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Posted on 6 Mar 20222 Nov 2026 by Bembum Kitchen · 2 Comments

Longevity peach buns “Shou tao bao”寿桃包

Longevity Peach Buns “Shou Tao Bao” 寿桃包 is a representation of Peaches of Immortality.
It is typically served to elders on their birthday as a cake or gift that symbolises long life and wishes of good health.

Traditionally, these buns are piled at least knee high on a tray.
I remember seeing this buns in my grandparents birthday when I was a kid; and I thought they were the cutest thing, I really loved the shape and their colour; And now when I grew up, I love eating and enjoy making them as well ☺️ .

The bun is really soft and fluffy but still a bit chewy with the creamy red bean paste filling inside; fragrant and not too sweet, just the way I like them.
In this recipe, I also will share a few tips to make this beautiful red bean paste. The method is not only faster but also produces a fragrant and flavourful filling.

And when it comes to beans; people will debates whether need or no need to soaked the beans overnight.

After testing, I found that the 1 hour soaked beans in the hot boiling water cooked just 5 minutes faster than the overnight soaked ones; So… why bother soak overnight?

Another differences is after cooking; 1 hour soaked beans absorb more water than the overnight soaked ones

ADDING SALT IN THE BEGINNING
We will add some salt to the beans soaking liquid. By adding salt at the beginning of cooking create more tender results.
A bit of salt is also used as a flavour enhancer, increase sweetness and umami; so instead of increasing the amount of sugar, add a pinch of salt to enhance the sweetness first.

DON’T THROW THE SOAKING LIQUID!
After soaked the beans in hot boiling water for 1 hour, there’s no need to rinse or change the water Coz the beans cooked in the soaking liquid were much more flavourful, had a prettier, darker colour, and retained their texture better.

Then using food processor or immersion blender; grind the cooked beans into a fine paste and add some sugar to it.
In general, the beans to sugar ratio for is 1 to 1 (an equal amount). This sugar will preserve the paste for a longer time.
I don’t like it too sweet; so in this recipe I have already reduced the sugar to suit my taste bud; kindly add or reduce the amount of sugar according to your taste.

This Red Bean Paste paste will continue to thicken as it cools

NO NEED TO REST THE BUNS DOUGH
Once the dough is ready, you can use it immediately. There’s no need to rest the dough because by proofed it twice will cause a lot of bumps or air bubbles on the surface, we don’t want that happened

And to create the pink shades of the buns, there’s no better way than these old school method; using a toothbrush and tea strainer.
It’s actually an old school method that I’ve learned when I was in primary school 😄.

FOR BEAUTIFUL EVEN COLOUR, DON’T RUSH THIS PART
Dip the toothbrush to the colouring mixture and then tap off the excess onto a kitchen towel; else it might drops and ruin the look of your buns.
Hold the strainer upside down 2 cm above the bun and then gently brush the toothbrush over the back of the strainer in a circular motion.
You can repeat the same process a few times until you get the desire colour shades.

I highly recommend to brush each bun one by one for an even colour

Some people attach the leaf first before they brush the pink shades. I prefer the other way around; so the pink food colouring won’t stain the leaves.

What do you think; is it cute enough to mimicking the shape of the peach? 🥲

And when you proof them, make sure that you give some space in between the buns so they won’t stick one another after fermentation or steaming.
Please pay attention, proofing time depends on room temperature, it may take longer or may not take that long.

After fermentation, the proofed buns should feel lighter and rise about 50% of their original size
And if you gently press it with your finger, the dough will make indentation and be able to slowly bounce back into shape.

ONLY WELL-PROOFED BUNS ARE FLUFFY
Make sure that you don’t overproof the buns; over-proofed bun is likely to have a very open crumb structure.
Due to the development of excess CO2 during the proofing stage, the gluten ends up being over-stretched, and unable to hold up the internal structure of the buns.
You might just have a deflated buns with very coarse and crumbly texture.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT STEAMER
Bamboo steamer is the best choice in my opinion; because their lids don’t collect condensation
If you are using metal or plastic steamer, make sure that you cover the lid with a piece of cloth so the condensation during steaming won’t ruin the look of your buns.

DO NOT OPEN THE LID DIRECTLY AFTER STEAMING
After steaming, turn off the heat and do not open the lid immediately; make sure that you leave the lid on for another 3 minutes; the buns might deflate without the proper resting.

After 3 minutes…😱 fluffy peach, plump and beautiful birthday buns.

They are so lovely…😳😘

I hope these buns will light up faces and brings happiness and joy for your loved ones; Wishing them always be healthy and live a long life.

LONGEVITY PEACH BUNS
Yield: 5 buns
Active time: 2 hours
Total time: 5 hours

INGREDIENTS
Red Bean Paste:

60 g Red Bean
1/8 tsp Salt
1000 ml Water
40 g Granulated Sugar
10 g Vegetable Oil
5 g Glutinous Rice Flour
2 tbs Water

Buns Dough:

85 g Cold Milk
1/2 tsp Instant yeast
15 g Caster Sugar
150 g All Purpose Flour
4 g Vegetable Oil

Colouring

Food Colouring (pink and green)
Toothbrush
Tea Strainer

INSTRUCTIONS
Red Bean Paste

Rinse the beans and transfer it to a large pot.
Add in the salt and water – bring it to a boil; then take it off from the heat and let it rest for 1 hour.
After 1 hour, don’t forget to take the lid off – put it back to the stove (no need to rinse or change the water) and continue cooking on medium low heat until the beans are tender and creamy.
*The water will evaporate during cooking, adding more water as necessary to keep beans submerged.
After for about 1 ½ hours, pick 1 bean and mash it with your fingers; if it’s mashed easily, it’s done.
Transfer beans to a food processor along with their cooking liquid (you can use regular or immersion blender).
If you find it too dry, kindly add 1-2 Tbsp of water as needed to help the spinning process.
Run the food processor until the beans become a fine paste.
Pour the fine paste into the non-stick pan.
On medium-low heat, add in the sugar along with oil and glutinous rice flour that has been diluted with some water.
Mix it really well and keep stirring for about 10-15 minutes until the mixture start comes together and doesn’t stick to the pan.
Take it off from the heat (don’t worry if it’s still a bit loose, this paste will continue to thicken as it cools.
Spread onto a flat baking sheet; cover it with a cling wrap to prevent from drying out, open a little gap so the steam can escape and let it cool completely.
*Make sure the paste cool completely before you fill it into buns dough.

Buns Dough

In large bowl, mix the cold milk along with instant yeast and sugar. Stir well until the sugar is completely dissolved and there’s no granules visible.
Add in the flour and mix everything together, gather all small crumbs until it creates a dough ball.
Pour in the vegetable oil.
It seems too many oil at first; collect all the oil in the bowl, and then continue kneading on a work surface for about 1 minute.
When you feel that the oil start to absorb completely; roll the dough into a long shape (moving the hand up and down as you roll to lengthen it).
Then take left and right ends and fold it to the centre of the dough (repeat the same process 2 times). The dough gradually will become really smooth.
*Do not overwork, this kneading process will only takes for about 3 minutes.
Once the dough is ready, you can use it immediately. There’s no need to rest the dough because by proofed it twice will cause a lot of bumps or air bubbles on the surface, we don’t want that happened.

