Chinese Steamed Cake (Mah Lai Gohw 马来糕) 7 September 2018

Asian

Nov 14

There aren’t many Chinese desserts but this one takes the cake ;)
An absolute favourite of mine at Yum Char, this dim sum (deehm sum) has pockets of air around a light honey vanilla cake which is steamed like most Chinese dishes.

Served this to my parents which they surprisingly liked! #asianparentapproved

Using the recipe by Kenneth Goh of Guaishushu - he explains a lot and talks a bit on chemical agents used in baking. Slightly altered to using unsalted butter, pinch of salt, vanilla paste. I really want to try this with my own starter levain in future.

PREP TIME 20 MINS
REST TIME >1 HOUR
PREFERABLY OVERNIGHT
STEAM TIME 30 MINS

Recipe + Ingredients

150g brown sugar
75g butter unsalted

Melt together until completely cool

Then add

3 eggs one at a time
3 Tbsp reduced soy milk or condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla paste
1 tsp salt more to taste
1 Tbsp honey ( would cook this down after melted sugar and butter so it’s smoother)
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast

Mix well and leave to proof overnight in the fridge - this actually adds so much flavour to your Mah Lai Goh. At least an hour though if you’re really running out of time ( you may want to proof your yeast before hand in some water along with the butter and sugar to give it a head start - make sure it’s a room temperature!)

Preparing for the Steam!

Fill your wok with water, cover with the wok’s lid and wait for a rapid boil - in the meantime, you can line your 8in bamboo steamer with baking paper. You can still use a cake tin although you may not get as good a rise.

Once the water’s boiling, place into the wok and cover. I timed this one for 26 min after the steam starting coming from the wok. Probably around 30 minutes in total.