Believe it or not, this is a cake that I have been yearning and craving for the past 1 year. And did I tell you that it is so difficult to get hold of Horlicks in Belgium? I got a tiny bottle last year from a shop in Antwerp Chinatown to make the DDMT Steamed Horlicks Cupcakes, and it has been out of stock ever since, no luck every time I went there grocery shopping.
In order to get my Horlicks fix, we specially drove 75km (more than 1 hour drive due to busy traffic) to Stonemanor Everberg, the one and only British supermarket in Belgium, to get some Horlicks. Imagine my excitement when I saw Horlicks on the shelf, I immediately grabbed hold of 3 bottles, and the British cashier guy must be very amused why I was stocking up on Horlicks. Also on that day, I dropped by the house of Nasifriet to say Hi and we had a beautiful sunny afternoon "frolicking" in her lovely garden with my 2 cutie pies, drinking freshly made soya milk from Joyoung Soya Milk Maker. Oh, don't get me started on Joyoung, another household appliance to add to my wish-list. :)
Btw, it is easier to get Kaya (Coconut Egg Jam) than Horlicks in Belgium. Why? Simply because I made my own, haha.
I officially declare this as a keeper recipe!!! Only those Horlicks lovers will understand how nice this cake is!!!
(Took 3/4 of the recipe for a 7-inch square tin. Original recipe was meant for a 8-inch square tin.)
Ingredients A
188g butter (room temp)
75g brown sugar
Ingredients B
4.5 eggs (225g)
Ingredients C (mix well)
75g evaporated milk
75g condensed milk
94g horlicks
94g kaya (I used my own Homemade Kaya)
Ingredients D (sifted)
140g plain flour (I used patisserie flour)
0.75 tsp baking powder
Method
1. Place ingredients A in a big mixing bowl, and whisk using cake-mixer at medium speed until light and creamy.
2. Add eggs one at a time into the batter and beat until fluffy each time.
3. Mix ingredients C separately in a bowl and add it to the batter, whisk briefly at low speed until well-combined.
4. Add in ingredients D (sifted flour), and fold in gently using either a spatula or manual egg-whisk until it is well-incorporated and no longer lumpy.
5. Pour into a lined and greased 7-inch square tin and cover tightly with aluminium foil. (I was using a 7-inch square tin with removable base and to prevent leaking, I double lined the inside of my tin with a layer of aluminium foil followed by a layer of parchment paper. And I greased the parchment paper lightly with baking spray.)
6. You have to prepare a steamer well in advance, the water must be boiling. Put in the cake tin inside the steamer and cover the lid. Steam over HIGH heat for 1st 15 min, then over MEDIUM heat for next 1 hour, until the cake is cooked. Test using a toothpick, the cake is cooked when the toothpick comes out clean. (Total time taken for me was 1 hr 25 min, see notes below. Original recipe took 1 h 15 min. This reduced recipe should take between +/- 1 h to 1 h 15 min. Pls check at 60min and again at 75min, if it is not cooked, put it back and continue steaming at high heat.)
7. Remove the cake from steamer when ready, and allow it to cool a while. Run a sharp knife around the sides of the cake and invert it onto a cake rack.
- I took a total of 1 h 25 min to steam this cake. I checked after 1 hour and my cake was very wobbly. So I turned to HIGH heat and steamed further for 15 min and checked again, still not ready. So I steamed on HIGH heat for another 10 min, total 1 h 25 min. My timing is just a reference, every steamer and stove differs, so pls stick to the recipe timing and extend the time if necessary.
- There are a few reasons why I took longer than the stated time. One reason being I used a 7-inch square tin, which is a little too big for my 26-inch steamer and I could barely close the lid of the steamer, leaving very little room for the steam to rise above. Second reason, we have a vitroceramic stove which is not ideal for steaming as the heat is not as powerful as a gas stove. Third reason, my steamer ran out of water and I only filled it towards the end of the steaming, so half the time it was not steaming optimally. Last but not least, due to my double lining and covering with aluminium foil on top, my cake seemed to take longer to cook, perhaps there was too much insulation? Perhaps the next time I should use a 8-inch round cake tin, without removable base so that I don't have to double line it.
- This reduced recipe is 3/4 of the original recipe, so if you want to use the original full quantity, just divide by 3 and multiply by 4 to get 100%. And you need to use a 8-inch square tin or 9-inch round tin for the full recipe. For this reduced 3/4 recipe, you may use either a 7-inch square or 8-inch round tin. Rule of thumb to convert square tins to round tins : always add 1 inch, for eg. 7-inch square = 8-inch round, 8-inch square = 9-inch round. Just do your Math and you will see the logic.
- The cake has the texture of a honeycomb cake and is quite dense, it is about 2 inches in height. I thought it could be due to the mistakes I made in steaming, that it did not rise that high. But I checked the picture of the original recipe, the cake looked dense and wasn't that high either. So the conclusion is, this is not a fluffy cake, it is supposed to have a slightly heavy texture.
- This cake is, in my humble opinion, moist, sweet, malty and very nutritious, hahaha. I think the cake tastes better after a day or two. You can smell the cake when it is done in the steamer, the aroma is so sweet and lingers on in the kitchen....
- Full 100% recipe is as follows:
Ingredients A - 250g butter @room temp, 100g brown sugar;
Ingredients B - 6 eggs (300g);
Ingredients C (mix well) - 100g evaporated milk, 100g condensed milk, 125g horlicks, 125g kaya;
Ingredients D (sifted) - 185g plain flour, 1 tsp baking powder.
I am linking this post to Little Thumbs Up (Milk) organised by Bake for Happy Kids, My Little Favourite DIY and hosted by Tze of Awayofmind Bakery House at this link.