Thanks to Bob’s Purple Mill for sponsoring this submit!
This steamed tapioca thousand layer cake holds a particular place in my coronary heart as a result of it’s a regional specialty of Toisan (台山, Taishan), a rural area of southern China the place my household was from. In Toisan, this cake is called 菱粉糍 (pronounced lan foon tay), which accurately means tapioca flour cake. Typically, this cake is named 千層糕 (pronounced ceen ceng go in Cantonese), which interprets to “thousand layer cake.” Notice that there are a lot of completely different types of 千層糕 in Cantonese delicacies that use numerous combos of flours for the batter. As a result of the Toisan model of the cake makes use of tapioca flour solely, I made a decision to translate it into “tapioca thousand layer cake.”
Mama Lin at all times cooks a tapioca thousand layer cake for Lunar New 12 months, together with a 年糕 (neen go, new yr’s cake). In addition to Lunar New 12 months, my mother would steam this cake for events. It’s an ideal palette cleanser as a result of the cake has a light candy taste and it’s moist.
It’s taken me some time, however I’ve lastly gotten the hold of cooking my mother’s tapioca thousand layer cake! My mother even authorised the batch that I made for her! I’m excited to associate with Bob’s Purple Mill to point out you how you can make a treasured household recipe.
HOW TO MAKE STEAMED TAPIOCA THOUSAND LAYER CAKE
INGREDIENTS OVERVIEW
The tapioca thousand layer cake makes use of only a few elements: tapioca flour (often known as tapioca starch), brown sugar, water, and kansui (which is elective).
TAPIOCA FLOUR
Tapioca flour provides the cake its attribute chewiness. When held up in opposition to the sunshine, the cake will look translucent! When it comes to texture, this cake is just like tapioca or boba pearls (that are additionally made with tapioca flour). Due to the excessive water content material of the batter, this tapioca thousand layer cake is barely softer than tapioca pearls.
Right here, I’m utilizing Bob’s Purple Mill Tapioca Flour, which might be discovered of their on-line retailer or at your native grocery shops. This finely floor tapioca flour could be very versatile. It’s nice for gluten-free baking as a result of the gelatinous high quality of tapioca flour makes it a great binder. (See my recipe for Oat & Corn Flour Banana Chocolate Muffins). It’s also possible to use Bob’s Purple Mill’s tapioca flour to make numerous dim sum dishes, like my gluten-free crystal dumplings or mushroom cheung enjoyable (rice noodle rolls). The tapioca flour additionally helps make the meat tender in my pork and cabbage potstickers recipe.
BROWN SUGAR SLABS
To taste the cake, my mother typically makes use of gentle brown sugar slabs or bricks, which you could find in Asian supermarkets (usually Chinese language or Southeast Asian markets). Mama Lin claims that the sweetness of the sugar slabs is extra pristine (清甜) in comparison with standard brown sugar that we discover in grocery shops. The photographs of the completed tapioca thousand layer cake you see on this submit had been made with brown sugar slabs. The sugar slabs are inclined to make the cake look extra superbly golden.
That stated, you need to use gentle brown sugar as a substitute of the sugar slabs. As a matter of reality, certainly one of my sisters most popular the model I made with gentle brown sugar. I don’t suggest utilizing darkish brown sugar for the cake although. As you see within the take a look at batch photographed under, the cake regarded too darkish and I discovered the molasses notes within the sugar to be too robust.
After I was recipe testing, I feared that the cake would appear too plain for the viewers as the one flavoring comes from brown sugar. I examined variations of the cake with added floor ginger and vanilla bean paste. It grew to become clear to me that my efforts had been in useless as the extra flavorings made the cake style off. I made a decision to stay to the recipe my mother gave me and to cease tweaking a recipe that was already good.
KANSUI (LYE WATER)
Mama Lin likes including a teaspoon of kansui (鹼水) within the batter for 2 causes: 1) it enhances the golden shade of the cake; and a couple of) the kansui makes the cake much less sticky as you’re consuming it. You will discover kansui in Asian supermarkets (usually Chinese language or Southeast Asian markets). Nonetheless, you possibly can omit the kansui when you can’t supply it simply.
MAKE BATTER
Snap the brown sugar slabs in half and add them to the saucepan, together with 2 1/2 cups of water. If you happen to’re utilizing gentle brown sugar, add the sugar and water to a saucepan. Carry the water to boil and simmer till the sugar dissolves fully. Mild brown sugar normally dissolves because the water reaches the boiling level.
