Hot Cross Nutella Filled Bao

it's Easter all over again. i never really bake a lot during easter unlike the super hectic Christmas, but i have been knowing the Hot Cross Buns for quite a while and i knew that it is supposed to be the type of special occasion food (what exactly the word for that? ceremonial?). Hot Cross Buns meant to be baked during easter because of what else other than the 'cross', oh well also long ago it is made without yeast to complete the tradition of advent fasting. knowing all those reasons and the festivities of the buns itself, i decided to make one this year.

it is technically not the standard hot crossed buns, i had some special bao flour that was supposed to be used asap or else it will expire soon so i decided to use it for this hot cross 'bao'. i love making and eating bao, especially when it's still warm. i don't have any fancy filling to stuff the bao, so i used the already-so-fancy nutella spread and give some cocoa powder in the bao dough. i know i will never go wrong with nutella and chocolate.

the bao is then steamed and not baked like the way a hot crossed bun should be, because duh it is a bao. just before i steamed them, i made the flour paste used on the traditional hot crossed buns, and piped it onto the risen bao. i love how it turns out!

steamed chocolate brownie

by the time you read this post, i am sure i have already arrived in Bali. yup, i am going on a vacation! i will be in Bali for 5 days. looks like i'm gonna have so much stories and photos and foods to tell and report to all of you. yayy! hopefully i can freeze almost every wonderful moment i will have there. but today is my last day in Jakarta before i go on my holiday trip, so let me just quickly tell you what's on the menu today...

it's the super moist super chocolatey rich chocolate brownie. this cake was so famous here a few years ago, should i say this is one of Indonesian cake creation. we love steamed cakes. what makes this cake special is the richness of the chocolate and due to the steaming process, all the steam trapped inside the cake which makes it extremely moist and decadent. moreover, we usually add some real chocolate in between the cake layer. some use chocolate rice but yesterday i went smart with a rich chocolate ganache. it was magical.

the key to success on steaming cake batter is you must make sure your steamer has already very hot and the water has boiled madly. be careful not to use high heat which can make your cake deflate by the time you remove it from the heat. just use medium heat and to prevent my cake deflating, i usually let my cake rest in the steamer with the heat off for about 10-15 minutes. i always love steamed cake due to its moisture, it is so satisfying and comforting..

putu ayu

hellow! i am back again with good news! tee-hee.. wait for it okay! anyway, this cake called putu ayu (read: poo-too a-yoo) is also my entry for this month's Indonesian Food Party, a monthly event held by me and my dearest TaBon! :) check out what she has made for this month. last month, we have made kue pepe and quail egg satay. and also if you are interested for joining this event with me and TaBon, just post it and tell us. this event is opened for anybody anywhere, we'll be delighted with your indonesian food entry.

so let me introduce you to this cake, this sweet and beautiful cake to be exact. this is my very first time making this cake. but i could find it pretty easy between traditional cakes which are sold in the traditional market. this is basically a very simple cake to make, the batter is similar with most Indonesian steamed cakes batter, almost similar with sponge cake batter. flavored with pandan and finely grated coconut. i love this cake. i don't know why but when i eat this cake, i think this is the best cake to represent the taste of other indonesian traditional sweets. it is very easy to make with very simple ingredients to find in my country, but i don't know if you can easily find pandan leaves or suji leaves or even coconut flesh when you live outside asia.

now, let's go to the good news. starting from monday.. i'll be back to campus and my college life but with a very nice schedule. i have my class only for 4 hours monday til saturday, i can bake and make anything before or after class. so happy! i can be back on track and post regularly again with mostly 5-7 posts a month. yay! hopefully the assignments won't hold me hostage. that's the news i wanted to tell you and now without further ado let's check out the recipe..

indonesian thousand layer sticky cake - kue pepe

hello readers, start from this month, i will give you a special monthly treat. what is it? it's indonesian traditional sweets. actually this is supposed to be a monthly event between me and TaBon, but she will give you the indonesian traditional foods while i do the desserts. this indonesian sweets post will be featured on the beginning of every month. and here come the first one! yay!

this kue pepe (read: coo-way peppay) has two original version, with more sago flour or with more rice flour. the difference is if using more sago flour you'll end up having a more elastic and transparent layers but chewy as well. on the other hand, if you use more rice flour, you'll end up having easier-to-tear-layers, but not chewy. my father and my grandma prefer the rice flour versions, while i personally love the sago flour versions. why? because it reminds me of my childhood.

when i was little, i used to be given this kue pepe by either my mom or dad whenever they visited traditional cake seller. and i love the color of this cake: chocolate, white, topped with red. always always always love the slightly thicker red one. but my most favorite part of this cake is eating it, up until now whenever i eat this cake, i eat it layer by layer , i always separate each layer and stretch it into a long ribbon before putting it in my mouth. lol. i just love this habit and i want to share it with all of you. i hope my habit will become contagious to all of you whenever you eat kue pepe.

rainbow steamed cake

i've been curious with this recipe for about one year, it's rainbow steamed cake. i used to love this cake when i was so little and as far as i could remember, this is the first cake my grandma made for me. this past one year, i've tried to make this three times and this is the third. the first one and the second one were fail because of the coconut milk. this time i learn from the past and also use a new recipe. NCC's recipes never fail me so far, so i think it's best to use it as a reference guide.

as i've told you above, the reason why i failed before is because of the coconut milk. according to wikipedia, there are two grades of coconut milk, thick and thin. this cake uses thick coconut milk but i've always used thin coconut milk before and that's why i failed. it's really easy to find coconut milk in indonesia, either homemades or store-bought. we usually make coconut milk by processing the grated coconut (old one) with hot water, i wonder maybe it will be richer if we use whole milk instead of water. i never really liked the taste of store-bought or canned coconut milk since it tastes and smell more like medicine and it's not hard at all to make your own coconut milk.

this rainbow steamed cake's taste is really similar too rainbow chiffon cake. they only differ in texture, as you know chiffon cake is really light and soft while this steamed cake is not that light. what i love most about this cake is because of the colors, though maybe it sounds silly but i always have my appetite turned on rainbow colors cake. do you feel the same?

steamed (cup)cakes

lately these days, i don't know why i had a huge passion of making Indonesian cakes. so that.. yesterday, i tried making Potato Donuts but i don't have any report with me since i was not in the mood for taking pictures. today, i tried making steamed cupcakes/bolu kukus. i've never succeeded making anything steamed before, but in the contrary, i did it today. you can't imagine how happy i was that time, haha. even my parents laugh at me. that's why i really want to document everything here, yes here!

my dad once before when he was little had a little cake-shop, well actually it's my grandma's. as the result of that, my dad and aunts understand a bit on how to make cakes. the thing that i was going to say is, my dad gave me a comment for the steamed cupcakes, he said, 'you shouldn't be that happy, steamed cake is easy to make..' hahaha. i don't know if my dad's words are actually true, is that really true people?

well, i got the recipe from NCC mailing list. i guess the source come from Mbak Rina (click to see her blog..). i won't post you any recipe. the recipe is on Mbak Rina's blog, on her post called 'Bolu Kukus Mekrok'.

okay guys, i hope you also have a happy day just like mine.. thanks for reading! :)