Ma Lai Koh

It is summer and there are so much to do, leaving me no time to do much posting although i did cook and still tweaking recipes. When a friend asked me about 'ma lai koh' - the old kind with lots of holes, i had to ponder for a very long period to try and recall how this cake should be. The only memory of it is that it was very fragrant of the lard as soon as the steamer lid was opened and the color of the cake was light brown. Thanks to my friend and sifu TT who posted the original recipe, i have managed to tweak and come up with the cake i like.






Ingredients:

Starter:

90 g all purpose flour
1/4 tsp yeast
1/4 tsp sugar
80 ml water


Cake :

80 gm brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp condensed milk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
50 gm melted butter
1/4 tsp salt
28 gm cake flour
1 tbsp custard powder
1 tbsp milk powder
1/4 tsp vinegar
1/8 tsp pottassium carbonate & sodium bicarbonate solution(kan sui)
1/2 tsp double action baking powder

Method:

Starter

Mix all the ingredients and leave for 2 to 4 hours(it can be left for longer but it made the cake too yeasty.)

Cake:

Bring water in steamer to high boil.

Line a perforated 8 inch cake pan with greaseproof paper and put in steamer to preheat.

Add the brown sugar and condensed milk to the starter and using your hand, mix and blend in until well combined.

Using a whisk, add in eggs and vanilla, whisk well.

Add in melted butter and salt. When well mixed add cake flour, custard and milk powder.

Lastly add in vinegar, potassium carbonate & sodium bicarbonate solution and double action baking powder. Mix well and pass batter through the sieve.

Pour into preheated prepared cake pan and steam for 30 minutes.


Serves