Add the tapioca flour and 1 1/2 cups of room temperature water to a mixing bowl. Attempt to stir the flour and water collectively. The flour on the backside of the bowl will really feel very stiff and that’s okay. Cease stirring if it feels just like the flour is caught.
As soon as the brown sugar has dissolved, flip off the warmth. Pour 1/3 of the recent sugar liquid into the bowl with the tapioca flour slurry and blend. The batter must be a lot simpler to stir now. Pour the rest of the brown sugar liquid into the bowl and blend once more. Be certain that to make use of your wood spoon or spatula to scrape the underside of the blending bowl to make sure that there are not any clumps of flour caught there.
By the best way, the feel of the batter received’t be fairly proper when you use solely room temperature or chilly water to make it. You do want some sizzling liquid in there.
STEAMING SETUP
Add a steaming rack to a big wok. Fill the wok with water, till there’s a few 1/2-inch hole between the water stage and the highest of the steaming rack (see picture under). Cowl the wok and produce the water to boil.
You’ll additionally want a pan that may fill 6 to 7 cups of liquid. I’m utilizing a round pan that my mother purchased for me from Chinese language kitchen retailers (see picture under). It’s also possible to use a sq. or rectangular pan, so long as it will probably fill 6 cups of liquid. If you happen to don’t have a big sufficient pan, you possibly can really make smaller desserts with the pans you’ve got. Frivolously grease the pan with a impartial flavored oil (like vegetable oil) and set the pan apart.
STEAM TAPIOCA THOUSAND LAYER CAKE
As soon as the water within the wok boils, rigorously place the greased pan over the steaming rack.
Give the cake batter a stir as a result of the tapioca flour sinks to the underside of the bowl, inflicting separation (see picture above). Pour 2/3 cup of batter into the pan. The batter ought to cowl the underside of the pan fully. If it doesn’t, pour extra batter into the pan. Cowl the wok with a lid and steam for 4 minutes over medium warmth.
Uncover the pan. Be certain that the layer is totally translucent and you may see the underside of the pan. This is a sign that the batter is totally cooked. Tapioca starch, as soon as it gelatinizes, turns translucent, which is why the layers of those desserts are see-through. Often, the underside layer cooks very simply. Pour one other 2/3 cup of batter into the pan, cowl the wok with a lid, and steam for one more 4 minutes.
Proceed steaming the cake layer by layer, giving the batter a stir earlier than including 2/3 cup of it into the pan. The batter ought to cowl your entire floor of the pan. If it doesn’t, add extra. When it comes to the cooking time for every layer, the primary 2 layers ought to take 4 minutes to steam. Layers 3 to five will take about 5 minutes to steam, and layers 7 to 9 will take about 6 minutes. Because the cake will get thicker, the latter layers will take longer to show translucent. Be certain that to additionally replenish the water within the wok while you get to about layer 5, because the water evaporates.
TROUBLESHOOTING STEAMING PROCESS
WHEN A LAYER DOESN’T LOOK FULLY COOKED
The picture illustrates what a layer appears to be like like when it’s not cooked sufficient. Discover how the middle of the cake appears to be like opaque and light-weight brown, however the outer ring appears to be like translucent. If this occurs to you, steam the cake for just a few extra minutes, till it turns translucent.
If you happen to add extra batter to the cake when a earlier layer hasn’t turned translucent but, that opaque layer will stay opaque regardless of how lengthy you prepare dinner the cake. Within the picture above, I purposely undercooked the decrease layers as an example what I imply. Discover how the underside layers fail to show translucent despite the fact that they’ve been steaming for longer than the highest layers? The feel of the opaque layers can be stiffer than the translucent layers.
Let’s say you’ve already steamed the cake for 10 minutes and the layer nonetheless appears to be like opaque within the heart. In that case, enhance the warmth barely. It might be that there isn’t sufficient sizzling steam within the wok. One other factor you are able to do is add extra water to the underside of the wok. When the water stage is low, you possibly can’t generate sufficient steam to prepare dinner the cake.
WHY DOES MY CAKE LOOK WRINKLED?
If the floor of your cake appears to be like wrinkled, it typically implies that warmth generated from the steam contained in the wok was too intense. Sadly, as soon as a single layer wrinkles, all subsequent layers can be wrinkled as nicely.
