Black Glutinous Rice Chiffon Sponge & Pudding Sunflower Cupcakes

My friend requested for some pulut hitam sponge and pudding cupcakes for her daughter's 4th birthday. The little girl loves sunflowers so I made these for her :)

Details of how to make the sunflowers can be found in our Creative Baking: Chiffon Cakes book. Simply replace orange juice with Pandan water (water boiled with Pandan leaves) and use coconut oil instead of vegetable oil.

Recipe for the black glutinous rice chiffon sponge and pudding can be found in this post. But for your convenience, I will type out the ingredients enough to make 20-22 cupcakes (44x35mm size).

Recipe for black glutinous rice chiffon sponge (makes one 10x10" and 6x6" cake):
4 egg yolks
20g gula melaka, finely chopped
44g coconut oil
240g bubur pulut hitam
20g coconut cream
92g cake flour
1/8 tsp salt

6 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
60g caster sugar

Steps:
1. Set oven rack to second lowest position. Place a tray of water at base of oven (optional). Preheat oven to 140°C. Line the trays with baking paper.

2. Prepare egg yolk batter. Whisk egg yolks and gula melaka until pale and thick. Add coconut oil and whisk until well combined. Add bubur pulut hitam and coconut cream and whisk until combined. Gradually sift in cake flour, salt and charcoal powder and whisk until no trace of flour is seen.

3. Prepare meringue. In a clean metal bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Gradually add caster sugar and beat until firm peaks are formed or just about to reach stiff peaks.

4. Fold the meringue into the egg yolk batter in three additions quickly but gently. Pour batter into prepared tins. Tap the tins on the table to release trapped air bubbles.

5. Bake for 25 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

6. Use a 4cm and 5cm diameter round cookie cutter to cut out circles from the sponge cakes. Cut each circular cut-out into two as each layer is quite thick.


Pulut hitam pudding
Ingredients:
A)
240g Pandan water (boil 500ml of water with a few Pandan leaves)
20g gula melaka
15g caster sugar
40g coconut cream
3 tsp agar powder
B)
2tbs mung bean flour (hoen kueh)
40g Pandan water
C)
220g bubur pulut hitam

Steps:
1. Mix ingredients in B) in a small bowl and set aside. If you are using frozen bubur pulut hitam, make sure it is fully defrosted and at room temperature or warm.

2. Place all ingredients in A) in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Let the mixture boil for a couple of minutes while stirring continuously. This is to ensure that all the agar powder is dissolved.

3. Stir B) again and pour into A). Bring to a boil and stir continuously. Keep stirring after mixture boils again for a couple of minutes.

4. Add C) and bring to a boil, stirring continuously. Keep boiling and stirring for a couple of minutes. I must stress that you have to take time to stir and boil for a while at each mention of this step otherwise the agar and mung bean flour will not get incorporated fully and your pudding will have a grainy texture and not set properly. I learnt this the hard way with many failures along the way.

Assembly

Alternate layers of sponge and pudding in the cupcake cases, with the smaller circle nearer the base of the case.

Chill in fridge until pudding sets. In the meantime, assemble the sunflowers. Remember to brush with syrup to keep the cakes moist. Store in airtight condition in the fridge. The cake tastes better after 2-3 days of storage as the pulut hitam flavour mellows.

Birthday girl and her daddy!

With love,
Phay Shing