Recently, I discovered quite a number of people in Facebook are doing Huat Kueh. It makes me think of the time when I was young and my mum will buy the Huat Kueh whenever we pray to the gods. The Prosperity Steamed Cake or better known as Huat Kueh is commonly used for offerings during ceremonies and during Chinese New Year celebrations. The cakes are usually light or dark brown in colour. Leavening during the production process produces a "bloom" that symbolize prosperity.
My nephew and niece loves eating Huat Kueh and often pester their mum to get them the kueh. So seeing all the posts online makes me start thinking that I should try to make some. I sourced through the web in search of a good recipe to follow but there were just too many different variations. In the end, I decided to ask my mother-in-law for her recipe. She provided me the recipe with all ingredients being estimated (common with the older folks) so based on that, I came up with this recipe and viola! Smiling Huat Kuehs that filled the room with the fragrant smell of gula melaka and pandan.
My niece and my hubby couldn't wait to taste the kuehs and they gave me the thumbs up after trying it. This is a big compliment from my niece as she can be very fussy about her food. I'm definitely going to use this recipe again!
Here's the recipe...
Gula Melaka Huat Kueh (Makes 5 muffin-sized kuehs)
200g self-raising flour
200ml coconut milk
140g Gula Melaka (palm sugar)
1/3 cup water (about 75ml)
1 tsp baking powder
4 - 5 pandan leaves, washed and bundled up.
Directions
Add the pandan leaves, coconut milk, water and gula melaka in a pan and cook with low heat until the gula melaka dissolved completely. Stir continuously during cooking to prevent the sugar from burning.
Prepare a steamer or large wok that can steam for about 25 mins (pre-heat plus actual steaming time) with sufficient water. Pre-heat the steamer.
In a large mixing bowl, sift the self-raising flour and baking powder. Add the gula melaka mixture and stir with a whisk until completely mixed.
Lined the muffin tray with liners and transfer the batter to the cups. You should fill the cups until almost to the brim.
Steam in the steamer using high heat for about 20 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. Off the heat and leave the kuehs in the steamer for another 1 min before removing it from the steamer.
The kuehs are best eaten hot. If you would like to store the kuehs for a couple of days, cling wrap it when cooled and refrigerate them. Steam it for a few mins and the kuehs will be nice and moist again!