That’s why I like to recommend cooking the cake on medium warmth and leaving a half inch hole between the water stage and the highest of the steaming rack. The cake will crater if boiling water touches the underside of the pan. I additionally observed that my desserts are inclined to wrinkle once I prepare dinner them on the ability burner, even on medium warmth. My tapioca thousand layer desserts are inclined to look higher once I prepare dinner them on a smaller burner.
The wrinkled high can be a beauty situation and the cake will style wonderful. You possibly can at all times cowl up the wrinkles with coconut and sesame seeds.
FINISH THE CAKE
As soon as all of the layers have been steamed, flip off the warmth. I typically discover quite a lot of water excessive layer, which is as a result of condensation that develops contained in the wok. I normally maintain onto the pan with oven mitts and thoroughly drain the water from the pan. Strive to not tip the pan an excessive amount of while you do that because the cake can slide.
Sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds and coconut excessive of the cake for garnish. It’s higher to sprinkle the toppings whereas the cake remains to be heat to make sure that they stick onto the cake. Furthermore, don’t overload the cake with toppings.
For certainly one of my take a look at batches, I made a decision to toast a bunch of shredded coconut and unfold it all around the high of the cake. I assumed this is able to make the cake look visually interesting, nevertheless it turned out to be the improper transfer once more. The toasting was pointless as a result of the moisture from the cake softened the coconut anyway. Furthermore, I loaded a lot coconut on the cake that the majority of it didn’t even stick on the highest. Because of this, the coconut stored spilling over all over the place as I used to be slicing into the cake.
Let the cake cool fully earlier than slicing and serving.
SLICING THE CAKE
This cake could be very squishy, so it may be troublesome to chop the cake and get sharp edges however that’s okay. The best factor to do is to run a silicone spatula alongside the sting of the pan to loosen the cake. Then, use kitchen scissors to chop the cake into items.
Alternatively, you possibly can reduce the cake on a chopping board. Don’t reduce the cake over a wood or bamboo board, because the cake will stick with the board and be troublesome to pry off. I usually grease a marble slab and reduce the cake over that. It’s also possible to use a grease silicone chopping mat. Be certain that to grease the knife with oil continuously. Curiously, I discovered that you simply don’t must grease the kitchen scissors when slicing the cake.
STORING THE TAPIOCA THOUSAND LAYER CAKE
My mother normally leaves the cake out on the counter in a single day, lined. The cake normally retains nicely, supplied that your kitchen isn’t sizzling and humid. If you happen to’re storing it for greater than a day, you’ll need to refrigerate the cake. You possibly can reheat the cake once more by steaming it for a number of minutes or microwaving it till the cake softens.
Eat the cake inside 3 or 4 days as a result of mildew will begin to kind on the cake. You possibly can freeze the cake for longer storage and steam the cake to reheat.
MORE RECIPES USING TAPIOCA FLOUR
Servings: 10
Tapioca Thousand Layer Cake (菱粉糍/千層糕)
This tapioca thousand layer cake is a basic southern Chinese language dish. Identified for its lovely layers, this steamed cake is frivolously candy, chewy, and moist. Serve it as a snack or dessert!
Components
Steaming Gear
- round pan with a 6 to 7 cup capability, can use a sq. or rectangular pan (see be aware 2)
- oil for greasing pan
- steaming rack
- massive wok for steaming
Directions
Make Batter
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Snap the brown sugar slabs in half and add them to a saucepan. Pour 2 1/2 cups of water over the sugar slabs and produce the water to boil. Proceed simmering the liquid till the sugar slabs dissolve fully. If you happen to’re utilizing gentle brown sugar, add it to the saucepan, together with 2 1/2 cups of water. Carry the water to boil and switch off the warmth. The sugar ought to dissolve as soon as the water boils.
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Snap the brown sugar slabs in half and add them to the saucepan, together with 2 1/2 cups of water. If you happen to’re utilizing gentle brown sugar, add the sugar and water to a saucepan. Carry the water to boil and simmer till the sugar dissolves fully.
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Add the tapioca flour and 1 1/2 cups of room temperature water to a mixing bowl. Attempt to stir the flour and water collectively. The flour on the backside of the bowl will really feel very stiff and that’s okay. Cease stirring if it feels just like the flour is caught.
