s and the small one of 7s. You should be able to get them in those shops selling pots & pans, plates, kitchen utensils etc.

As I had mentioned earlier, I had tried different recipes.

One is from Kandy's Kitchen and the other from The Waitakere Redneck's Kitchen

These kueh bahlus are from The Waitakere Redneck's Kitchen

It has a very soft texture and it puffs up nicely at the bottom as u can see from the picture below.

Recipe calls for:

1 large egg

30g sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla essence

30gm plain flour

1/8 tsp baking powder

However these bahlus will turn soft and sticky the very next day.

These kueh bahlus are from Kandy's Kitchen

Recipe calls for

320g sugar

320g eggs (about 6 eggs)

225g plain flour (dry-fry for 15 mins)

These bahlus are great!

Except for one thing.

No baking powder...

It does not puffs up nicely at the bottom. So I had use the same recipe but added a little baking powder to get the puffing effect at its bottom.

Look at my comparision pictures below.

With and Without Baking Powder.

Comparing the texture from The Waitakere Redneck's Kitchen and Kandy's Kitchen

We personally preferred the ones from Kandy's Kitchen as they were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and they still maintain the same texture for the next 2 days.

Recipe as adapted from Kandy's Kitchen

(with slight modifications, using 2 eggs portion, yeilds about 20 kueh bahlu)

Egg & Sugar ratio is 1:1

106g sugar

2 eggs

75g plain flour

(dry-fry for about 5 mins)

1/4 tsp baking powder 

(for the puffing effect)

Method:

1. Dry-fry the plain flour over low heat till light for about 5 mins. Set aside to cool.

2. Brush mould with oil and heat in a preheated oven at 200C till hot.

(Take note: Mould must be greased & very hot before you place the batter in)

3. Beat eggs & sugar together at high speed for about 10mins, till thick, ribbon stage, and the color becomes light & pale yellow.

4. Mix in the sieved fried flour into the egg batter. Mix well. (Do not over mix)

5. Pipe the batter into the hot oiled mould and bake for 10~15 mins or until it turn light golden brown. Unmould the kueh bahlu and let it cool. Store in a air-tight container.

Keeps well in an air-tight container for about 3~4 days.

Steamed Huat Kueh 蒸发糕

Not alot of people these days like to eat Huat Kueh. I know it will probably be the older folks whom will like this kueh. For me, I do quite like it. What about you? Well, in fact, I found out that some of my colleagues and friends actually do like this Huat Kueh as well. What a surprise...:))

I used to have an excellent recipe for Huat Kueh too, but I seemed to have misplaced it when I moved house couple of years back... So I was waiting to see if I will ever come across a similar recipe which I vividly remembered what are the ingredients that were being used. Browsing in FB in the Baking Wonderland, I finally saw this recipe, and I decided to give it a try...

Yes, this recipe was excellent. It has given the Huat Kueh a very smooth and moist texture. We all liked it very much. Homemade Huat Kueh, or rather should I say, homemades will always be the best:-D

Steamed Huat Kueh 蒸发糕
食谱来自黄薇瑜
250g 黑糖 palm sugar
400g 自发面粉 self raising flour
300ml 椰浆奶 coconut milk
100ml 水 water

Method:

1。将黑糖和面粉过筛混合 Sift the palm sugar and flour together。
2。把椰浆和水倒入混合。Mix coconut milk and water together。
3。把第2步骤加入第1步骤混合均匀。Pour coconut mixture into the flour mixture,mix until well combined。
4。把面糊倒入纸杯 80%满，切个＂X＂在面糊上，蒸15-20分钟。Pour batter into cupcake case, cut a "X" on the batter and steam for 15-20 mins。

For better fragrant, I think we can boiled the coconut milk, water & palm sugar over low heat to enhance the taste.

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #25 – Steaming Hot Cakes (November 2012) hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders. 

Chinese-Style Carrot Cake

The last time when I tried making the English Carrot Cake, my hubby wasn't too keen on it and he said he will rather, preferred the Chinese style. I had actually tried making this carrot cake last Saturday, but it turns out to be a flop as I had used glutinous rice flour instead of rice flour.

Well, blurred me... I was wondering what did i went wrong, and why didn't the cake become a cake...? Until I went to browse through the recipe again and realised that I had used the wrong flour... heheheh... :-D

Chinese-Style Carrot Cake

It has been almost a year since I made the yam cake and it was delicious too. So this time, this carrot cake was no exception, I had put in too much ingredients as usual...