Fill & Shape

Spare 20 grams of the dough for the peach leaves and divide the rest into 5 equal pieces (about 47 g each).
*Please do remember always cover the buns with a plastic wrap to prevent from drying out.
Take 1 portions of the dough, press into a thick disk.
Using rolling pin, roll back and forth onto rectangular shape, fold into 2 equal pieces, turn it 90° angle and repeat the same process 2 times.
Then roll the dough into a square shape, grab the dough with my left hand and rolling pin on the other hand.
Using rolling pin roll up and back flatten the edges of the dough while turn the dough a little by little (middle part should be slightly thick).
Place 1 portion of the red bean paste filling to the centre of the dough; gather the sides to enclose the bun and pinch to seal.
To shape the buns into peaches
– Flip the filled bun so the seam side is down and shape it to a smooth oval ball.
– Using your palms form a peak on the top.
– To make the seam of the peach, gently press the bench scraper in to create a line along the arch; pinch the top, mimicking the shape of the peach
Cover the filled buns with a plastic wrap and repeat this process with the rest of the dough and fillings.
For the bun leaves
Colour the 20 grams left over dough with green food colouring and divide it into 10 equal pieces (2 gr each).
Take one portion of the green dough and shape it into a cone.
Using bend scraper, flatten the cone. Form a line in the centre and create the leaf vein patterns tilts towards the cone.

Colour & Decorate

To create the pink shades of the buns, simply mix some water with a few drops of pink food colouring.
Dip the toothbrush to the colouring mixture; tap off the excess onto a kitchen towel.
Hold the strainer upside down 2 cm above the bun; then gently brush the toothbrush over the back of the strainer in a circular motion (repeat the same process until you get the desire colour shades).
Attach the leaves onto each peach bun with a dab of water (a pair for one bun) and place each bun onto a piece of parchment paper.

Proof & Steam

Place the finished buns in the steamer; make sure that you give some space in between the buns so they won’t stick one another after fermentation or steaming.
Cover and allow to rise for about 15-45 minutes.
*Please pay attention, proofing time depends on room temperature, it may take longer or may not take that long (in the meantime you can start preheat your steamer).
After fermentation, the proofed buns should feel lighter and rise about 50% of their original size.
If you gently press it with your finger, the dough will make indentation and be able to slowly bounce back into shape.
Over medium high heat; steam the buns for about 10-12 minutes.
*If you are using metal or plastic steamer, make sure that you cover the lid with a piece of cloth so the condensation during steaming won’t ruin the look of your buns
After 10 minutes, take the steamer off from the heat; do not open the lid and let it sit for another 3 minutes; serve.

NOTES

If you’re not using the red bean paste right away, you can transfer the red bean paste in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Before freezing, divide the red bean paste into small portions so that you can be flexible on how much to use each time. When you’re ready to use, you can defrost in the fridge overnight.
The buns can be stored in the fridge for 5 days, or frozen for a month.
I highly recommend to reheat the buns in the steamer; place the frozen peach buns on a plate.
Put the plate on top of the trivet in the steamer and let them steam over high heat for 10 minutes or until heated through.
If you want to reheat in the microwave; place the steamed buns on a plate.
Wet some paper towel, wring out excess water and place this on top of the steamed buns and microwave on high for 30 seconds; add the time as needed until heated through.

Posted on 5 Jan 20222 Nov 2026 by Bembum Kitchen

Princess Pandan Rose Mousse Cake

Hey Guys, how do you enjoy your afternoon tea?
My perfect afternoon tea is to have a cup of Cappucinno and a piece of my favorite buttercream layer cake.

A layered of soft cotton cake with rose mousse filling in between, covered and decorate with a silky smooth Italian Meringue Buttercream…here you will find a fanciful realm of enchanting sweet treats in these vintage style “Pandanus Rose Cake”.

I always fall in love with the vintage style buttercream cake with the piped ruffles and borders, it reminds me of my 1980’s birthday cake.

This cake will be bake in a water bath. The benefit of water bath is that it will moderate the baking temperature and the cake texture will be very moist too.

For the flavouring, you can use pandanus paste. I found this natural pandan powder is really great for baking.

It’s adds natural green coloring and fresh pandanus aroma.

The cake is light and moist and not to sweet…

Paired with rose mouse filling inside so tasty and flavorful…

And this buttercream also so soft melts in your mouth…

For the mousse filling, I highly suggest to use this natural rose water rather than artificial one, you really can tell the difference.

I love to called it English Style Princess Birthday Cake ☺️ ! That enticing smell makes your mouth water.

Hm..mm this cake makes me so happy and I feel like a princess 👸

Enjoy your afternoon tea with this fluffy, fragrant Pandan Rose Layer Cake, I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I did….

PANDAN ROSE MOUSSE CAKE
Yield: One 6 Inch Square Cake
Active time: 1 1/2 hours
Total time: 3 hours

INGREDIENTS
Rose Mousse Filling

2/3 teaspoon Unflavoured Gelatine
20 grams Water
75 grams White Baking Chocolate (Compound or Couverture)
30 grams Milk
160 grams Heavy Cream
5 grams Icing Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Beetroot Powder or Pink Food Colouring
5 drops Pure Rose Water

Pandan Sponge Cake

85 grams All-Purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon Double Acting Baking Powder
60 grams Salted Butter
60 grams Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
100 grams Egg Yolks
1 teaspoon Pandan Powder or Pandan Paste
140 grams Egg Whites
1/2 teaspoon Vinegar or Lemon Juice
60 grams Caster Sugar

Italian Meringue Buttercream

160 grams Egg Whites
300 grams Granulated Sugar
180 grams Water
150 grams Unsalted Butter
420 grams Shortening
1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
Green Food Colouring

INSTRUCTIONS
Rose Mousse Filling

Bloom the gelatine by sprinkling it over cold water and let it stand for 5 minutes.
Melt the white chocolate.
Heat the bloomed gelatine and the milk in the microwave or on the stove (DO NOT BOIL).
Add the hot milk into the melted chocolate, whisk vigorously to a smooth paste.
Mix in the melted bloomed gelatine and whisk again until smooth.
In another bowl, whip the heavy cream with the icing sugar until they reach medium firm peaks (don’t over whip it, else it will first turn grainy and then to butter).
Take about 1/3 of the whipped cream to lighten the chocolate mixture, then gently fold in the remaining cream.
Add some beetroot powder and a few drops of rose water, mix until well combined.
Store in the fridge for at least 2 hours to firm up.

