Pumpkin Ma Lai Gou （南瓜马来糕）

Ma Lai Gou is a Cantonese dessert. It sounds very fancy, but the method is very simple. If you master the skills, you can make it successfully in one go.

Last time, I shared the method of making brown sugar Ma Lai Gou, which is quite overwhelming. This pumpkin Ma Lai Gou is also relatively simple to make. There is no need to knead the dough throughout the process. It only requires a few steps of mixing and steaming.

This pumpkin Ma Lai Gou is fragrant, soft, chewy, and nutritious, and it is so delicious that you can’t stop eating it. What distinguishes Pumpkin Ma Lai Gou (MLG) from traditional Fat Gou or Huat Kueh (发糕)then?

This pumpkin MLG is like pumpkin steamed cake(发糕), except that part of the flour is replaced with tapioca starch. Add tapioca starch to the ingredients will make the cake more elastic and chewier. The texture of the pumpkin MLG is as soft as a sponge and chewier than that of the traditional Fat Gou.

I am using a 28cm x 20cm x 5cm rectangular gratin dish. You can use an 8” square or round pan as well. I fermented the batter in an oven with a glass of hot water beside the dough. The steam and heat from the hot water will create a warm and steamy environment for the batter.

I normally made in a day ahead and just keep it on the table. The cake doesn't steam back the next day and still tastes soft. You can make more of this dessert one day ahead and serve it as breakfast.

INGREDIENTS

300g pumpkin puree

350g water

100g sugar

1 tsp yeast

250g all-purpose flour

150g tapioca starch

½ tsp baking powder

1 tbsp vegetable oil

METHOD

1.Combine the pumpkin puree, water, and sugar in a bowl. Mix it until all is well combined. Sift through with a strainer.

2. Add in the yeast, whisk until well combined. Add in the flour and tapioca starch, whisk until all well incorporated. Sift the batter to prevent flour lumps. Cover it up. Let it ferment for 2 hours in an oven or until it doubles in size.

3. Add in the baking powder and vegetable oil, stir it well and pour the batter in a greased steaming dish. Slightly tapped the pan to get rid of the excess bubbles. Let it ferment for another 20 minutes.

4. Fill a wok with water and place over high heat. When the water is boiling, place the batter into the wok and steam for 30 minutes at high heat.

5. Remove the pumpkin Ma Lai Gou from the wok. Wait until the cake slightly cools, use a spatula to loosen the cake then remove it from the steaming pan and cut into small pieces and serve.

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