I had received good feedbacks from my family, friends and colleagues too:-D
Ingredients:
1 Radish, shredded
1 bowl of dried shrimps
6 dried mushrooms, sliced thinly
6 shallots. diced
some olive oil
1 bowl of rice flour (abt 200g)
2 bowls of water

Method:
1. Mix the flour with the water, make sure it is not lumpy.
2. Fry the shallots in oil, followed by the dried shrimps and mushrooms. Add in the radish and fry until it is fragrant.
3. In the the flour mixture, stir until you get a sticky and lumpy texture. Place it into a tin ans steam for about 30-45mins, or until you get a cake texture.
4. Garnish with spring onions and toasted sesame seeds.

Min Jiang Kueh

Mummy Eileen had once again sent me a very simple recipe to do these Min Jiang Kueh...

Are these your favourite too? It wasn't mine though, but I guess hubby quite like them.

So after Mummy Eileen sent me the recipe, I told her, "OK, I will do them now."

Min Jiang Kueh

It is also very easy to make.

And most of all, it is Min Jiang Kueh!!! :-D

Ingredients:

130g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp yeast

1 egg

25g sugar

160ml water

Method:

Mix all ingredients together to form a smooth batter.

Leave it aside for 30 mins.

Pour batter into a non stick pan, smooth out to get an even thickness.

Cook on low heat for about 6-8 mins.

Remove from pan, spread your fillings. Fold into half and serve.

I will be submitting this to : Aspiring Bakers #12: Traditional Kueh (October 2011) hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker

All time favourite Muah Chee

My friend had sent me a picure of her muah chee she just made...

She said these muah chee are really easy to make, and most importantly, they are soft and yummy!!! She told me to try making them...

Why not...???

MUAH CHEE

This is the first time I make these muah chee, and I wasn't sure how it will turn out...

Well, not too bad isn't it...???

It was indeed very easy to make them and easy to manage with.

I had always thought that making muah chee is a very tedious job.

Guess it's not!!! :-D

Thanks to Mummy Eileen for such a good recipe to keep! ^-^ Ingredients:

110g glutinous rice flour

140ml water

Adequate peanut powder

(this I bought the ready made ones from the supermarket)

Method:

Mix the flour and water together to get a smooth batter.

Pour the batter over a non-stick pan coated with oil.

Cook under very low heat for about 3 mins.

Once the batter has set, it should roll together to form a lump. Toss for a while to ensure it is totally cooked.

Remove and put onto peanut coating, cut to bite size.

I will be submitting this to : Aspiring Bakers #12: Traditional Kueh (October 2011) hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker

Onde-Onde 班兰糯米球 (Glutinous Rice Balls)

ooooo.... Onde-Onde is also one of my favourtie kueh kueh...

I always like the feeling of putting in the onde-onde inside my mouth and try to pop out the sugar syrup out... It is just a wonderful feeling... Don't you??? :-p

Onde-Onde 班兰糯米球 (Glutinous Rice Balls)

Here is some of the steps of preparing the onde-onde.

How did I fair in this onde-onde attempt?

Hmmm, the glutinous wasn't that bad, it is soft and chewy.

Well, as for the sugar syrup part, when I pop the onde-onde into my mouth, either I did not taste the sugar or you still can feel the whole bits of sugar in it...

Duh... so, in this aspect, I had yet to master the skill...

But being a first attempt, this recipe is not too bad, easy to make.

Hope you will have fun in trying out this recipe.:))

Ingredients:

250g glutinous rice flour

200ml pandan juice

100g grated white coconut (steam w some sea-salt)

250g palm sugar (finely chopped)

few drops of pandan paste

Method:

1. In a large mixing bowl, place in flour, add in the pandan juice little by little and knead well till it form a smooth pilable dough.

2. Pinch a small amount of dough(abt size of a calamansi lime), roll it in your palm to form a smooth ball. Make a well int he centre of the dough and fill it with chopped palm sugar. Pinch dough to seal, roll into ball again.

3. In a pot of boiling water, drop the balls in the shimmering pot and when it floats, remove with a slotted spoon and allow excess water to drip off.

4. Drop the balls gently on the grated coconut and coat it evenly, then transfer to a plate to serve.

I will be submitting this to : Aspiring Bakers #12: Traditional Kueh (October 2011) hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker

Kueh Lapis Kukos 九层糕 (9-Layer Cake)

I had tried the 三层糕previously, and it was quite a good attempt. The kueh was really tasty.

Nat loves it as well and she had asked me to make the 九层糕.

I decided to take up this challenge:-p

Kueh Lapis Kukos 九层糕

It was rather easy to make these九层糕, no fuss at all, but it's just that I have to divide the batter into 9 portions.