Pandan Sponge Cake

Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Line your pan with parchment paper (make sure you have enough parchment overhang to cover up the entire inside of the baking pan).
Sift the flour and baking powder, set aside.
For the Egg Yolk Batter
Melt the butter until start to bubbly, take it off from the heat, add 2/3 of the flour mixture and keep stirring until smooth.
Add the milk and vanilla extract, mix well
Add the egg yolk and mix
Pour in the last portion of flour mixture and mix until really smooth
Add pandan powder, mix well; Set aside.
For the Meringue
In a large bowl (make sure your bowl is clean and grease free) whisk egg white until frothy, add the vinegar and continue to beat until foamy; gradually add in the sugar and whisk until firm peaks formed (the peak will hold and fold back slightly when you turn your whisk upside down).
Add 1/3 of meringue to the egg yolk batter, mix well;
And then pour the yolk batter to the rest meringue, fold gently in one circular motion until well incorporated.
To Bake
Pour the batter into a prepared pan (slowly and from about 30 cm high so that air bubbles burst as they flow out of bowl)
Tap the pan against worktop 3-4 times to remove air bubbles.
Wrap the bottom part of the pan with aluminium foil so that the water doesn’t get into the pan.
And for a Water Bath; place the cake pan within a larger pan and pour hot water into the outer pan until it comes up to a level of 1.5cm – 2 cm.
Place the whole thing in the oven and bake them in the preheated oven for 70 minutes.
After 70 minutes, turn off the oven. Remove the water bath and return the cake into switched off oven to continue baking for another 10 minutes.
Once it’s done, drop the pan at a height of 10 cm onto a table top (this will prevent cake from sinking). Unmould immediately, peel off the baking paper and re invert onto a rack to cool completely.

Italian Meringue Buttercream

Place egg whites inside the stainless steel mixing bowl with the whisk attachment (make sure your bowl is clean and grease free).
For the Sugar Syrup
Pour the sugar and water in a large heavy bottom sauce pot; cook over high heat until the sugar dissolved and reaches 240°F.
Always extra precautions while working with hot sugar syrups!
For the Meringue
As soon as the sugar mixture reached 240° F remove it from the heat; turn on the mixer to medium high speed to get the egg whites frothy and gaining volume.
Once the egg whites are starting to get white in color, slowly and carefully pour the hot sugar syrup into the whipping egg whites (try to avoid splashing the syrup onto the whisk attachment or you will be making spun sugar as it hits the sides of the metal bowl).
Continue whipping until the mixture has cooled completely (mine takes for about 15 minutes) before you add the butter and shortening or you will have Butter soup!
Once the meringue is cool to the touch, slowly add the butter and shortening, add in vanilla extract (the mixture will look as if it’s broken and curdled at first NO NEED to be panic this is natural, it will come back together eventually, just continue mixing until the mixture is smooth).
Colour the buttercream with a bit of green food colouring.

ASSEMBLY THE CAKE

Cut the cake into 3 even layers.
Pour the mouse and buttercream into a pipping bag with a number 12 tip.
Place the first layer on a cake board; pipe a double dam of buttercream all away around the cake (this dam is going to help the mousse filling from seeping out).
Pipe the rose mousse in the center (you want to make sure that your filling is at the same height over your dam buttercream, so when you stack the layer it continues to stay even all the way up).
Place the second layer, repeat the same process with the second layer.
Place the last layer, cover it all with the buttercream. Decorate according to your preference.

NOTES

For the cake; try to use room temperature egg whites, this will yield more volume.
Over beating meringue may cause the cake to crack, while under beating will cause the cake to collapse or it may not rise much.
Mousse made with whipped cream, so it must be kept refrigerated at all times. Store in an airtight container for up to 8 days.
To store Italian Meringue Buttercream; 2 weeks in the fridge, 2 months in the freezer.
To Defrost Buttercream
Take it out several hours before you need it and let it get to room temperature.
Then put it on the mixer on low speed and let it mix (it will look curdled at first, don’t be alarmed this is natural, it will come back together eventually). You can turn the speed up to medium high and it will mix out smooth.
To store the final layer cake; Store in the fridge (in an airtight container) for up to 3 days.

Posted on 10 Dec 20212 Nov 2026 by Bembum Kitchen

Doodle Icebox Cookies

Hi Guys, have you ever tried making icebox cookies? The cookie dough is shaped into a specific design, freeze until firm, then sliced and baked.

Yes you need to plan well for these and it is a little complicated task, but it’s a lot of fun making these! They also not overly sweet, hold their shape and bake up perfect every single time.

This shortening based cookie recipe is easy to make, it doesn’t require any dough chilling, easy to work with (as it’s melting point is higher than butter), so it doesn’t soften as quickly while you handle it.

I use superwhite powder from Sugarflair for white bright colour

You will need some food colouring to dye your cookie dough. Try to use natural dyes as much as possible such as cocoa powder for brown, beetroot for pink or matcha powder for green colour.

Make sure that you use a very sharp knife

And while this dough doesn’t technically have to be chilled, chilling it can make it easier to cut out more intricate shapes and transfer them to your baking sheet.

Slicing the first piece is always so exciting! I get a little nervous, too 😥.
Look at that awwwwww!!! 🤣😱🤗

Don’t forget to chill the cookies in the fridge for about 30 minutes before baking to maintain the details, and don’t forget rotating your pans halfway through baking.
When bake, leave at least 1-inch of spare in between the cookies, the dough won’t spread but will puff a bit.

Don’t throw the dough scraps, you can definitely reuse it. Roll and cut them with your favorite cookie cutter, I love to shape them with this tiny flower shape tart mould as a decoration.

The baking time will vary depending on the size, bake the cookies until the the bottom edges are just lightly browned. We don’t want overcooked the cookies as the colour detail is really crucial.
When take out from the oven,cool them on the baking sheets for 5 to 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

And for the details and outline, I choose royal icing coz it sets a little bit harder and it’s pretty simple.
Royal icing is all about consistency, so depending on how you want to decorate yours, for example, this cookies I will go with the thicker consistency for more of lining things out.

I suggest to use no. 1 round noozle for this delicate details and you can use small damp brush to correct the details.

Arh…SUPER cute!

Around these holiday season, is there anything more iconic than these cute doodle icebox cookies?

You can make many people smile with these cookies!
They are perfect for casual gifts for your friends. Wrap them into a beautiful box or maybe in a homemade bag, like this.

