Super delicious and soft Chinese steamed cake infused with natural pandan flavor made without yeast with that signature smiling top. Can be made into assorted flavors.
Pandan Coconut Huat Kueh (Fatt Koh)
CHINESE STEAMED CAKE (NO YEAST)
A while ago I shared sweet potato huat kueh and pumpkin huat kueh recipes. Both recipes use yeast to leaven the cake. This pandan coconut huat kueh does not use yeast. Similar to the other two huat kueh, this pandan huat kueh has that signature top splitting into sections. Some call these sections as “smiling” or in Singapore or Malaysia, people will say “Huat” in Hokkien. Huat means “to rise” or “to prosper”. Some people call huat kueh as smiling cake too.
WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS HUAT KUEH RECIPE
1. INCREDIBLY SOFT
It’s no joke when I say this cake is incredibly soft. I use cake flour and oh my!!! it’s so soft and crumbly. It tastes more like cake compare to the yeast version huat kueh. It’s really a matter of preference. I like both versions to be honest.
2. NO YEAST
I like the yeast version of huat kueh too, but this is very convenient. The huat kueh is basically leavened with baking powder.
THIS RECIPE VS RICE FLOUR HUAT KUEH
Traditionally, mom made huat kueh that used rice flour, which used Eno fruit salt or in Indonesia, we use “tuak” (palm wine) as a leavening agent. But mom said the cake didn’t taste that good. She usually made them as offerings for praying and none of us ate them because we didn’t really like how rice flour huat kueh tasted! This huat kueh uses all-purpose flour (cake flour works too, but very soft and more crumbly) and they actually taste incredible! Taste more like cupcakes!
HOW TO MAKE SURE YOU HUAT KUEH WILL SPLIT INTO SECTIONS ON TOP
One of the things that I learned during my short stay in Singapore was that people like to shout “huat ah!!!” when something good happens 🙂 So, of course we want to make sure the huat kueh you are making also splits into sections, which represents good luck and prosperity.
1. CHECK THE BAKING POWDER
Make sure your baking powder is not expired. The cake depends on baking powder to “huat”. How to check if your baking powder is still fresh? place 1 teaspoon baking powder in a cup and add 1/3 cup hot tap water. If it bubbles, then you are good to go, if not, please get a new one.
2. GET THINGS READY
Before you start making the cake batter, line cups with paper and get the steamer ready so when the batter is ready, you can fill it up right away (see point no.4)
3. FILL ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP
Fill the cups with batter all the way to the top. When I only fill 3/4 of the cup, it doesn’t split into sections as big as to when I fill all the way to the top
The one on the left split into larger sections compared to the one on the right
4. DON’T LET THE BATTER SITS AROUND FOR TOO LONG
Once you fill up the cups, it is best that the huat kueh are steamed immediately. This is to ensure that the baking powder works its full potential immediately. If the batter is sitting around for too long, your huat kueh may not huat at all. If your steamer is not able to accommodate the whole recipe, you can set up another steamer by using a pot or a wok. Otherwise, you just need to wait for the first batch to be done and then give the batter a stir and pour them into cups right before steaming the second batch. Don’t fill it up ahead into the cups while waiting for the steamer.
5. MAKE SURE THERE’S ENOUGH WATER IN YOUR STEAMER
It will take about 15 minutes to steam the huat kueh and you CANNOT open the lid before the cake is done steaming or it will never huat. So you need to make sure there will be enough water for 15 minutes of steaming over high heat
6. STEAM OVER HIGH HEAT
Unlike in my soft and fluffy steamed buns post where I said you need to steam the buns over medium heat, with huat kueh, you need the highest heat possible to ensure it will “huat” to its fullest potential
If you know those pointers above, you will have a very high chance of making huat kueh that will smile back at you in the end.
Say cheeseee!!
