Featured ANTIQUE PERANAKAN KUEH-MOULD

The things you find at markets, eh?

I found this on a market-stall table piled high with all other kinds of random junk and old tatt. I recognised it immediately for what it was, and, after deciding that the price was something I could bear to part with, I bought it!



This curious, circular item, made of brass, and approx 8 inches across, is a traditional Straits-Chinese kueh mould.

A "kueh" (literally "cake" or "cookie" in Malay) is any type of small, sweet, individual, usually bite-sized dessert which is either steamed, or baked, prepared by the people of the Peranakan / Straits-Born Chinese culture.

There are loads of different kinds of kueh, developed over centuries of culinary experimentation, and range from slices to cookies, cakes to dumplings, buns, and rolls.

This particular mould is used to produce a dessert known as "Kueh Bulu", also known as "Kueh Bolu" - literally 'Feather Cake' or 'Sponge Cake'...for some reason, it's also known as "Kueh Bahulu", which literally translates as "Grandmother's Cake"...I have no idea why.

It got the name "Kueh Bulu/Bolu" because the resulting little cupcake-sized morsels are crunchy outside, but soft and squishy within...like a sponge, or a clump of feathers!

This mould dates back to the mid/late 19th century. The seller (who had no idea what this actually was, so I take what he said with a grain of salt) said it dated to around 1850, which it might well do, but there's no real way to determine that. What I do know just from looking at it, is that it's been around the block more than a few times!

Making Kueh Bulu, like all Peranakan kueh, is a real exercise in patience! Nothing about Peranakan cooking is fast, or simple!

The main ingredients are flour, cornstarch, baking-powder, and a pinch of salt, and then eggs and sugar. The flour, starch and powder are mixed and sifted, and the eggs and sugar are beaten into a foam. The wet and dry ingredients are mixed together to form the cake-batter. This is also when you can stir in your flavourings, like vanilla essence, or pandan extract, etc.

To actually BAKE the stuff, you have to swill oil or melted butter inside the mould, pour away the excess, and then heat the mould up in the oven while you make the batter. By the time you've done that, the mould is piping hot!

Take it out of the oven, fill each little cup with the batter, and then bake for 10-15 minutes, or until golden-brown.

Then you take out the pan, poke the little cakes out, and then re-lubricate, refill, and go for the next round, etc etc etc.

Most of these moulds only do 6-8 little cakes at a time (and they're TINY!! Each little cake is about 2 inches across), so to produce any decent amount, you're looking at, at least 3-4 bakings!

Between heating the mould, oiling it, and baking it, and reheating, reoiling, more baking...you're looking at 2-3 hours of work...and that's not including making the batter!

Once you've done ALL THAT WORK...you end up with this:



I haven't actually tried doing it yet (I found that image on Google), but I really want to. Unlike a lot of kueh recipes, this one is actually surprisingly simple, which is definitely NOT true of most of them!

 

good luck !

 

I'm usually pretty good when it comes to baking, so it should be fun. I just need a reason to do it, now.

I'm waiting for the next big get-together of our local Straits-Chinese cultural club, and then I can make them a batch for the potluck. That'll be in about a month's time.

 

Oohh the baked result looks like mangosteens! Yummy!!!

 

Happy baking!

 

That is right up my alley.

 

I spent the whole day asking friends for advice. Some know a lot more about the practical side than I do!!

 

I'm sure you will turn out a nice batch for the get-together. Love and patience are important. And practice makes perfect.

 

yes on the practice ....maybe make a couple dozen first....... and see how they turn out !!!

 

You definitely need a practice run. That sounds a lot like making waffles with a traditional old-school waffle iron. They stick like glue unless you know what you're doing. Besides, then you can eat the mistakes!

 

Is that similar to a sponge cake ?

 

Is that cast iron?

 

You & me both. It reminds of madeleine pans.

 

Same here, except I've never seen a cast iron madelaine pan. I didn't think Southeast Asians did much baking traditionally. Too hot. That said, Malaysia was a melting pot, so pretty much anything goes I'd imagine.

 

I have some madeline pans around here. Love the taste of those for sure.

 

They are quite easy to make.

 

They are similar to Madeleines, yes. Like miniature sponge-cakes.

I may try a practice run before the day. I've got plenty of time to do it.

And the mould is made of brass, not iron.

 

Most Indonesian sweets are made by frying or steaming, I imagine it is the same in Malaysia and Singapore. There is some baking as well, but not as much as in the Western world.

Kue bolu is also Indonesian (of course). Bolu or bolo is the Portuguese word for sponge cake.
The Portuguese were the first Europeans in SE Asia, and there is still a lot of Portuguese influence in the region. The first SE Asian Eurasians were mixed with Portuguese, and kue bolu is originally a Eurasian cake.
There were close ties between Eurasian and Peranakan cultures, because they had a similar status in colonial times, and they intermarried as well. So I am not surprised that kue bolus isn't only made by Indos (Eurasians), Indonesians and Malay(sian)s, but also by Peranakans.

Indonesia has many variations on the kue bolu, btw, but the small madeleine-like kue bolu is considered the original one.
And even though the Portuguese bolo is a sponge cake, most kue bolus are more like a chiffon cake, made with whisked egg whites.

 

@Shangas & @Any Jewelry thank you both for the history/baking lesson. I have made steam cakes before, but my oven has a steam function so I call it a cheaters way.

 

If all else fails, throw a baking pan on a lower rack with water in it. Improvised steam oven here we come.

Egg whites make total sense. It's what Jews use as a leavening agent in Passover cooking to this day. You can't use "leaven" as it's forbidden, but beaten-in air works fine for some things. It also has the advantage of working in really humid or hot climates, which might kill the effectiveness of baking powder.

Vietnamese traditional desserts are cooked or steamed too, from what I recall. The French brought some things with them which were cheerfully adopted and adapted for local conditions. (banh mi is fusion cooking!) The Portuguese are responsible for panko crumbs; they brought the idea for white bread with them when they sent missionaries to Japan. THe Japanese didn't keep the Catholicism, but steamed white bread (no crust as such) went into the lexicon.