The cookies are crispy on the outside, not overly sweet and not too hard in the inside.
Hmm.mmm so yummy !!!
These cookie may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

I hope that you enjoy the recipe and have some beautiful moments with your family in this lovely season!
💗 LOVE YOU ALL💞

DOODLE ICEBOX COOKIE
Yield: 24 pieces
Active time: 3 1/2 hours
Total time: 6 hours

🌿 Cookie Dough
170 g Shortening
200 g Granulated Sugar
50 g Whole Eggs
2 tbs Milk
1/2 tsp Almond Extract
380 g All-Purpose Flour
2 tsp Double Acting Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
Food Colouring (Pink, Turquoise, White, Brown)

🌿 Royal Icing
120 g Icing Sugar
3 tsp Milk
1 tsp Light Corn Syrup or Honey
1/4 tsp Almond Extract
Food Colouring (Black, Pink, Turquoise)

INSTRUCTIONS
🌿 Cookie Dough

Cream the shortening and sugar together until well combined for about 3 minutes (there are gonna be much fluffier when you’re done).
Add in the eggs, along with milk and extract. Mix until all that liquid is well incorporated into the butter and sugar.
Add the sifted dry ingredients; the all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well (the mixture will be a little bit crumbly at first, but keep mixing and it will come together just fine). Note: To get a flakey and snappy cookies, don’t overwork this mixture; you’re kind of just incorporating the flour.
This cookie dough is ready to use (it doesn’t require any dough chilling), colour your cookie dough and to shape it ~ kindly follow instructions according to the video.
Store the completed cookies in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
Cut the frozen cookies for about 5 mm thick (make sure that you use a very sharp knife), place it on a baking try and then store them in the fridge for 30 minutes before baking (to maintain the details).
Bake them in the preheated 160°C oven (baking time will vary depending on the size); and don’t forget rotating your pans halfway through baking.
* Bake the cookies until the the bottom edges are just lightly browned (don’t overcooked the cookies as the colour detail is really crucial).
When take out from the oven,cool them on the baking sheets for 5 to 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

🌿 Royal Icing

Simply combine all the ingredients together. You do wanna work a little bit quickly with royal icing coz it will sets hard or else cover it with clingwrap.
*Note: If it’s too runny, add some icing sugar and if it’s too thick, add the amount of milk 1/4 teaspoon at a time until you reach the desire consistency.
Colour it, transfer to a piping bag and then draw the outline . Use a damp brush to correct the details.

🌿 Notes
Baked cookies may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Make sure to let the icing fully harden before stacking the cookies. It also freeze well for up to 3 months, thaw to room temperature before serving.

Posted on 9 Nov 20212 Nov 2026 by Bembum Kitchen

Char Siu Bao (BBQ Pork Filled Buns)

Char Siu Bao 叉烧包 considered as one of the “Four Heavenly Kings of Dim Sum” in China. Compared to regular Chinese buns, Char Siu Bao has distinctly different fragrance and texture and also sweeter taste.

This steamed buns is one of the essential Dim Sum that really brings my childhood memories.
The Soft, fluffy steamed buns filled with Chinese BBQ pork (Char Siu Pork) and the slurry sweet and savoury Char Siu Sauce.

Unlike the other common recipe that needs 2-3 days, this recipe only takes less than 24 hours to make it.
The following diagram is a guide so you can get the idea how’s the process and what we need to prepare to make these beautiful buns.

Diagram the Process of Char Siu Bao Making

It’s very important to choose the right flour and leavening agent, otherwise the buns won’t rise well and white bright in colour

This recipe has been through so many trial and error. After some testing and tweaking,
I found that the key to a snowy white buns is this unbleached cake flour,

Unbleached Cake Flour that I used in the recipe

a good brand of double acting baking powder,

Make sure that you use “Double Acting Baking Powder”

and also special leavening agent called Ammonium Bicarbonate that helps the buns crack to the tops.

Be careful when adding this type of leavening, make sure that you measure it correctly; too much Ammonia will cause an extremely intense unpleasant ammonium smell in the dough

This chemical compound releases a large amount of carbon dioxide gas when heated
forcing the dough to crack open

Some recipes state that it’s crucial to use natural sourdough; but when testing, I found that instant yeast is easier with similar results.

The filling of these buns consist of Char Siu Pork and slurry Char Siu Sauce.
Some people called it a slurry, some people call it a sauce, but whatever you called it, it’s the star of the show; and it’s what makes Char Siu Bao, “Char Siu Bao”.

One of the things that makes Char Siu Pork so tasty is a rich Marinade Sauce.
You can use store bought but I found creating your own marinade sauce makes the pork richer, smokier and more aromatic.

Some people use either shoulder, butt or neck part; it really depends on personal preference.
I’m prefer pork belly because it was the best part, they are more juicy and less likely to dry out.

I use baking pan and cooling rack on top for roasting
Line baking pan with some grease proof paper to prevent the sugar residue stick to the pan

There are also a few ways to roasting the pork. I found the simple and easy way to cook your pork is to roast it in the oven. Just get creative – the air should be able to circulate underneath the pork.

The steamed foreskin is just soft and smooth, and slightly cracks to reveal the barbecue stuffing, sending out the smell of barbecue.

The filling is luscious, sweet and delicious; juicy and sweet bbq pork is wrapped in soft and pillowy Chinese steamed buns.

These looks really addictive with such a flavourful filling nestled in the soft, pillowy bun. You won’t be able to forget this feeling and will crave it all the time.
I hope that you enjoy the recipe!

CHAR SIU BAO
Yield: 6 pieces
Active time: 4 hours
Total time: 19-20 hours

INGREDIENTS
Mother Dough

25 g Unbleached Cake Flour
1/6 tsp Instant Yeast
20 g Water

Barberque Pork

250-300 g Pork Belly
2 tbs Vegetable Oil
2 tbs Ginger (Minced)
4 tbs Green Onion (Chopped)
300 ml Water
2 tbs Rice Wine
1½ tbs Light Soy Sauce
1 tsp Dark Soy Sauce
5 Star Anise
1 Cinnamon Stick
2 Cardamom Pods
6 Whole Cloves
2 Liqorice Root
1 Luo Han Guo (Monk Fruit)

1/4 tsp Ginger Powder
25 g Rock Sugar
1/2 tbs Liquid from Red Bean Curd
1½ tbs Red Miso Paste
1/2 tsp Red Yeast Rice Powder or Paprika Powder
1½ tbs Honey
Additional Light Soy Sauce for Marinate

Basting Sauce
Equal part honey and marinade sauce

Starter Dough

24 g Mother Dough
72 g Unbleached Cake Flour
42 g Water

Slurry Sauce (for the filling)

2 tbs Vegetable Oil
1/4 Onion (Chopped)
2 Scallion (Chopped)
40 ml Water
1/2 tbs Light Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp Dark Soy Sauce
1/4 tsp Red Miso Paste
3/4 tbs Sweet Soy Sauce
1 ½ tbs Caster Sugar
1/8 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sesame Oil
1/2 tbs Corn Starch
1/2 tbs Unbleached Cake Flour
1/2 tbs Potato Starch
30 ml Water

Final Dough

All Starter Dough (138 g)
50 g Caster Sugar
10 g Water
1/5 tsp Ammonium Bicarbonate
1/5 tsp Baking Soda
80 g Unbleached Cake Flour
1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar
1⅔ tsp Double Acting Baking Powder
6 g Shortening

INSTRUCTIONS
DAY 1 (7:00 p.m.)

Mother Dough

Simply mix the Unbleached Cake Flour, instant yeast and water; stir until just combined.
Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap, store it at warm place (68-72°F/ 20-22°C), and then let the dough ferment for 12 hours.