HOW TO MAKE PANDAN HUAT KUEH
1. Cream egg and sugar until slightly pale and creamy. Get your steamer ready by bringing water to a boil
2. Gradually add in coconut cream and pandan juice
3. Add flour mixture gradually alternating with oil
4. Continue to mix until batter is thick but still spreadable
5. Fill the cups with batter, all the way to the top
6. Steam over high heat for 15 minutes (Do not open the lid during steaming or the huat kueh will not huat or collapse)
HOW TO MAKE ASSORTED FLAVOR HUAT KUEH
For cocoa flavor: just add 1 tsp of cocoa powder
For vanilla flavor: just add 1 tsp vanilla extract
For pink color (or any color): just add one drop (or more) of red food gel (the intensity of the color is personal preference)
For brown sugar flavor: just half the amount of regular sugar and top up with brown sugar. In this case, 75 gr regular white sugar + 75 gr brown sugar
Cocoa Flavor Huat Kueh
My mom usually likes to make pink huat kueh as offering for praying.
Pink Vanilla Flavor Huat Kueh
I love how pretty the assorted huat kueh looks when they are together 🙂
I wish I could eat one of these again soon! Sooooo soft!
*This huat kueh recipe has more “cake” like texture, like cupcakes. If you prefer huat kueh with more springy texture, you may like these sweet potato huat kueh or pumpkin huat kueh. Both are made with yeast.
Pandan Coconut Huat Kueh (Fatt Koh)
Ingredients
Wet ingredients:
- 150 gr sugar
- 1 large egg about 58-60 grams with the shell
- 150 gr coconut milk for cocoa, vanilla flavor, and if using pandan essence
- 100 gr cooking oil
Dry ingredients:
- ½ tsp salt
- 250 gr all-purpose flour see notes
- 2 tsp baking powder
For pandan flavor using homemade pandan juice:
- 100 gr pandan juice
- 50 gr coconut cream
For pandan flavor (using pandan essence):
- ¾ tsp pandan essence
For cocoa flavor:
- 1 tsp cocoa powder
For vanilla flavor (pink color):
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 drop Red food gel
Instructions
Making the cake batter:
- Mix all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Set aside. Bring a water in the steamer to a boil. Make sure there's enough water in the steamer. Line individual muffin cups with paper
- Crack egg into a mixing bowl of a mixer. Add sugar and use a whisk attachment to cream until the mixture is pale and creamy, about 2 minutes. For pandan flavor using homemade pandan juice, add coconut cream and pandan juice. For other flavors, add coconut milk (not coconut cream). Continue to whisk another 2 minute
- Gradually add in the flour mixture, alternating with the cooking oil. Continue to do so until you run out of flour and oil
- Add in cocoa powder, vanilla extract, red food gel, or other essences of your choice at this point. Continue to mix until the batter is thick but spreadable
- Scoop the thick batter to the cup with a spoon. You might need a rubber spatula to help you. Fill it up to about 3/4 full
- Place the cups inside the steamer and steam over high heat. Make sure the heat is high. Steam for 15 minutes. Do not open the lid throughout the steaming process. After 15 minutes, you can open the lid immediately and remove the cake from the steamer. Let them cool down for 1 minute and then transfer out from the muffin tin and let them cool down on a cooling rack
Notes
Nutrition
You may also like this Eggless No-Yeast Banana Huat Kueh. They are so soft and yummy and super easy to make!
If you bake sourdough bread, chances are you may have some discard and you can use the discard to make sourdough discard huat kueh too
Sourdough Discard Cinnamon Raisin Huat Kueh (Steamed Cup Cakes)
48 comments
Hi Marvellina, is huat kueh different with Indo’s bolu kukus? Also, does your tin moulds have holes to allow steam to pass through?
Hi Jan, huat kueh is the same with Indo’s bolu kukus as far as I know. I’ve tried with both tin moulds with holes and none and they both work actually.
I love all your recepies!! My mum comes from Singapore and I was raised in France. I basically miss all these foods I got a taste of when going there to visit my grand parents. Thanks to you I get to cook some great foods from my visits to Singapore and south east Asia.