I have half the amount of the recipe, and used a rectangular tin inside of a 11"x11" square tin as recommended.

If you might have noticed..., my九层糕is actually 8 colors instead of 9 colors...

A couple of reasons actually:

1. I have half the recipe.

2. I had use a slight bigger rectangular tin, thus my portion wasn't enough.

3. I had lost count of my colors... :-p

And also, I had left out orange color, plus I couldn't get the RED RED color as those 九层糕 that was been sold outside... So that why my top layer was orange, instead of RED....

I thought I had everything controlled, dividing the portion into 9 portions... But I was so wrong.... And also I had also forgot the colors I had already poured in...

Blur Blur Blur me.... hehehehehe....

The kueh was really, and perhaps it was the colors of the kueh, Mimi likes it very much but she just want to try it...

My own colorful 九层糕....

Texture of the 九层糕....????

It was almost the same as the 三层糕，but just that the layers can be peeled off:-D

Here is the recipe:

600g fine sugar (I used 500g)

1 litre coconut milk

1 litre water

1 tsp sea-salt

few pieces of pandan leaves

350g rice flour

350g tapioca flour

Method:

1. Mix fine sugar, coconut milk, water, salt, pandan leaves and bring to boil at low heat till sugar dissolved. Discard the pandan leaves, turn off the flame & allow to cool slightly.

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix the rice flour & tapioca flour. Then add the coconut milk mixture, whisk slightly till well blended.

3. Divide batter into 9 portions. Ready to steam layer by layer, by adding in desired colors into each layer such as white, green, yellow, pink, blue, orange, with the final top layer red.

I will be submitting this to : Aspiring Bakers #12: Traditional Kueh (October 2011) hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker

Kueh Talam Pandan 打南班兰糕点

Kueh Talam has always been a all-time favourite kueh for me.

I love the soft texture of the kueh, and the smell of coconut.....

Kueh Talam Pandan 打南班兰糕点

Ok, the recipe has called for 绿豆粉(Green Pea flour). I hadn't seen any Green Pea Flour as yet, and I happened to see my girlfriend make a cookie using green pea powder. So I asked her if she bought the green pea powder, she said she grind it herself.

I have ran out of the 绿豆粉(Green Bean Flour), so I decided to try using the green pea powder instead...:-p

A disastrous maybe....???

LOL.....!!!!

Alright, just ignore me... Here is the recipe:

Ingredient:

Green Layer

60g rice flour

20g tapioca flour

20g green pea flour (绿豆粉) (I used the grind Green Pea Powder :-p)

175g sugar

125ml pandan juice

250ml water

1/2 tsp alkaline water

(I added about 1 tsp of pandan paste to enhance the taste. But perhaps you can add a few drops of green coloring to the mixture to make it more greener.)

Method:

Combine rice flour, tapioca flour & green pea flour, mix it with sugar.

Add pandan juice, water, alkaline water, mix it well till smooth. Cook it under a double-boiler till almost thickens, then pour into a 6"x6" square tin and steam for 20 mins.

Coconut Cream Layer

30g rice flour

30g green pea flour(绿豆粉)

250ml coconut milk

1/4 tsp salt

(I do not have the green bean flour, so I used 50g of rice flour instead)

Method:

Combine the rice flour, green pea flour & salt into a double boil pot.

Gradually add in coconut milk & stir well till smooth. Cook it under a douible boil until thickens, then transfer to the tin and pour over the green layer. Steam for another 20 mins.

Allow to cool completely before cutting into pieces.

Have fun:))

I will be submitting this to : Aspiring Bakers #12: Traditional Kueh (October 2011) hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker

Kueh Genggang 三层糕 (3 Layer Cake)

Hubby had request for a 九层糕, so I told him, waaahhh, it might be a bit of challenge and it probably needs a lot of work as well... So he browse through my recipe book and saw this 三层糕 and he told me, "Make this then, it is easier, 3 layers!!"

And so I did... :-D

These 三层糕 are so fantastic and very delicious.

It is not too sweet and the smell of the coconut was great.

Not to difficult to do, good for lazy people like me... hehehe...

Kueh Genggang 三层糕 (3 Layer Cake)

This is the whole 三层糕. I was supposed to let it cool for 4-6 hours before removing from the tin. But I just couldn't wait to try the texture of the kueh. So there we have, the 三层糕!!

My girlfriend had came over to collect the tapioca cake and these freshly made 三层糕 as well.

She tried it and she loves it as well...!!!

Sorry, I couldn't help it but took quite alot of the pictures. I thought these kuehs are so colorful & nice... While I was cutting them into smaller pieces, I just had to try the bits & pieces.