Marinade Sauce

Fry the ginger and green onion with some vegetable oil for about one to two minutes until they’re fragrant but definitely not burnt.
Pour in the water along with rice wine, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and all the herbs and spices. Bring the mixture to boil, let it simmer until the mixture reduce to about half cup.
Strain the mixture to remove all the herbs and spices; pour the liquid back into the saucepan.
Add the rest ingredients into the liquid; ginger powder, rock sugar, liquid from red bean curd, red miso paste and red yeast rice powder.
Cook over medium low heat until the sugar melted, once the sugar dissolved, turn off the heat, add in the honey, and stir until well combined.
Pour the sauce into a jar or container and then store it in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

Marinate the Pork

Wash the pork, wipe off all the excess water with a paper towel, poke both sides of the pork with meat tenderizer (you can use either fork or a few skewers, that’s also works well). The holes will help the marinade sauce seep into the pork.
Place the pork belly into a ziplog bag or a container, add 3 parts marinade sauce and 1 part light soy sauce.
Seal the bag and do a little massage to make sure the marinade sauce is even and then store it in the fridge for at least 4 hours (max 12 hours).

DAY 2 (7:00 a.m.)
Starter Dough
After 12 hours, our mother dough is ready, you can see so many small bubbles and smell a bit sour.
Please note that for 1 batch of the recipe, we only use 24 g of the mother dough, you can throw the rest.

Add the flour and water to the 24 g of the mother dough, mix until it forms a dough ball.
Grease the bowl with a little bit of vegetable oil, place the dough inside the bowl, Cover with a cling wrap and then store it back to the warm place (68-72°F/ 20-22°C) for about 6-8 hours.

Roast the Pork

Preheat the oven to 130°C .
Line baking pan with some grease proof paper (to prevent the sugar residue stick to the pan), place a cooling rack on top of the baking pan.
Just get creative – the air should be able to circulate underneath the pork.
Place the pork on a roasting tray and then roast it for 1 hour
Keep flipping and basting every in 15 minutes (the basting sauce was simply equal parts honey and Marinade Sauce).
Once it’s done, brush the pork one more time with vegetable oil and let it rest for at least 30 minutes before cutting

Slurry Sauce (For the Filling)

To begin, we have to make the scallion oil;
In a pan combine vegetable oil, onion and scallion on medium heat; fry for about one to two minutes until fragrant and then take out the onion and scallion.
Don’t throw the delicious scallion and onion, you can add later to your dishes.
Pour in some water into the scallion oil along with light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, red miso paste, sweet soy sauce, sugar, salt and sesame oil (let it simmer for 1 minute).
To thicken the sauce; in a small bowl combine corn starch, cake flour, potato flour and water (make sure that you mix it really well before you pour it to the mixture ).
Pour thickening into the simmering mixture, continue stirring until the mixture is thicken and a bit translucent.
Take it off from the heat, pour the mixture into a bowl, cover it with a cling wrap and then keep it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up (preferably 2 hours).

Combine the Filling
The ratio for the filling is equal part Char Siu Pork and slurry Char Siu Sauce.
After 2 hours in the fridge the consistency of slurry Char Siu Sauce turned similar to jelly.
Thinly slice the pork and remove the tough skin (you can keep some for your delicious Char Siu Rice). Coarsely chop the rest, combine it with slurry sauce and mix it really well.
Cover with a cling wrap and store this pork filling in the fridge while waiting for the final dough.

DAY 2 (1:00 P.M.)
Final Dough
After for about 6 hours you can see the starter dough has a lot of bubbles and it’s doubling in size.
This bubbly sponge texture is carbon dioxide produced by the yeast which makes the buns very soft.

Add the sugar and water into the starter dough; mix well.
After a couple minutes of mixing, the sugar will ‘melt’ into the dough and it should be more liquid-y.
Add baking soda and Ammonium Bicarbonate (this chemical compound releases a large amount of carbon dioxide gas when heated forcing the dough to crack open).
Please note: Be careful when adding this type of leavening, make sure that you measure it correctly. 1/5 tsp is about less than ¼ tsp (too much Ammonia will cause an extremely intense unpleasant ammonium smell in the dough).
Mix for about 1-2 minutes (it’s really important that ammonium and baking soda is completely mixed with the dough); “Take your time, don’t rush this part”.
Add the sifted Unbleached Cake Flour, Cream of Tartar and Baking Powder; mix well.
Gather all small crumb, be careful not to over-knead the dough, you’re just looking for the dough to come together and stop sticking.
Finally, add in the shortening and knead until just combined
Cover the dough with a cling wrap for about 5 minutes to relax the gluten and don’t forget to preheat your steamer.

Wrapping the Bao

Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces (it’s about 50 g each).
Take 1 portion of the dough, press into a thick disc.
Grab the dough with your left hand and rolling pin on the other hand, using rolling pin roll up and back, flatten the edges of the dough while turn the dough a little by little (flatten the edges of the dough to a 10 cm circle); the center part should be slightly thick.
Add about 30 gr of the pork filling to the center of the dough.
Pinch one side of the dough and then pleat the dough around the filling in a circular motion while using your left hand thumb lightly pressing the filling downwards.
Once you get to the end, press with force and pinch at the top of the bun to make sure everything is well sealed “kindly watch the video for more details“.
Place each buns onto an individual greaseproof paper (always cover the buns with a plastic wrap to prevent the skin from dying out).

Steaming
Place the buns into the preheated steamer;
Over high heat, steam the buns immediately for about 10-12 minutes.
Take it off from the heat and serve immediately.

NOTES

I highly recommend to use bamboo steamer because it doesn’t collect condensation, so you never have to worry about water dripping onto your buns.
If you’re using metal or plastic steamers, I suggest to cover the lid with a piece of cloth, to absorb the condensation during steaming; otherwise the dropping water could affect the look of your buns.
Char Siu Bao crave high heat, NEVER ever open the steamer lid during the steaming process else it won’t rise perfectly.
Some people claims that add vinegar to the steaming water will make buns whiter,
I personally didn’t find that method is useful.
The best taste and texture of Char Siu Bao, serve them straight out of the baskets while they’re steaming hot.
If there are any left, put them in an airtight container/bag and store in the fridge for up to 3 days or 1 month in the freezer.
To reheat; Steam for 5-10 minutes or microwave for 1-2 minute.

Posted on 10 Sep 20212 Nov 2026 by Bembum Kitchen

Puppy Love Deco Chiffon Cake

Chiffon cakes are typically baked in standard tubed pans.
But did you know…
You can also bake them in all sorts of exciting shapes or sizes and give them patterns or decorations created using the same cake batter as well.

These “Puppy Love Deco Chiffon Cakes” are pretty enough to stand alone as the centrepiece at a party and a perfect surprise gift for your loves one.

You can print this A4 template as a size guide

Template in an actual cake size is very important as a size guidelines, especially when cutting the cake details
Another thing that you will need to prepare is the pan or mould which as much as possible represents the shape of each puppies details. It can be baked in a variety of moulds, such as glass, metal, silicone and paper cones.

Various pans that I used for this project

For example, I will use some egg shape pans to create the mouth, feet, hands and ears.

I also need shallow baking pans for baking the thin layer used for decorating purpose.
The size of the shallow pan that we used is depend on the decoration required, for example if very little decoration required then the smaller pan is used.

