Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Sticky Cake

Hello people, Chinese New Year is around the corner and Exquisite Cake Recipes is here to show you our Nian Gao, Steamed Chinese Fruit Cake.
Ingredients:

1) 3 and 1/4 cups (1400g) glutinous rice flour

2) 2/3 cup brown sugar on 2 slabs (about 5 ounces) chinese brown candy (pian tang in Mandarin; peen tong in Cantonese)

3) 7 ounces boiling water

4) 1/2 cup chinese dates, softened in water, cut in half, pits removed, or 1/2 cup other dried fruit or 1/4 cup dates and 1/4 cup nuts

5) 1 ts of milk

6) Water, as needed

7) 1 ts white sesame seeds

8) 1 ts vegetable oil or non stick cooking

Methods:

1) Prepare the work for steaming

2) In a bowl, mix the boiling water and the sugar. stirring to dissolve. (If using peen tong, break the candy into several pieces, so that it will dissolve more easily in the boiling water.)

3) Cool it and soak the chinese dates in hot water for at least 30 mins to soften. (or soften them quickly by placing them in a bowl with water and microwaving high heat for 30 sec)

4) Cut the dates in half and remove the pits.

5) Place the glutinous rice flour in a large bowl. Make a well in middle and stir in the sugar and water mixture.

6) Add the milk and begin shaping the dough with a satiny texture. In corporate 1/2-3/4 of the chinese dates, nuts or dried fruit as you are adding water and working with dough

7) Grease a 7inch square cake pan with vegetable oil or non stick cooking spray

8) Place the dough in the cake pan and spread it out to the edges

9) Decorate with the remaining dates, lightly pushing them into the dough

10) Sprinle the sesame seeds on top

11) Steam the cake over medium-high to high heat for 45 mins, or until the edges of the cake pull away from the pan. Remove the cake from the heat and cool

12) Use a knife to loosen the edges, then remove the cake. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate overnight.

13) To serve: Cut the cake into quarters, and then into thin slices 2-3 inches long and 14 inch wide. You can serve the cake as is, or reheat it in the microwave (the amount of time will depend on the size and power of your micowave-start with 10 sec and then microwave an extra 5 secs if needed) or re-steam it for 4-5 mins

14) You can also pan fry the cake, dipping the cake slices in an egg wash before frying. Use a small amount of oil so that the cake will not taste oily. Heat the oil on the medium high to high heat, then turn the heat down to medium and brown the cake slices briefly on both sides.