Steamed pumpkin cake
Steamed pumpkin cake is a brilliant orange-gold treat made from mashed pumpkin mixed with rice flour, tapioca starch and coconut milk, then steamed in a pan. It's soft and chewy, gently sweet with pumpkin and lightly rich with coconut, and served with grated coconut it makes a wholesome snack that kids love too.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Prep
- 35 min
- Cook
- 45 min
- Rising or chilling
- 2 hr
- Total time
- 3 hr 20 min
- Method
- Steamed
Ingredients
Pumpkin batter
Grated coconut for serving
Pan prep
Instructions
Step 1
Peel the pumpkin, scoop out the seeds, cut it into medium pieces and steam over medium heat for about 20 minutes. Steamed pumpkin keeps more of its sweetness and bright orange color than boiled pumpkin. It's done when a piece mashes easily under gentle pressure from a spoon.
Step 2
Weigh out 300 g of the steamed pumpkin as your pumpkin puree, put it in a blender with 200 g coconut milk and blend until very smooth. Pumpkin blended smooth with coconut milk gives the cake a silky texture with no stringy fibers. The mixture is ready when it's as thick as a cream soup and evenly orange.
Step 3
Mix 150 g rice flour, 100 g tapioca starch, 120 g granulated sugar and a pinch salt in a bowl, pour in the pumpkin mixture and stir well, then strain through a sieve and let rest for about 20 minutes. Resting lets the sugar dissolve and the starches absorb the liquid, so the cake steams up evenly chewy. The batter is ready when it's smooth, moderately thick and flows from the whisk in a continuous ribbon.
Step 4
Bring water to a boil in the steamer, brush to taste vegetable oil inside a 20 cm round pan and set the pan in the steamer to heat for about two minutes. A hot pan sets the bottom of the cake right away so it doesn't stick. The pan is ready when steam fogs the sides.
Step 5
Stir the batter again and pour it into the pan, wrap a towel around the lid and steam over medium heat for about 35 minutes. The towel catches condensation so it doesn't drip down and pit the top of the cake. The cake is done when the top is glossy, deeper orange and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Step 6
Lift out the pan and let the cake cool naturally for about two hours before unmolding. Only once it's completely cool does it firm up enough to cut without oozing. It's ready when the top feels cool and slightly springy.
Step 7
Run a knife around the pan, turn the cake out onto a cutting board, cut it into squares or diamonds with an oiled knife, then roll the pieces in 60 g freshly grated coconut if you like. The grated coconut keeps the pieces from sticking to your fingers and adds a rich, nutty flavor. The pieces are just right when the cut sides are smooth and orange-gold and the edges stay sharp.
Equipment
- Steamer
- Round cake pan
- Blender
- Small saucepan
- Whisk
- Sieve
- Mixing bowl
- Kitchen scale
- Pastry brush
Tips
- Butternut squash or a young, dense-fleshed pumpkin makes a sweeter, less watery cake than an older, stringy pumpkin.
- For a chewier cake, increase the tapioca starch and reduce the rice flour by the same amount.
- Sprinkling a little toasted sesame salt over the grated coconut when serving makes the cake even more flavorful.
Storage
Covered tightly, the cake keeps at room temperature for the day. To keep it longer, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to three days, then steam it for a few minutes before eating to make it soft and chewy again.
Common problems and how to fix them
- The cake is mushy and didn't set after cooling.
- The pumpkin was too watery or the cake wasn't steamed long enough. Squeeze some liquid out of the pumpkin before weighing it and steam for ten more minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
- The cake is hard and has an undercooked texture.
- The batter didn't rest or the steaming heat was too high. Next time, let the batter rest for the full time and keep the heat at medium throughout steaming.
This recipe is based on the common ratios for this bake and is written entirely in our own words.
