Chef Kar Delight

Year Of The Horse Delights 2026 2.2

2026/2/17 Tuesday

2.2 Year Of The Horse Delights 2026

2.2.1 Golden Malay Cake
《 Gold & Silver Full House》

黄金馬拉糕 《金銀滿屋》

Malay sponge cake is a dessert cake popular in Guangdong and Hong Kong, where it is usually served at traditional teahouses. The cake is made of lard or butter, flour, and eggs, and prepared using a bamboo steamer to develop puffiness. An entire Malay sponge cake is a huge round yellow cake, but is generally sold as slices in teahouses.

Malay sponge cake is one of the most popular cakes in Hong Kong.
The cake is commonly served during Chinese New Year, where its golden-brown color symbolizes prosperity. Its name includes the character "go" (糕), which is a homophone for 高, meaning "growth" or "advancement," further reinforcing its association with good fortune.

There are several approaches to make Malay sponge cake with different tastes. There is the traditional approach, as well as some special approaches (e.g., Brown sugar and Coconut milk flavored Malay sponge cake and Honey flavoured Malay sponge cake).
Malay sponge cake is traditionally made with levain, all-purpose flour, custard powder, milk powder, aluminium-free baking powder, baking soda solution, white sugar and eggs. Levain (also called "lao mian" in Chinese) is usually made with water, beer, and cake flour. One variant of Malay sponge cake is using brown sugar instead of white sugar. Using coconut milk to replace milk is also a variant in making Malay sponge cake. More modern innovations include honey.

Ingredients

First Day Levain:

. All purpose Flour 100g

. Water 50g

. Yeast 0.5g

Second Day Levain:

. First Day Levain

. All purpose Flour 100g

. Water 50g

. Yeast 0.5g

Third Day Levain:

. Second Day Levain 280g

. Granulated Sugar 168g

. Fresh milk 30g or milk powder 22g

. corn starch 3tbsp + pure vanilla extract 3tbsp + salt pinch, or custard powder 22g

. all purpose flour 12g

. 2 eggs or egg fluid 255g

Fourth Day:

. All mixture of Malay Sponge Cake

. Lye Water 3-4g or baking soda 3g

. Baking powder 22g

. Butter unsalted melted 92g

Preparation

1. First fermentation: Levain: All purpose Flour 100g, Water 50g and Yeast 0.5g, knead until even and leave it for 18 hours to ferment.

2. Second fermentation: Levain of First fermentation , mix with all purpose Flour. 100g, Water 50g and Yeast 0.5g, knead until even and leave it for 18 hours to ferment.

3. Break up the Levain of Second fermentation, add sugar, blend well.

4. Add flour, milk and corn starch + pure vanilla extract + salt, or custard powder.

5. Add eggs, blend well. Let it ferment for 18hours to become flour paste.

6. Add baking powder, water, Lye water, flour paste, butter to become batter.

7. Pour batter to baking pan and steam until done about half an hour under high fire.

Note: You can substitute custard powder with a mix of cornstarch (or cornflour) for thickening, plus vanilla extract and a pinch of salt for flavor, using about 1 tbsp cornstarch + 1 tsp vanilla + pinch salt for each tbsp of powder.

2.2.2 Coconut Split Pea Cake

《Rise step by step》

椰汁馬豆糕 《步步高升》

Coconut Split Pea Pudding or cake, is made of yellow split peas, coconut milk, evaporated milk, corn starch and sugar. It is a desert of Hong Kong. It is served by tea houses or restaurants. Yellow split peas look like corn kernels but it is sweeter.

Split peas are an agricultural or culinary preparation consisting of the dried, peeled and split seeds of Pisum sativum, the pea.

Yellow split peas are a nutritious, mild-tasting, and earthy legume, perfect for creamy soups, stews, Indian dal, and dips. As a high-fiber, protein-packed, and low-fat staple, they can cook in about 35–45 minutes. They are versatile in plant-based diets, often used as a thickener or meat substitute.

Ingredients

. Yellow split peas 150g

. Evaporated milk 200ml

. Coconut milk 200ml

. Water 800ml

. Granulated sugar 100g

. Corn starch 200g

Preparation

1. Soak split peas for 3 hours. Boil or steam soaked split peas for 1 hour until soft. Drain well.

2. Put corn starch in evaporated milk and mix well to make a batter.

3. Pour water in a pan and add sugar. Cook under medium heat to make syrup.

4. Add batter and stir continuously at the same time.

5. Add coconut milk, split peas, stir continuously until thickening, turn fire off.

6. Pour cooked batter to a glass container. Leave it cool down and then place it in the fridge for more than 3 hours before serving.

2.2.3 Sweet Osmanthus Water Chestnut Cake

《Succeed When Horse Arrives》

桂花馬蹄糕《馬到功成》

Water chestnut cake (馬蹄糕) is a sweet Cantonese dim sum dish made of shredded Chinese water chestnut. When served during dim sum, the cake is usually cut into square-shaped slices and pan-fried before serving. The cake is soft, but holds its shape after the frying. Sometimes the cake is made with chopped water chestnuts embedded into each square piece with the vegetable being visible. One of the main trademark characteristics of the dish is its translucent appearance.

It is one of the standard dishes found in the dim sum cuisine of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and is also available in select overseas Chinatown restaurants.

Ingredients

. Water Chestnut Flour 75g

. Water (to mix Water Chestnut Flour) 125ml

. Granulated sugar 100g

. Water (to dissolve sugar) 200ml

. Water chestnuts 4

. Dried Osmanthus or Osmanthus sugar 2 tbsp

Preparation

1. Remove skins of water chestnuts. Wash and cut into small pieces.

2. Mix water chestnut flour with water to make smooth batter. Dissolve sugar in water and stir well.

3. Mix water chestnut batter well with sugar water. Cook under low fire until solidifying and transparent. Stir constantly.

4. Quickly add water chestnuts pieces and Osmanthus to batter, mix well.