Cake FAQ

a) Why didn't your cake rise?  »

Short answer: Because you did not follow the recipe.

Japanese Strawberry Shortcake (草莓奶油蛋糕; Strawberry Cream Cake)

Japanese strawberry shortcake is a layered sponge cake filled and topped with whipped cream and strawberries. It is what I call a ménage à trois made in heaven, because each party brings out the best in the other two.

Honey Castella (Kasutera) Cake (蜂蜜蛋糕)

The traditional mould for baking Castella cake is a bottomless wooden box frame.

Where to get a Castella wooden mould?

Fluffy Chocolate Sponge Cake (巧克力海绵蛋糕)

Ladies and gentlemen, please meet my seized chocolate cake:

Seized?

Don't worry, I haven't seized anything from anyone. It's cocoa powder that's doing the seizing, not me.

Pandan Sponge Cupcakes (班兰海绵杯子蛋糕)

I like my pandan sponge cupcakes very much. Made with pandan juice and coconut oil, the little cakes are very fragrant and the green colour is totally natural. The crumb is soft and fluffy, and it's still moist the next day.

Vanilla Sponge Cupcakes (香草海绵杯子蛋糕)

The cake is fluffy, moist and not too holey. The buttercream is velvety smooth and not too rich or too sweet. The roses look reasonably like roses, and stayed that way without air-condition.

Yup, I'm happy with my vanilla cupcakes.

My sponge cupcakes are made with whole eggs, i.e. the eggs aren't separated. This method is a bit tricky because yolks and whites whisked together deflate easily when you add flour and butter/oil. Deflated batter makes cupcakes that are dense and hard.

Pandan Chiffon Cupcakes (班兰戚风杯子蛋糕)

Pandan chiffon cake hot from the oven is way better than cold pandan chiffon cake.

That's a bit like saying Bill Gates is rich, or Angelina Jolie has thick lips. We all know that.

So when was the last time you had pandan chiffon cake that was still hot?

Orange Chiffon Cake (香橙戚风蛋糕)

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Knock knock!

Who's there?

Hokkaido Cupcakes

Hokkaido cupcakes are made with milk from Hokkaido, hence the namesake. These small chiffon cakes that are so soft they're creased and slightly collapsed after they cool down.

Ogura Cake ♥ 相思蛋糕 ♥

Ogura cake, aka 相思蛋糕, hails from Batu Pahat, Malaysia. "Ogura" is a Japanese surname; "相思" means lovesick. Is there a love story behind the cake? Nah, there isn't. Some baker in Batu Pahat just invented the name.

Chwee Kueh (水粿; Steamed Rice Cakes)

There're several types of steamed cakes made with rice flour. If you want to learn how to make these traditional delicacies, chwee kueh would be a good start. It doesn't take long and the ingredients are cheap, so you don't waste much time or money if you fail.

Portuguese Egg Tarts (葡式蛋挞)

They look more like curry puffs! That's what one reader says about Rasa Malaysia's Portuguese egg tarts.

Indeed, her tarts don't have any of the signature burn marks. To me, what's supposed to be the custard looks more like an omelette . . . or maybe quiche filling.

Chai Tow Kway (菜头粿; Fried Carrot Cake)

If you're looking for a good chai tow kway recipe, you've come to the right place. How do I convince you my CTK is good? By comparing to one that's bad, here, from The Little Teochew in a guest post for Rasa Malaysia.

Killer Sugee Cake

Wanna make a sugee cake that's light and fluffy? That's right, the Eurasian classic doesn't have to be dense and heavy. Let me, a half-Eurasian, show you how. What? You didn't know I'm half-Eurasian? Hey, half of Eurasian is Asian and I'm 100% Asian. That makes me 50% Eurasian, right?

Ang Ku Kueh (紅龟粿; Kuih Angkoo)

I've just made some 紅龟粿. Is it good? Heheheh . . . heh . . . . Is your mother a woman?

It's my virgin attempt but the results are as good as the best store-bought ang ku kueh in town. The mung bean filling is uber smooth, has a very strong "beany" fragrance and isn't too sweet. The "skin" is very chewy and yet very soft. I tell ya, this 紅龟粿 is really to die for.

Peanut Cookies

You don't need much special equipment to make peanut cookies.

If you don't have a food processor, you can pound the peanuts with a mortar and pestle.

The ingredients are mixed together in a bowl. It's done by the time you drag your electric mixer out and set it up.

Cashew Nut Cookies

Cashew nut cookies are pretty easy going. These bite-size morsels don't mind if you put in more of this or less of that.

Pineapple Tarts

Good pineapple tarts start with good pineapple jam. Where does good pineapple jam start? Readymade, in a plastic bag? Common sense tells you that jam stored without refrigeration for god knows how long, in a plastic bag which can't be sterilized and isn't vacuum sealed, must be stuffed full of preservatives. And yet, the ingredients listed don't include preservatives. I wouldn't eat that kind of jam even if you paid me.

There's no reason why readymade pineapple jam can't be good, in theory. In practice, however, all those I've seen are of extremely dubious quality.

Making good pineapple jam is quite straightforward. It's basically mashed pineapple cooked with sugar till thick, and flavoured with star anise, cinnamon and sometimes cloves.