Another pans that we use here is 5-inch, 6 cm deep round pan for the head and also 750 ml stainless steel cup for the body (wonder mold doll cake which is similar to this works well too).

Make sure that you prepare all the pans in advance and preheat the oven so the batter won’t sit too long, allowing air bubbles to escape and deteriorate.

For meringue batter, I highly recommend to wipe the bowl and beater attachment with lemon juice of vinegar to make sure that it’s clean and grease free as the presence of grease may affect the foaming properties of the egg whites.

Once it’s baked, it’s important to invert the pan immediately on the cooling rack layered with greaseproof paper and let them cool completely.
Moulds with a bigger volume are preferably inverted during the cooling stage so that gravity can help pull the cake to its maximum height before the cake structure stabilizes.
On the other hand smaller moulds, inverting does not make a difference to the height of the cooled cake.

Pockey stick and bubble tea straw as buffer to support the head

And because of the structure of chiffon cake not as strong as any other type of cake, it was a good idea if we can add some buffer around the body part to support the weight of the Puppie’s head.
how about some delicious pockey stick? since it was edible and sturdy enough (use pockey part which is covered with chocolate).

Another important tip, when it comes to stacking cakes I always use bubble tea straw in the middle as a centre pole to helps stabilize the cake structure (wooden chopstick works well too).

Always cover each part of chiffon cakes with plastic wrap during the process to prevent from drying out.

OH.. MY lovely Puppy !!!

I’m sure that people will fall in love once they see him!

The cake is so fluffy, low in sugar and very tasty, these are healthy treats suitable for people of all ages. It’s a very light and simple, yet delicious cake

I hope that once you recreating these recipe, you will have more confidence to create your own stunning design.
Thank you so much for staying with me…
LOVE YOU ALL!!

PUPPY LOVE DECO CHIFFON CAKE
Yield: 1 Deco Chiffon Cake (Width: 17 cm, Height: 25 cm)
Active time: 2 1/2 hours
Total time: 4 1/2 hours

INGREDIENTS
Egg Yolk Batter:

50 grams Egg Yolks
25 grams Caster Sugar
100 grams Vegetable Oil
100 grams Water
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
150 grams Cake Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt

Meringue Batter:

350 grams Egg Whites
1/2 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
100 grams Castor Sugar
Food Colouring (soft pink, brown, black, yellow)

Pans/ Moulds:

6 pieces Egg Pans (@50 ml)
2 Rectangular Pan (22 cm x 10 cm) & (25 cm x 7,5 cm)
1 Round Pan (12 cm diameter, 6 cm height)
1 Wonder Pan (750 ml)

Edible Glue

3 tablespoons Icing Sugar
1 teaspoon Water

INSTRUCTIONS
Pans

Grease the bottom part of the 2 rectangular pan with some butter and layered with parchment paper for easy release.
Don’t grease the Egg, Round and Wonder pan.

Cake Batter

Preheat the oven to 150° C.
Egg Yolks Batter
In a medium bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale, thick and creamy (ribbon stage). Add in the oil, water and vanilla extract, mix well.
Gradually add sifted flour along with salt, whisking until just evenly mixed, set aside.
Meringue Batter
Wipe the bowl and beater attachment with lemon juice of vinegar to make sure that it’s clean and grease free (the presence of grease may affect the foaming properties of the egg whites).
Pour in the egg whites along with cream of tartar to the bowl, using electric hand mixer whisk at high speed until foamy. Add in half of the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.
Then add in the remaining sugar, continue whisking until it reach a stiff peaks.
Fold the meringue into the egg yolk batter in 3 batches, gently fold it with hand whisk in one direction.
Mix after each addition until no white streaks visible and well combined.
Make sure there’s no egg yolk mixture left at the bottom of the bowl.
To Colour and Bake
FIRST BATCH (wonder and round pans);
Draw the white part of the puppies body and head with some plain batter (please refer to the template) for about 1/2 cm thick (make sure it’s an even thickness) and bake them immediately in the preheated 150 °C oven for about 3 minutes.
*I suggest to place the pan vertically while baking this, to make sure the batter stays in place.
SECOND BATCH (2 rectangular pans);
– Divide 22 cm x 10 cm rectangular pan into 2 equal sections, place soft pink and plain batter side by side for about 25 grams each.
– Divide 25 cm x 7,5 cm rectangular pan into 3 equal sections, place soft brown, dark brown and black batter side by side for about 20 grams each.
Tap the pans a few times to flatten the surface and then bake them immediately in the preheated 150°C oven for about 15-20 minutes or until it doesn’t stick to your hands when you touch it.
* Once it baked, invert sheet cakes immediately onto a cooling rack layered with greaseproof paper and let it cool completely.
THIRD BATCH (6 egg, wonder and round pans)
Fill 3 egg shape pans with plain batter and another 3 with dark brown batter for about 20 grams each.
Colour the rest of the batter with dark brown colour and divide them onto wonder and round pan.I suggest to fill the pan almost to the top rather than ¾ full so we can achieve full round head and body shapes.
Tap the pan a bit to remove air bubbles and bake them in the preheated 150°C oven (please note the bigger the pan, the longer it will takes)
– 25 minutes for egg pans
– 35 minutes for round pan
– 40 minutes for wonder pan, reduce the heat to 140°C and continue baking for another 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
* Once it’s baked, invert them immediately on the cooling rack layered with greaseproof paper and let them cool completely.

Edible Glue
Simply mix icing sugar with water and mix until well combined.

To Unmold the Cake
Gently pull cake away from sides of pan to loosen the cake and peel greaseproof paper from the sheet cake.
* Always cover each part of chiffon cakes with plastic wrap during the process to prevent from drying out.

DETAILS & ASSEMBLY
Kindly follow template and instructions in the video (for the body buffer, use pockey stick which is covered with chocolate otherwise it will be mushy)

NOTES

To colour the cake; try to use natural food colouring such as cocoa powder, charcoal or matcha powder as much as possible (diluted with a bit of hot water before adding to the batter).
Cream of tartar is used for stabilising egg whites, it also helps to increase the volume of meringue.
*You can substitute cream of tartar with lemon juice or vinegar (replace every ½ tsp cream of tartar with 1 tsp lemon juice or vinegar).
Chiffon cakes can be baked in a variety of moulds, such as glass, metal, silicone and paper cones.
*Never use non-stick baking pan for chiffon cakes.
Never grease the pan (except pans for baking the thin layer used for decorating purpose) coz this type of cake needs to cling to the sides of the pan to enable rising during baking.
Moulds with a bigger volume are preferably inverted during the cooling stage so that gravity can help pull the cake to its maximum height before the cake structure stabilizes”
Oven mays vary, if the chiffon cake browns, hiding the colour/pattern, try reducing the oven temperature by 10°C each time until you get the right temperature.
To store
Always keep chiffon cakes well wrapped up or in airtight container to prevent them from drying out.
Store in airtight containers, chiffon cakes will keep up to 2 days at room temperature or up to 5 days refrigerated.

