When There's No Oven, Steam Some Cakes

Ooooh my hands have been twitchy and my brain, in a frenzy. My eyes opened wide and my mouth would gasped in amazement, I'd grip my hubby's arm tight as we watched Masterchef Australia or The Great Australian Bake-Off on the telly.

I wanted to eat cake.

I wanted to bake.

Argh!

Our oven doesn't work (or we probably don't know how to work it!) and I have no baking utensils or equipment. Solution? Buy an oven and everything else, taa-daa!

Otherwise, browse through the internet and look for alternatives, like steamed cakes.

I have been wanting to make my own 'malaikou' (direct translation "Malay kuih") but instead, I came across a recipe for steamed vanilla cake which immediately intrigued me.

It took me a week before I finally bought some baking powder and vanilla essence just because in my Scrooge-y eyes, they cost a bomb! :D

Never mind.

The recipe which you must refer to is Just One Cookbook's Japanese Steamed Cake recipe, or the adapted version on Kate From Scratch's site. Easy peasy!

Didn't have a tea towel big enough to wrap around the lid, so I used 2 of my bandannas instead!

My biggest gripe?

It makes only 4 cakes. Boo!

Slowly pry the cakes out of the ramekins/bowls and turn them upside down!

I made the corn and cheese version and I loved the soft and fluffy texture. I was very pleased with the outcome and I wished there was more! I must tweak the recipe to make at least 6 cakes, perhaps.

(Perhaps it needs 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla!)

Good stuff!

Now someone expects me to steam some pau soon ...

Update on 26-9-2013:
Made a banana version of this last night and found them to be very tasty. As the banana is heavy, the top would flatten once it's cooled. The cake is more dense and not fluffy and it tastes exactly like Malaysian's cekodok pisang (mashed banana fritters) but the steamed version is called Apam Pisang.

The ingredients are as follows:

1/2 cup of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 egg
2 tablespoon of sugar (or reduce to 1 1/2)
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
2 tablespoon of milk (or water)
1 very ripe banana, mashed
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence (optional)

1. Mix all ingredients with mashed banana added last.
2. Boil water in a pan, flat enough to fit 4 ramekins or small bowls (at least 9cm in diameter, 4cm in height).
3. Divide mixture into the bowls and place into pan once water is boiling.
4. Cover with lid wrapped in tea towel to avoid moisture dripping down.
5. Steam for 12 minutes or until skewer comes out with very few crumbs.