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As soon as the brown sugar has dissolved, flip off the warmth. Pour 1/3 of the recent sugar liquid into the bowl with the tapioca flour slurry and stir. The batter must be a lot simpler to combine now. Pour the rest of the brown sugar liquid into the bowl and blend once more. Be certain that to make use of your wood spoon or spatula to scrape the underside of the blending bowl to make sure that there are not any clumps of flour caught there.
Set Up Steaming Station
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Add a steaming rack into the middle of a giant wok. Fill the wok with water, till there’s a few 1/2-inch hole between the water stage and the highest of the steaming rack. Cowl the wok and produce the water to boil.
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Frivolously grease the pan with any impartial oil (reminiscent of vegetable oil). As soon as the water boils, rigorously place the greased pan over the steaming rack. Scale back the warmth to medium.
Steam Cake
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Give the batter a stir as a result of the tapioca flour sinks to the underside of the bowl inside minutes. Pour 2/3 cup of batter into the pan. The batter ought to cowl the underside of the pan fully. If it doesn’t, pour extra batter into the pan. Cowl the wok with a lid and steam for 4 minutes over medium warmth.
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Uncover the pan. Be certain that the layer is totally translucent and you may see the underside of the pan. This is a sign that the batter is totally cooked. Pour one other 2/3 cup of batter into the pan, cowl the wok with a lid, and steam for one more 4 minutes.
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Proceed steaming the cake layer by layer, giving the batter a stir earlier than including 2/3 cup of it into the pan. Once more, the batter ought to cowl your entire floor of the pan. If it doesn’t, add extra. Layers 3 to five will take about 5 minutes to steam, and layers 7 to 9 will take about 6 minutes. Because the cake will get thicker, the latter layers will take longer to show translucent. If at any level, the cake appears to be like opaque, don’t add extra batter to the pan. Be certain that the layer turns translucent fully. In any other case, the opaque layer will keep that approach even when you proceed steaming the cake. (See weblog submit for extra in-depth rationalization.) Replenish the water within the wok while you get to about layer 5, because the water evaporates over time.
End Cake
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As soon as all of the layers have been steamed, flip off the warmth. There’ll possible be quite a lot of water excessive layer, which is as a result of condensation that develops contained in the wok. Holding on to the pan with towels or oven mitts, rigorously tip the pan and drain the water. Watch out as a result of the cake can slide round.
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Sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds and coconut excessive of the cake for garnish. It’s higher to sprinkle the toppings whereas the cake remains to be heat to make sure that they stick onto the cake.
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Let the cake cool fully earlier than slicing and serving.
Slicing Cake
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There are a number of methods to chop into the cake. The best factor to do is to run a silicone spatula alongside the sting of the pan to loosen the cake. Then, use kitchen scissors to chop the cake into items.
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Alternatively, you possibly can reduce the cake on a chopping board. Don’t reduce the cake over a wood or bamboo board, because the cake will stick with the board and be troublesome to pry off. I usually grease a marble slab and reduce the cake over that. It’s also possible to use a grease silicone chopping mat. Be certain that to grease the knife with oil continuously. Curiously, you don’t must grease the kitchen scissors when slicing the cake.
Storing Cake
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You possibly can depart the cake in your counter, lined, in a single day. The cake normally retains nicely, supplied that your kitchen isn’t sizzling and humid. If you happen to’re storing it for greater than a day, you’ll need to refrigerate the cake. You possibly can reheat the cake once more by steaming it for a number of minutes or microwaving it till the cake softens.
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Eat the cake inside 3 or 4 days as a result of mildew will begin to kind on the cake. You possibly can freeze the cake for longer storage and steam the cake to reheat.
Notes
I discovered gentle brown sugar to be sweeter than the brown sugar slabs, in order that’s why I like to recommend utilizing 12 ounces of sunshine brown sugar. Brown sugar slabs might be paler or darker brown, relying on which model you purchase. I choose the paler one for this cake, nevertheless it doesn’t actually matter an excessive amount of. Don’t get the black brown sugar slabs for this recipe because the sugar is just too dard.
If you happen to don’t have a big sufficient pan, you can also make smaller desserts with the pans you’ve got.
Vitamin
Serving: 1serving | Energy: 176kcal | Carbohydrates: 43.9g | Fats: 0.5g | Saturated Fats: 0.1g | Sodium: 9.5mg | Sugar: 33g
Disclosure: This submit was sponsored by Bob’s Purple Mill! To study extra about their merchandise and to get extra recipe inspiration, observe them on Instagram or Fb.
