October 11, 2009

Kuih Bakar (Kuih Kemboja)

Sorry for not posting for a while. I haven't been cooking but been busy preparing for graduate school.

Kuih Bakar is kinda like a baked custard. It's not a "cake" in the sense that vanilla cake is, nor is it a custard like what flan is. One of the most popular "kuih" from Malaysia, Kuih Bakar is a dessert eaten throughout the day. Try a piece for breakfast! Kuih Bakar is also known as Kuih Kemboja, possibly due to the traditional mold used to make this kuih looks like a flower. Kemboja is the Malay word for Plumeria.


I used black sesame seeds in this recipe for the color contrast, although you can always use the regular white sesame seeds. Pandan leaves are sold frozen in Asian supermarkets. Also known as "screwpine" leave, it is the vanilla essence of Southeast Asian cooking.


11/4 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 1/4 cups coconut milk
1 cup pandan juice (10 pandan leaves + 1 cup water in food processor, strained)
4 large eggs
2 tablespoon melted butter
sesame seeds for garnishing

Add all ingredients, except sesame seeds, in a bowl. Mix well. Preheat oven to 325 °F.

Grease a baking pan. Pour mixture into the pan and sprinkle sesame seeds on top of the batter. Bake for about an hour or until cooked. Insert skewer in the middle, if it comes out clean then it's cooked. You also want the top to be slightly browned.



Let it cool before cutting into squares. Eat your heart out!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

this looks good! is it possible to steam this dessert too? or its only baked?
how about the pandan? i cant find this ingrediant where i live. Is there any substitute for it?

Anonymous said...

Hi. This cake is meant to be baked and probably will taste weird steamed.

As with fresh pandan, you can substitute it with pandan essence and some green coloring. You can't omit the pandan flavor all together as it is the essential flavor to the cake.

Mohamad Kamil said...

I will try this recipe when I had finish my important exam named SPM...