Because the tin I used was rather small, i had some balance batter which I used the round mould to finish up the balance batter...

I had brought some of the kuehs for my friend & colleagues to try, they all love it. They say that the texture of the kueh was just nice and the fragrant of the kueh smells fantastic as well.

Hubby, he loves it too... And this time round, he asked me to make the 九层糕, since this 三层糕 was a success... Hmmmm, let me consider.... hahahaha....

The recipe:

500g tapioca flour

150g sago flour

50g mung bean flour (I used green bean flour)

800ml coconut milk

600g sugar (I used lesser sugar, about 500g)

6-7 pcs pandan leaves(tie into knots)

1100ml water

few drops of coloring

Method:

1. Mix water with sugar & pandan leaves, bring it to boil. Remove pandan leaves and set aside.

2. Combine all flours in a mixing bowl and add coconut milk, little by little, till well mixed and smooth. Gradually add in the sugar syrup and stir continously till well blended.

3. Divide into 3 portions, mix with green & red color respectively, leave the last portion as white color.

4. Grease a 9"x9" square cake tin and pour in the green color layer first. Steam for about 10mins. Then pour in the white mixture to steam and repeat for the 3rd layer(red). Steam the last layer for about 20mins to ensure it is completely cooked.

5. Leave it to cool completely for about 4-6 hours before cutting into pieces.

I had make half of the portion of this Kueh, and I used a rectangular tin plus the round mini mould. :)

I will be submitting this to : Aspiring Bakers #12: Traditional Kueh (October 2011) hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker

Ketuk Ubi 揶丝木薯 (Tapioca with Grated Coconut)

Ketuk Ubi is also one of my favourite kuehs... I love the ones from BengawanSolo.

So this time I will like to try make them myself...

Ketuk Ubi 揶丝木薯

Looks not too bad isn't it...???

Well, in fact, it wasn't..... I am clueless about buying tapioca, let alone choosing one:-p

This tapioca, which I bought from Sheng Siong Supermarket, was a long thin one, and basically there wasn't much choices for me as there was only about 3 or 4 left... I had asked the aunty to help me check if the tapioca was "the right one", but she is just like me, clueless.... :-D

Before I went back home, I had asked my helper to peel the skin & steam the tapioca for 30mins. So that when I get back home, I can just mix it up with sugar and mashed up the tapioca...

To my horror, 30 mins wasn't cooked, and it was still raw & hard... So I cut them up into smaller cubes this time and steam for another 45-60mins.... It was still raw & hard!!!!

So I gave up.... I took them out, and mash them....

I really had a hard time mashing these tapioca... till my arms were aching, I was perspiring away... :-p

The outcome of the kueh was really bad... it was too sticky and it wasn't mashed finely...

As you can see from the above picture, the tapioca was very soft & sticky...even though I had put it in the fridge for awhile. It did not even turn hard even after 2 days... So you can imagine how soft it was.......

For those of you who are like me, clueless about choosing tapioca:
After asking around.... I found out that it is best to choose a tapioca that is fat & round, with a slight darker skin color. This type of tapioca just needs 30 mins of steaming & it will be soft...
Whereas for the thin & long tapioca I bought, it takes a super duper long time to steam or rather I should say, it doesn't soften even though it has be steamed for 2 hours!!! Someone say this type of tapioca is "sa beh seh"... :-p
But I think, the next time when I buy a tapioca, I will go to my usual vegetable stall and ask the aunty to choose for e, for sure, it wouldn't go wrong.... hehehehe!!!

I will definitely try this recipe again, using the right tapioca... hahaha....

Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
1kg tapioca (peeled)
250g sugar (you can lessen the sugar)
1/4tsp salt
500g grated coconut

Method:
1. Peel off the tapioca skin & wash. Steam it for about 30mins or until soft.
2. Transfer it to a large mixing bowl and add the sugar immediately.
3. Mash it till sugar is dissolved and compress it.
4. Cut into large cubes and top it with grated coconut.
Serve warm:)


I will be submitting this to : Aspiring Bakers #12: Traditional Kueh (October 2011) hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker

Banana & Coconut Kueh

I bought a Indonesian Cookbook that day, and the desserts did look so tempting & irresitable.

Perhaps some kueh kueh like the kueh jagung, ambon kueh, multi-colored layer kueh, kueh dar dar are of the similar ones to the Nonya Kueh. While others are rather interesting... I shall try some of the recipes when I get a chance:))

This Banana & Coconut Kueh I made is one of the recipes.