I was wondering if I could substitute pandan juice with something else as I am not sure what Pandan looks like nor here to find any in France. There is an asian shop nearby but I have never found any there…
Thanks for your help and this wonderful blog.
Hi Carmen, I’m so glad you got some taste of great Singapore and SEA 🙂 I have to agree that it’s probably difficult to find pandan leaves to make your own pandan juice in France probably. It’s just for flavoring and natural color. You can replace the amount required for pandan juice with milk or water, and add cocoa powder for a chocolate flavor, or green tea powder, just to name few examples. I recently also made this huat kueh with mashed banana, our new favorites 🙂 https://whattocooktoday.com/eggless-banana-huat-kueh-kuih.html I hope this helps to answer your question 🙂 Please let me know if I can help further. Thank you for stopping by and for your kind words 🙂
Hi Marvellina, can I use Unsweet melted & Cool butter in lieu of oil? Thanks in advance.
Hi Virginia, yes you may use melted butter in the same amount 🙂 Hope this helps!
Hi Marvellina, I can’t wait to attempt this! However, I’ve only got coconut milk at home. Will it make any difference?
Hi Min,
I don’t think it will make a huge difference. They should still turn out great for you. Please let me know if you have a chance 🙂 Happy steaming!
Hi marvelina, thanks for replying. I tried the recipe again and this time it was a success!! After sending u the message, i quickly realised that my baking may have expired and indeed it was. And i also used coconut cream instead of milk, So the consistency was much thicker. After replacing with new baking powder and coconut milk, the kuehs were all smiling!! Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Rin, glad to hear that it worked out in the end. I had a couple of incidents where my baking powder had expired too!! Glad to hear you have a smiling kueh now 🙂
Hi,
My kueh looked a bit deformed and the texture aint exactly huat kueh texture? Could it be i overmix or i used too much coconut cream? The insides are quite dense compared to fluffy and soft.
Hi Rin,
Sorry to hear the troubles. May I know what flour you used? and also did the kueh rise at all?
hi I just wondering if the recipe is for 10kueh and my steamer can only take 5 kueh in one time, what should I do to the other 5 others as you explain that it’s better not to let the batter sits around too long.
thank you for your help
Hi Libra,
It is best to steam right away if you can, but yes, most of the time steamer cannot accomodate the whole recipe, which is about 8-10 cupcakes. You can either start another steamer, by using deep pot or wok, which is what I did, or you just have to wait until you are done with the first batch, I think it shouldn’t affect the result too much, I’m probably just a bit more “paranoid” 🙂
Hi again, also if you are waiting for the steamer to steam the 2nd batch, don’t fill them up in the cups just yet. My mom said to stir the batter again and then fill up the batter into the cups right before steaming, you should be okay that way. Hope this helps. I’ve added this information in my post too. Thanks for bringing it up.
Dear Marvellina,
Thank you for your wonderful recipe.. A first timer and it was a great success. Taste delicous too, can be eaten as a light muffin. 👍👍👍
Hello, I’m so glad you love the recipe. I seriously love this recipe too. It’s light-tasting and yes…like a lighter version of muffin 🙂 Thank you so much for trying and for letting me know 🙂
Cool, we will try again, thank you.
Thank you Dani. Please let me know how it turns out if you ever try again 🙂
Your advices are superb! My huat kuih did “huat” and for the first time trying, me and my daughter (8 years old) were very happy with the result.
One question, the huat kui we made was soft but it couldn’t stick together as a solid body, lack of “springy” feel. Can you advise what we may have done wrong? Thank you.
Hi Dani, I don’t think you did anything wrong. It’s because we use cake flour, so it’s more “cake” like in terms of texture and won’t be as “springy” compared to those made with rice flour and yeast. If you like more springy texture, you can try using just regular flour (all-purpose flour) or even bread flour (higher gluten). I have two other huat kueh recipes that were made with yeast and those two have springy texture: https://whattocooktoday.com/kue-moho-ubi-steamed-sweet-potato-cup-cake.html and https://whattocooktoday.com/pumpkin-moho-kue.html