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Soft and fluffy Chinese-style steamed cupcakes in a watermelon-inspired color hue. The huat kueh has a nice crack on top that looks like a “smile”. The recipe is easy to put together and doesn’t use eggs and yeast.
A cake that symbolizes prosperity and actually tastes good!
The Chinese love anything “huat”, which means prosper 🙂 When I was a kid, I never like a traditional pink huat kueh made with rice flour. My mom usually bought them as an offering but usually no one ate them because they just didn’t taste good. Until, of course, this rice flour huat kueh recipe. This huat kueh however, is not a rice flour kind. It is made with regular all-purpose flour but without using any yeast and eggs. So it is vegan-friendly and can be made dairy-free. They are perfect as an offering too.
Why you’ll like this recipe
1. Super easy
If you know how to combine things in a bowl, well, that’s pretty much all the skill you need with this recipe.
2. Great taste and texture
Most of the time people make this type of huat kueh not for eating because like I’ve mentioned before, they don’t taste good, only for the “huat” meaning and look 🙂 BUT, this huat kueh actually tastes good. The texture is really soft, fluffy, and stay soft for 3 days (or perhaps longer, but we finished them before then) when properly stored in an air-tight container at room temperature
3. Vegan and dairy-free friendly
You can use water or use dairy or non-dairy milk for a richer taste. The recipe also doesn’t use any eggs, but you won’t believe that it doesn’t because the texture is soft and fluffy!
4. A fun watermelon-inspired theme
Though the huat kueh doesn’t have any watermelon flavor (I should probably puree some watermelon in the future LOL!), I didn’t think of that when I made these. The watermelon theme was more of a whim! But, the kids love them because they don’t look boring at least 🙂
Steamed Watermelon Huat Kueh/Kuih (No Yeast/Eggless)
Ingredients
If using self-raising flour:
- 250 g self-raising flour
- 4 g baking powder
If not using self-raising flour:
- 240 g all-purpose flour
- 15 g baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
Other ingredients:
- 120 g sugar
- 250 g milk or non-dairy milk or water
- 50 g oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp black sesame seeds
Food coloring:
Instructions
Prepare the cake batter:
- Prepare the steamer by bringing the water to a boil. Line muffin cups with paper liners. Do not use silicone cups as they do not conduct heat well and the cake won't crack and smile.
- Whisk all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt (omit if using self-raising flour) to combine. Combine milk and sugar and stir until sugar dissolves. Add the oil and whisk to combine. Sift in all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt (omit if using self-raising flour). Whisk until just combined. Do not overmix. Just combine until you no longer see pockets of flour
- Remove about 120 grams of the batter into a separate bowl. Add a few drops of green food coloring and a few drops of red food coloring to the main batter. Add black sesame seeds to the red batter. I transfer the red batter into a measuring cup with a spout for easy pouring
- Divide the red batter evenly into the muffin cups, they should be about 85% full at this point. Spoon some of the green batter evenly on top of the red. It should be about 90% full at this point. Dip a toothpick into a green food coloring and draw some lines to resemble the patterns on watermelon skin
Steaming:
- Put the muffin cups inside the steamer and make sure to wrap the lid with a cloth to prevent water condensation from dripping onto the cake
- Steam over high heat for 20 minutes. Do not open the lid during the steaming process
Cool down:
- Let the huat kueh cool in the cups for about 5 minutes and then remove from the cup onto a cooling rack and let them cool down completely
Storage:
- The huat kueh can be stored in an air-tight container for 3 days. For longer storage, wrap it individually with a cling wrap and put in a freezer bag. They can be kept frozen for one month
- Simply reheat in the steamer or microwave until they are warm
RECOMMEDED TOOLS
*Nutrition facts are just estimates and calculated using online tools*
How to make steamed watermelon huat kueh without yeast and eggs
1. Prepare the steamer by bringing the water to a boil. Line muffin cups with paper liners. Do not use silicone cups or ceramic-type cups, as they do not conduct heat well and the cake won’t crack and smile.
2. Whisk all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt (omit if using self-raising flour) to combine. 
3. Combine milk/water and sugar and stir until sugar dissolves. Add the oil and whisk to combine.
4. Sift in all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt (omit if using self-raising flour). Whisk until just combined. Do not overmix. Just combine until you no longer see pockets of flour
5. Remove about 120 grams of the batter into a separate bowl. Add a few drops of green food coloring 
6. Add a few drops of red food coloring to the main batter. Add black sesame seeds to the red batter. I transfer the red batter into a measuring cup with a spout for easy pouring
7. Divide the red batter evenly into the muffin cups, they should be about 85% full at this point. 
8. Spoon some of the green batter evenly on top of the red. It should be about 90% full at this point (actually it’s a bit too full in the photo)
9. Dip a toothpick into a green food coloring and draw some lines to resemble the patterns on watermelon skin
10. Put the muffin cups inside the steamer and make sure to wrap the lid with a cloth to prevent water condensation from dripping onto the cake. Steam over high heat for 20 minutes. Do not open the lid during the steaming process.
You can see that the ones I didn’t fill up all the way to the brim actually had nice more defined split. The ones that I filled up too much, the splits weren’t as defined
11. Let the huat kueh cool in the cups for about 5 minutes and then remove from the cup onto a cooling rack and let them cool down completely.
Did you make this steamed watermelon huat kueh recipe?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag it to show me what you’ve made. Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
