Sunday, October 16, 2011

Kueh Ambon

This is one of my favourite nonya kueh! Kueh Ambon!! Never thought I will make this one day :D The recipe looks simple to me, no complicated or tedious steps, only part that it mention using frozen yeast which I change to instant yeast instead. And I 1/2 the recipe (below is the full recipe) to test out in case I flop it hehehe...in the end it managed to turn out GOOD! soft & chewy and taste exactly as those commercially sold :D

Before testing out this recipe, I actually google on web-site to find out other variations. Some recipes actually uses butter and fully egg yolks, but then no pictures or feedback whether the kueh is good. So in the end I stick to this recipe in one of my collection books.



this is the honey-comb texture I'm expecting :D


peek-a-boo!! bubbles forming after fermenting for 2hrs :D...continue to ferment for another 3hrs


after fermenting for 5hrs, add in balance coconut syrup...ready to put into oven

Ingredient (makes 24 small cakes using medium muffin cups)
(A)
  • 200 sugar
  • 220ml fresh coconut water
  • 3 pandan leaves, cut into short strips
(B)
  • 300ml thick coconut milk
  • 3 pandan leaves, cut into short strips
  • pinch of salt
(C)
  • 1.5 tsp instant yeast
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp warm water
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
(D)
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 4 egg whites
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 50gm sugar
  • few drops yellow colouring (optional)
  • 140gm tapioca flour
Method
  1. Boil (A) in saucepan till liquid reduce to 230ml. Leave to cool.
  2. Bring (B) to boil. Remove pandan leaves. Leave to cool.
  3. Combine (C) to become paste. Set aside.
  4. In a mixing, whisk egg yolks, egg whites, vanilla essence, colouring & sugar till sugar is well dissolved.
  5. Mix in tapioca flour, add in 115ml of (A), whole of (B) and yeast mixture. Mix well till lump free. Cover with damp cloth and rest for 5hrs.
  6. Stir in remaining 115ml coconut syrup and mix well.
  7. Grease two 8" shallow round pan (I suggest to line the base also for ease of removing). Pour batter in pan and bake in preheated oven at 180 deg cel for 25-30mins (check in between time to prevent burning, as this is a rough guide as the original recipe suggest to cook over fire?! ) until golden brown. (I use medium muffin cup, greased & 1/2 filled with batter and bake for 20mins)
  8. Leave the cake to cool before unmoulding.

22 comments:

  1. Hi,

    Thanks for the recipe! I would like to know that in ingredient (A), "230ml fresh coconut" is referring to the liquid or the flesh, or...? A bit confused.

    Thanks,
    Susan

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  2. Bowie...heee i just realised the mistake and have amended it :D

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  3. Hi Peng

    Is this kueh ambon the indonesian honeycomb cake? I know there is a malay version of honeycomb cake which is similar but it is caramelized, and hence darker. I think the malay version is called Kuih Serang Semut. There is no yeast and no tapioca flour in the malay version, and they use condensed milk in addition to sugar.

    bee@EEWIF

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  4. This is my favourite! This is highly recommended kueh from my hometown Medan :) Looking at yours really made me craving for this.

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  5. Bee...yes is called honeycomb cake in indonesia. The malay cake u refering maybe 马拉糕 which uses brown sugar, flour etc..

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  6. Hi Peng

    It's actually not Ma Lai Gao that I am refering to, I just baked the Ma Lai Gao recently so i know, Ma Lai Gao tastes like the chinese ji dan go. The malay version of honey comb cake looks like sth like this
    http://lilyng2000.blogspot.com/2009/10/caramel-honeycomb-cakekuih-sarang-semut.html

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  7. Hi Bee...ic think i remember eating this kueh b4 also thanks for the link :D both taste completely different , i still like Kueh Ambon

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  8. Hi,

    Just wondering whether you need to let it rest in the fridge since it contains egg and resting 5 hrs is a long time.

    Thank you

    Diana

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  9. Diana...i did not rest the mixture in fridge.

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  10. Thanks, Peng -- diana

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  11. Eileen@Hundred Eighty DegreesNovember 1, 2011 at 10:18 PM

    Hi Peng, so actually I've to ferment for 5 hours. I did mine according to the recipe which calls for 2 hours, and didn't get honeycomb.

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  12. stumbling on this post is like hitting a jackpot to me, this is the exact recipe i am looking for :) I had this at a tea party, but the auntie who baked this reluctantly wanted to share the recipe with me. Thank you for sharing, Peng! you rock! :)

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  13. hey dear, can i check with you, for the original recipe, it says to cook over fire .. did it mention medium or low and for how long? to test if is cooked, just poke skewer in? coz i thought of using happy call to make this. heeee. lazy! (: thank you!

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  14. Hi Jasmine, it mentioned cook over stove on medium heat until surface appear bubbly :)

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  15. hi peng - i'm in canada and cannot find pandan leaves - can i just use pandan paste or pandan essence? i missed kuih so much - and came across your recipe but quite a handicap in baking because never tried. pray help.

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  16. Mama bok..u can add 1/4 tsp of pandan essence if u like.

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  17. Hi Peng, how do you get the honey comb texture?

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  18. I did not do anything ;p is the fermentation of the yeast that gives the honey comb results :)

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  19. In your recipe part A, you say to use 200 sugar... is this 200g or are you measuring 200ml. Thanks

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  20. Hi Peng, just the recipe I need as my hubby has been nagging me to bake honeycomb cake. Just like to check the fermentation 5hrs must be exact, no +/-? Thanks for sharing...

    Jenn

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  21. Jenny...hehehe not too sure also, maybe you can research on more of this kind recipe?

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