Do you enjoy making steamed cakes?

[H.C. Heartland]

I know this is a baking forum, but for some countries that do not have ovens, they enjoy making steamed cakes. Since it is still in the category of 'baked goods' even though it is technically not baked, I would like to know what you have made with this method and how it turned out for you. Do you enjoy making steamed cakes?

 

[NThomas]

I have seen this done before but never go around to trying it. I know theis can be done in a rice cooker and I am told that it make the cake very light and fluffy . I know there are some cheese cakes that are baked this way as well as some cakes maded with rice flour. The do have a different texture than those baked in the oven.

 

[JGPangi]

Hmm, I've never made a steamed cake before. Here in the Philippines, we do traditionally steam a lot of our sweets since they're made with glutinous rice flour or 'malagkit'. These are very dense, I would say more along the consistency of thick chilled porridge than actual cake. Of course there are chinese sweets as well, steamed dumplings with sweet fillings. Depending on how the dough is made, it can either be chewy or fairly fluffy, but either way, steam created a chewy elastic skin that is a lot of fun to peel off and eat. What kind of cake were you thinking of?

 

[kammy]

I haven't done it personally but I have watched my mother steaming fruit cakes on occasions;don't know if i could pull it off on my own successfully. What I like about steam cakes is that it has more moisture than the cakes that are oven baked.

 

[Tina Nord]

I have only made steamed cakes once, but they are so nice and light and fluffy! I actually prefer them to baked cakes when they are made right. There is an Asian bakery in town that makes them.

 

[H.C. Heartland]

Hmm, I've never made a steamed cake before. Here in the Philippines, we do traditionally steam a lot of our sweets since they're made with glutinous rice flour or 'malagkit'. These are very dense, I would say more along the consistency of thick chilled porridge than actual cake. Of course there are chinese sweets as well, steamed dumplings with sweet fillings. Depending on how the dough is made, it can either be chewy or fairly fluffy, but either way, steam created a chewy elastic skin that is a lot of fun to peel off and eat. What kind of cake were you thinking of?

I have made a Jamaican rum cake before as well as a Malagasy banana cake. Both are steamed and delicious. However, I am interested in learning the technique of proper steaming so that I might apply these methods to any types of cakes.

 

[Ellyn]

Hmm, I've never made a steamed cake before. Here in the Philippines, we do traditionally steam a lot of our sweets since they're made with glutinous rice flour or 'malagkit'. These are very dense, I would say more along the consistency of thick chilled porridge than actual cake.

I've been getting great use out of the double-boiler on my rice cooker since getting back in touch with my culinary heritage, I can tell you!

Puto (calm down, Spanish speakers...it means something else, it's a rice muffin) comes out as a real cake, well, a real cupcake--not as a pudding. I usually just thought of them as go-to snacks that were good enough, but wow, there's a branch of Aling Banang's where the puto they make is so fluffy that it's like eating a cloud! I want to replicate that at home.

Bibingka is traditionally cooked in tin foil in some pile of hot coals...but apparently that can also be made into a double-boiler. For those of you into exotic foods, I highly recommend giving this a try especially if it has chunks of salted egg and Edam cheese--and don't scrimp on the butter. It's a sort of omelet-pancake that's very festive, as in--party in my mouth. Also comes out closer to a cake than to a pudding, but more like a very very thick pancake.

Kutsina is probably closer to the porridge/pudding that you're thinking of... I want to try my own hand at making kutsinta, but I can't find lye water anywhere and I'm afraid to make my own with lye and water in case I end up eating soap. Between the lye, and the cyanide content of cassava, pichi-pichi is probably the most dangerous food I'll ever try to make in my kitchen. The other two above should be safe!

On the Chinese culinary side: Yup, steamed pao with bean filling or yam filling is one of my favorites! I have no idea how to make it from scratch, though.