Steamed apricot sponge
I appreciated the true challenge of having to 'eat one's cake' this afternoon, when I waited for the results of my unlikely baking aim - to make a cake using the rice cooker, with no recipe. Perhaps it's something British in me that means I can't feel truly at home until I've made a cake, even though I don't bake very often at home, in Scotland. All I knew this afternoon was that the result would have to be physically impossible (or dangerous) to ingest for us to put it in the bin. As it happens, the children gave it the thumbs up and I'm now desperately trying to remember the recipe, so that I can do it again. It went something like this:
Steamed apricot sponge
Tip white sugar into a bowl, up until the point when you think, "It surely can't be that much..." (and would normally reconsult the recipe). Pour in some peanut (or whatever is available locally) oil - resembling quarter of a block of melted Stork margarine. Beat in three eggs. Mix it all together, trying not to reflect on how unhealthy it looks, or how bad the oil smells. Add some chopped apricots, nuts or other nibbles to provide some points of interest.
Now comes the tricky bit. Guess how much flour you might need to thicken this up to a cake batter - put this in a bowl and add a decent sprinkling of baking powder. It's better to under-, than over-estimate. Gradually fold this in to the oily goo and add more from the sack if the original estimate wasn't enough. Keep adding until it looks similar to a cake mixture that turned out well in the past.
Line the baozi (steamed bread) tray with a thin piece of cotton. I used a patch of old bed-sheet (the same as the curtains we made for the loo) but muslin would be better. This stops the cake mixture running straight out through the holes. Dab the cloth with oil, to help prevent it from sticking. Steam the cake mixture for a looooong time (wash up, make lunch, eat lunch, wash up again, have a cup of coffee), taking care to top up the water so your rice cooker doesn't run dry and overheat. Don't be tempted to sprinkle extra flour on top because it looks too oily. Just let it steam. Once the top is set (no more goo), it's ready. Tip it out, peel off the bed-sheet, and slice. Spread with apricot jam or some other yummy spread. Once you've checked it tastes okay, you can leave the spread off.
Steamed apricot sponge
Tip white sugar into a bowl, up until the point when you think, "It surely can't be that much..." (and would normally reconsult the recipe). Pour in some peanut (or whatever is available locally) oil - resembling quarter of a block of melted Stork margarine. Beat in three eggs. Mix it all together, trying not to reflect on how unhealthy it looks, or how bad the oil smells. Add some chopped apricots, nuts or other nibbles to provide some points of interest.
Now comes the tricky bit. Guess how much flour you might need to thicken this up to a cake batter - put this in a bowl and add a decent sprinkling of baking powder. It's better to under-, than over-estimate. Gradually fold this in to the oily goo and add more from the sack if the original estimate wasn't enough. Keep adding until it looks similar to a cake mixture that turned out well in the past.
Line the baozi (steamed bread) tray with a thin piece of cotton. I used a patch of old bed-sheet (the same as the curtains we made for the loo) but muslin would be better. This stops the cake mixture running straight out through the holes. Dab the cloth with oil, to help prevent it from sticking. Steam the cake mixture for a looooong time (wash up, make lunch, eat lunch, wash up again, have a cup of coffee), taking care to top up the water so your rice cooker doesn't run dry and overheat. Don't be tempted to sprinkle extra flour on top because it looks too oily. Just let it steam. Once the top is set (no more goo), it's ready. Tip it out, peel off the bed-sheet, and slice. Spread with apricot jam or some other yummy spread. Once you've checked it tastes okay, you can leave the spread off.
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