Posted on 9 Sep 20212 Nov 2026 by Bembum Kitchen

Light Banana Layer Cake

“I still have a hard time resisting a piece of this first thing in the morning…“
Unlike the traditional dense banana bread, this one is so soft and fluffy, almost a cake-like texture.

Banana layer cake filled with creamy cream cheese frosting, they are also not overly sweet, if you are banana lover, this one really is a must-try.

When it comes to baking with bananas, most people like to use soft, overripe bananas with peels that are covered in brown spots are because they’re sweet and have a strong banana flavor.
I personally don’t like to use overripe banana because it will add the sweetness to the cake. Ripe bananas with a bit of dark spots just perfect for me.

For this cake I wanted an airy, light, fluffy cake and not something resembling the texture of banana bread. I’m telling you, it does not disappoint!

It’s everything you love about cream cheese frosting– tangy and sweet, but not as tooth-decaying sweet as buttercream. Creamy, light, silky, smooth…. Yep, all of the above

Look! This is such a delicious cake, it’s light and moist.

You can serve it right away or refrigerate it for at least half hour for a cleaner cut.

Beautiful texture layer cake, intense banana flavour with a luscious homemade creamy frosting, it’s really a wonderful cake and disappeared in no time.
Happy baking!!

LIGHT BANANA LAYER CAKE
Yield: 25 cm x 16 cm pan
Active time: 1 hours
Total time: 2 1/2 hours

INGREDIENTS
Banana Cake:

60 grams Unsalted Butter (softened)
30 grams Vegetable Oil
100 grams Granulated Sugar
50 grams Light Brown Sugar
75 grams Eggs
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
185 grams Mashed Ripe Bananas
1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
215 grams All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Salt
175 grams Butermilk

Cream Cheese Frosting:

120 grams Unsalted Butter
120 grams Cream Cheese
30 grams Icing Sugar

INSTRUCTIONS
Banana Cake

Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Grease the pan and line it with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt, set aside.
Place ripe bananas in a bowl, add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, mash it until smooth.
In another bowl, combine the butter, half portion of vegetable oil, granulated sugar and light brown sugar. Whip on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Stir in the remaining vegetable oil and mix. Blend in the eggs and Vanilla extract. Add mashed banana, mix well
Slowly add the flour mixture alternating with buttermilk in 3 separate batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture; mixing just until combined after each addition.
Once the batter is well combined, pour it into prepared pans, spread to an even layer.
Bake it in the preheated 160 C oven for about 35 – 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
Take it off from the pan, peel the parchment paper allow it to cool completely on the cooling rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting

In a medium bowl whip the cream cheese a while until it a bit fluffy.
Add in the softened butter, and beat until creamy and well combined.
Pour in the icing sugar and vanilla extract, continue mixing until smooth and no lumps remain.
Put the frosting into the piping bag with a start tip and store it in the fridge for at least half hour so it will firm up a bit

ASSEMBLY
Cut the cake into 2 equal long pieces. Place the first layer onto long platter, pipe a layer of frosting on top of itand then place another layer on top of the frosting. Clean up the sides a bit, decorate the top of the layer cake with the remaining frosting.

NOTES

You can use store-bought buttermilk or simply make your homemade buttermilk by mixing 170 grams of milk with 3/4 tablespoon of vinegar, let it sit 5 minutes before adding to the batter.
If you use overripe banana, it will add the sweetness to the cake.
To store: 3 days in the fridge, 1 month in the freezer;
Please note that the texture of the cake may change slightly once thawed. Allow to rest at room temperature about 10 – 30 minutes before enjoying.

Posted on 8 Sep 20212 Nov 2026 by Bembum Kitchen

Marshmallow Cupcakes Candy

Soft, fluffy, pillowy and an entertainingly bouncy…
Homemade marshmallows may take a little time to prepare, but I’m sure once you spoil yourself with the homemade version, you may never go back to store-bought again.

These beautiful “Marshmallow Cupcakes Candy” are perfect for a birthday party, valentines day, baby shower, or even a wedding.

Thing that you will need to prepare in advance

And because marshmallow sets really quickly, it’s a good idea if we can prepare all things that we need in advance.
You can use hand mixer to make it, however stand mixer is the best choice in my opinion, it’s safer since we are working with a really hot sugar syrup.

Candy thermometer is important in making marshmallow candy, to check the correct temperature, or if you have infrared gun this also works well.

Why use silicone moulds?
Because it’s so much easier to remove your marshmallow from the moulds, any shape of silicone moulds works great.
Don’t forget to grease the silicone moulds with either baking spray, butter or oil for easy release.
I only dusted the moulds lightly with coating mixture, it just works great for me.

How to prevent the batter sets really quickly?
While you pour your marshmallow batter into the mould, we need to keep the batter stays liquid so it can fill up the entire space inside the mould.
I found that a double boiler method helps a lot.
So what I usually do is I place the bowl over the hot boiling water pot, by doing this, the steam stays trapped between the two pots will heats the marshmallow and liquefy the mixture.

The consistency of marshmallow when pouring into the mould need to be liquid

How to unmold?
Dust the work surface with generous amount of the coating mixture, then carefully peel the cupcake mould.

You might need to apply some coating mixure on your hands as well

Pop the pretty marshmallow out of the molds and give them a good dusting of coating mixture to cover completely.

Then gently pick up the marshmallow, pat the surface to remove excess coating.
If you still feel a bit too much coating, you can just brush it away especially on the folding sections.

Oh.. it’s really feels good, it’s bouncy and the texture so soft and pillowy.
It’s much creamier in texture and you can customize this recipe to make any flavor marshmallow you would like .
I do hope that you have a chance to make this, coz there are really nothing more pleasurable than bitting into a homemade marshmallow.

MARSHMALLOW CUPCAKES CANDY
Yield: 5 medium cupcakes
Active time: 1 hours
Total time: 3 hours

INGREDIENTS
Coating:

100 gr Icing Sugar
70 gr Corn Flour

Marshmallow Batter:

16 gr Gelatine Powder
80 gr Cold Water
100 gr Granulated Sugar
60 gr Corn Syrup
40 gr Cold Water
60 gr Corn Syrup
Blue and Red Food Colouring

INSTRUCTIONS
Coating
Simply sift the icing sugar with some corn flour.

Prepare the Mould
Grease the cupcake silicone moulds with either baking spray, butter or oil for easy release (I just dusted the moulds lightly with coating mixture, it works great for me).