Banana & Coconut Kueh

I didn't manage to take the picture of the whole kueh as my girlfriend came over to take some of the kueh, plus her baby was sleepy, so I quickly cut some for her. And here are the remaining kueh. :-p
Well, looking at the recipe book, the color of the kueh should be white color....
BUT!!!!
I had overly boiled my coconut milk and it's colour turns out to be like "yam" color... OOPS!!!

And also, the recipe had stated to use a 6" square tin, but because my 6" square tin had a removable bottom, I had to use a 6" round tin instead... But by judging at the portion of the top & bottom layer of this kueh, perhaps a 7" or a 8" tin will make the portion more proportional...

Of course, do pardon me for the different color of the portion of the kueh... :-p

If you do it correctly, the kueh should be white color, like the coconut milk, unlike mine...


Verdict of the kueh from my hubby and my girlfriend, both said it was nice.
(while kueh was tested warm and freshly made on the same day)
Verdict of the kueh from my colleagues, kueh was abit hard, but not too bad.
(while kueh was being refrigerated overnight and tested cold)


Alright, enough of my thoughts... ...

Here, the recipe:

Bottom Layer
400ml thin coconut milk
100g rice flour
1 tbsp tapioca flour or cornstarch
125g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
5-6 ripe bananas, peeled, halved lengthwise, slice in 1cm pieces on the diagonal

Top Layer
200ml thick coconut milk
3 tbsp rice flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 drop vanilla essence

Method:
Bottom Layer
1. Bring the thin coconut milk to boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat and set aside to cool for 5 mins. (Do not over heat the coconut milk)
2. Mix the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Gradually pour in the hot coconut milk, stirring continously to obtain a smooth mixture.
3. Stir in the sliced bananas into the batter. Pour the mixture into a 7" or 8" square baking pan, lightly greased with vegetable oil.
4. Steam over medium heat for 20mins or until set.

Top Layer:
1. Mix in all ingredients and mix until well combined.
2. Once the bottom layer has been set, pour in the top layer battaer over it. Continue to steam for another 15 mins over medium heat or until the top layer sets.

Cool before cutting into pieces.


I will be submitting this to : Aspiring Bakers #12: Traditional Kueh (October 2011) hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker

Kueh Ko-Swee

As long as it is Kueh Kueh, even of any kind, I will like it... Maybe since young we had been exposed to kueh kueh, unlike the children these days... Or perhaps, we seldom sell people selling kueh kueh these days... Even my place there, there was a malay stall that sells kueh kueh, had closed down... so there goes my kuehs... :((

And as usual, picking out the easiest recipe to try again... hehehehe... And today, we have Kueh Ko Swee.... I didn't have much impression of these Kueh Ko Swee, probably it wasn't one of my favourite... :-p I really can't remember how it taste like, or how the texture should be...

KUEH KO-SWEE

Here are my steamed kueh, using my tart moulds.
I'm not sure why there a "dent" in the centre of the kueh, but for sure it is cooked.
The recipe stated to steam for about 15 mins but I steamed it for another 5-7 mins as I was afraid that the kueh might not be cooked. So maybe because of the extend steaming time, the kueh was abit hard....???
Maybe some kueh kueh experts can share your thoughts with me? :-D

I really couldn't find those freshly grated coconut in the markets around my place. These days, you can hardly find the freshly grated ones... So no choice, I had to use this packed grated coconut. Of course, nothing beats the freshly grated ones!!!

Nic had told Nat that this is the malay rice cake, so Nat tried, and said it was nice. She had about 3 pieces, ko-song ones... ;))

Here, the Kueh Ko-Swee, coated with the grated coconut.

Hubby tried it, said it was quite OK, not too sweet, just nice... Whereas for me, it might could have been much better with the fresh grated coconut:-p

The ingredients as follows:

150g rice flour

50g sago flour

300ml water

1 tsp alkaline water

200g grated coconut

Gula Melaka Syrup

(I use gula melaka syrup instead of using palm sugar & rock sugar)

150g palm sugar

100g rock sugar

10-12 pcs pandan leaves

300ml water

Method:

1. Boil ingredients of the gula melaka syrup and then sift it.

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix the rice flour, sago flour, add water & alkaline water. Add gula melaka syrup and mix into a smooth mixture.

3. Pour the mixture into mini cups and steam it for about 15 mins at high heat. Allow to cool and remove from mould. Roll it on grated coconut. Ready to serve.

I use the tart moulds, 3 minis(abt 3cm) & 11 normal(abt 5cm).

I will be submitting this to : Aspiring Bakers #12: Traditional Kueh (October 2011) hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker