Hi dear Blog. It has been almost a year again since my last post so I suppose it’s time for an update. I will strive to maintain you a bit more than I have done. However, for some time now I’ve lacked the inclination to maintain blogging but that is no fault of yours. At any rate, it’s good to have my favourite recipes compiled together and I hope they will be useful for other people.

The recipe below is for Steamed Cakes and is one of my mother’s. For me, steamed cakes are one of those comfort foods that bring me back to childhood and one that I often make for family gatherings, especially for little kids’ birthday parties.

The seasons are changing now and as we leave behind bright sunny Summer and welcome the cold, drizzly Autumn, my craving for comfort food has returned.

I also bring some of our traditional dishes to work and I may bring a batch of these steamed cakes soon.  I work for a charity organisation that supports people with disability.  It is for me something I love. I’ve been doing volunteer work since I was in high school and have always wanted to work in the community sector. A job that allows me to do this which also focuses on promoting social inclusion and diversity is something I always dreamed of. However the sector is also changing with the introduction of a new, national insurance scheme for people with disability.   

The fortunate thing for me is that I live at home so at the end of a long day, a most beloved and comforting sight is there to greet me (my mother) along with warm, comfort food which she has already cooked.  I’m very blessed that for me cooking is something I do optionally and as a hobby (although this has resulted in you dear Blog becoming somewhat neglected).  At any rate, on to her recipe for steamed cakes:

Ingredients

1/2 cup melted butter
3 cups self raising flour
1  1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 cups water
1/2 tsp baking powder

Instructions

1. Cream together the sugar and butter.
2. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
3. Sift the flour and baking powder together.
4. Add the flour and water, beginning and ending with the flour. The batter should have the consistency of a pancake mixture.
5. Pour into individual moulds and steam for about 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Serve warm with butter or a little bit of cheese.

Note:  

The recipe above is for basic steamed cakes to which you can add your preferred flavourings, eg. vanilla extract, lemon extract etc. 

In the picture above, I had made  buko-pandan, yam and strawberry steamed cakes.

To make this, just divide your batter into three separate bowls. Add buko-pandan extract to the first bowl, yam extract to the second bowl and strawberry essence in the third bowl before pouring them into the individual moulds and steaming.