Yogurt Cake

Two weeks ago, I made an arrangement with Yuan for our boys to have a playdate before school starts. Yuan is a very nice lady. Every time she sent her son over for playdates, she will drop off bags of fruits or pastries or treats. So, I planned to bake something for BB to bring over to her on Tuesday. BB told me Shine does not like cheese. What else can I do if not my go-to dessert --- cheesecake? I was browsing online looking for ideas.

How about Yogurt Cake? The recipe seem fairly simple, in fact, the steps are similar to my go-to cheesecake. And I felt comfortable to give this new recipe a shot. It turns out better than I'd expected :D

I know the name may sound a little vague but I don't know what would be the best name for this cake. The recipe was adapted from here and here 

ENJOY!

  

Ingredients:

200g    plain yogurt

48g      vegetable oil

4          eggs

80g      sugar

40g      cake and pastry flour (low protein flour)

24        corn starch

optional

1/8       cream of tartar or lemon juice

Steps:

1.   Preheat the oven at 170 C.

2.   Line the bottom of a 7" cake pan with parchment paper.

3.   Separate the eggs and place the whites in a clean bowl. 

4.   In another bowl, combine the oil and yogurt. Whisk in the yolks, add the pre-sifted flour. Whisk until combine.

5.   In the stand mixer, fitted with whisk attachment, beat the egg whites at medium speed until foamy, add in the cream of tartar and 1/3 of the sugar. Beat the egg whites until it starts to form soft peaks . Gradually add in the remaining sugar. Continue whipping until the egg whites form stiff, glossy peaks.
6.   Fold in a third of the egg white into the batter, mix until combine. Then pour the batter back to the egg white bowl, continue to fold until the batter incorporate with the egg white. DO NOT OVER MIX. You may still see some thin stripes of egg white. This is okay.

  

7.   Pour the mixture into the cake pan. Gently tap the pan on the counter to remove air bubbles.
8.   Bake the cake in an inch water bath for 60 minutes until the top turn golden brown.
9.   Remove from heat. Leave the cake to cool on wire rack. Refrigerate the cake before serve.

HAPPY BAKING!

Note: I used the 2% plain yogurt.

Nyonya Kuih - Kuih Talam

Kuih Talam is one popular nyonya kuih in Malaysia and Singapore.

When something is rare, it becomes precious (物以稀為貴). I am totally agree! Before moving to Canada, I never appreciate nyonya desserts. Now, I started to miss those colorful desserts, not only you can't find it here, even if you find it, it's so expensive.

One way to ease my craving is DIY!

This recipe is modified from Patricia Lee - Delicious Nyonya Kueh & Desserts

Ingredients:

(A)  Green Bottom Layer

50g      rice flour

120g    cornflour

150g    sugar

400ml  coconut milk

350ml  water

350ml  pandan water

(B)  White Top Layer

30g     mung bean flour

120g   cornflour

150g   sugar 

400ml coconut milk

900ml water

a pinch of salt

You will need:

8" square tray and steamer

Steps:

Bottom layer:

1.  Heat sugar and water in a saucepan until sugar dissolves completely. 

2.  Mix coconut milk with cornflour and rice flour. Add pandan water and stir well. Pour this coconut mixture into the sugar syrup (1). Cook over low heat until batter thickens slightly.

3.  Pour into the square tray and steam for 15 minutes. Open steamer lid half way through.

Top layer:

1.  Heat sugar, salt and water in a saucepan until sugar dissolves completely. 

2.  Mix coconut milk, cornflour, mung bean flour together and stir well. Pour this coconut mixture into the sugar syrup (1). Cook over low heat until batter starts to thicken. Stir continously while heating. 

3.  Pour the batter over to the green layer. Steam with the lid covered for 20 minutes. Open the steamer lid half way through.

4.  Set aside to cool. Chill in the fridge for 4-5 hours. 

Happy Baking!

Note:  I try to avoid using artificial food colouring as much as possible. If I can get natural color from plants or fruits, I would stay away from food colouring. The green layer is pandan leaves juice, no color enhancement added.