Marshmallow Batter

To bloom gelatine
Sprinkle the gelatine powder over 80 grams of cold water, give a little stir and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
Microwave the bloomed gelatine for 30 seconds so it will be liquid, then pour it into the mixer along with the first batch of the corn syrup.
Put your mixer on low speed (Kitchen Aid speed 2) just to keep it moving while waiting for the sugar syrup.
In a medium sauce pan, combine the sugar, second batch of corn syrup and 40 grams of cold water (you don’t need to stir it, the corn syrup will helps the sugar from crystallising).
Place your candy thermometer and then cook over medium heat until it reach 116°C.
When the sugar syrup reach 116°C, take it off from the heat, slowly and carefully drizzle the sugar syrup down the sides of the mixing bowl. Make sure that it doesn’t touch the whisk.
Once you add in all your sugar syrup, turn the mixer to medium speed (Kitchen Aid speed 6) and set your timer for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, speed up the mixer to medium high (Kitchen Aid speed 8) for another 2 minutes.
Divide the mixture into 2 equal portions, colour 1 batch with blue and another one with pink.
Pop the pink mixture into a piping bag with a star nozzle.
If the blue colour mixture start to sets hard before you piping it;
Try to use double boiler method by placing the blue colour mixture bowl over the hot boiling water pot (the steam stays trapped between the two pots will heats the marshmallow and liquefy the mixture, keep stirring until you get the desired consistency.
Pour the blue mixture into a piping bag, divide onto 5 cavities of the moulds evenly. Then working quickly, pipe the pink swirls mixture on top of the blue mixture.
Sprinkle some sugar decoration or dragees before the marshmallow sets hard.
Let the marshmallow sit uncovered at room temperature for at least 2 hours before coating.
To Coat
Using stainer, dust the work surface with generous amount of coating mixture (you might need to apply some on your hands as well).
Carefully peel the cupcake mould, pop out the marshmallow onto the work surface, then give more coating mixture on top of the marshmallow.
Gently pick up the marshmallow, pat the surface to remove excess coating.
If you still feel a bit too much coating, you can use silicone brush just brush it away, especially on the folding sections.

NOTES

You can substitute corn syrup with either glucose, golden syrup or even honey if you want.
It’s really important not to boil the sugar syrup any further than 116°C, otherwise you will end up with chewing sugar syrup that’s really hard to work with.
Weather does affect marshmallow making, the ideal weather is cooler, drier conditions.
If you make this on a rainy day, they tend to take a little bit longer to set unless you can place them in an air conditioner room to speed up the process.
If kept in a dry place at cool room temperature, they should keep for about a month in an airtight container.

Posted on 28 Jun 20212 Nov 2026 by Bembum Kitchen

Homemade Assorted Biscuits|Inspired by Kong Guan

Hey Guys, today we are making these “Homemade Assorted Biscuits”.

As a 90s kid, Khong Guan was my favourite brand for snacks. A huge tins of assorted biscuits which contain at least 5 varieties of biscuits with plain and sugar icing swirl in the middle.
I don’t know if children nowadays still take Khong Guan, but for my generation and before me, this is what our childhood was made of.

My personal favourite are their cream sandwiches. These bit-sized little biscuits are addictive and are really tasty, specially the creamy chocolate flavour. I grew up with them and it’s still as tasty as before.

The cream biscuits are buttery, and slightly sweet, without being excessively oily like many of the other biscuits on the market.

As I grew up and learned baking, I still love them, but I try to avoid consuming any artificial food flavours as much as I can.

So I was thinking of making my own healthier version of assorted biscuits. With this recipe, you can make 6 flavours with 1 dough.
The flavours are endless, feel free to make any flavour you like, just remember that you need to combine the flavour ingredient with hot milk first before you mix it into the dough.

You can create any shape you want, these are some cookie cutter collection that I had.
The round and square brown colour vintage style cookie cutter with embossing words in the middle (I bought in Daiso) are my favourite, it’s really similar to the real Kong Guan biscuits.

I am using 3 mm thickness ring for the rolling pin. Try not to roll more than 4 mm thick as the dough will be rise up while baking.

It’s not necesarry to spare a lot of space in between the biscuits, coz the dough doesn’t tends to spread while baking

Look how beautiful this vintage biscuits!

And please note that always bake equally sized biscuits together to make sure they are cook in the same time.
If you mix different sizes, the small ones are already cooked when the larger ones are still raw in the middle.

Some people like to have them just plain without any icing. I personally love to fill them with some creamy icing as a sandwich biscuits to bring back some memories of my childhood days.

You can use small spatula to apply the filling, I found that using piping bag is easier for me, so I can reach the edge of the biscuit.

No need to be so perfect, and if you have a huge sweet tooth, you can add a little bit more icing and vice versa.

I like to apply huge filling for my chocolate sandwich biscuits because it’s so… yummy…

Some matcha flavours for green tea lovers? The bitterness from the green tea powder perfectly balance the sweetness of the icing sugar.

I love coffee so much, specialy with this adorable Rilakkuma cutter

And if you have a cute cookie cutter it will be even more perfect!

Gets bored with sweet and bitter flavours? Add some fresh sour fruity flavour to compliment the biscuits.

Blue Pea Almond make the biscuits more interesting!

Last and the most important; create 1 flavour that makes people curious, your biscuit box will be so much fun!

Place them in individual cupcake case and store in an airtight jar or maybe a vintage box.

My favourite way to eat them was to bite off the biscuit before the icing sets hard so the icing melts in my mouth.
It’s really light in texture, crunchy, not too sweet, heavenly assorted sandwich biscuits! I’m sure your kids are gonna love them so much!

Looking for special gift for someone? These homemade biscuit box works best!!
I hope that you will enjoy the recipe, Love You Guys!

HOMEMADE ASSSORTED BISCUITS
Yield: 18 pieces sandwich biscuits
Active time: 1 hours
Total time: 2 hours

INGREDIENTS
Biscuit Dough:

260 grams All-Purpose Flour
A pinch of Salt Less than
1/2 teaspoon of Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
60 grams Unsalted Butter
150 grams Condensed Milk
4 tablespoon Milk (hot)
Food Colouring and Flavouring

Creamy Icing Filling:

100 grams Canned Butter
125 grams Icing Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Food Colouring and Flavouring

INSTRUCTIONS
Biscuit Dough

In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients (flour, salt and baking soda).
Add in the unsalted butter, rub in with your fingers until the mixture looks like fine crumbs.
Pour in the condensed milk, stir a while with a spatula, then using your hand continue kneading, gather all the small crumbs until the dough comes together and form a smooth ball (do not over mixed or it will end up with a tough biscuits).
Divide the dough into 6 equal portions (78 gr each), always cover the dough with a plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry up.
To create flavour variations
I suggest working on the dough one flavour at a time so the dough won’t sit to long and becomes greasy.
– Vanilla: add 1 portion of the dough with 2 teaspoon of hot milk, mix well.
– Chocolate: diluted 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder with hot milk, mix it with 1 portion of the dough.
– Matcha: diluted 1/2 teaspoon of Matcha Powder with hot milk, mix it with 1 portion of the dough. – Coffee: diluted 1 teaspoon of instant coffee with hot milk, mix it with 1 portion of the dough.
– Raspberry: diluted a bit of red food colouring with hot milk, mix it with 1 portion of the dough.
– Almond: diluted 1/4 teaspoon of blue pea powder with hot milk, mix it with 1 portion of the dough.
To roll the dough
To maintain each shapes make sure that every pieces cut on top on their own greaseproof paper that will be bake later.
The dough is quite sticky, I suggest to place the dough in between greaseproof paper so in won’t stick to the rolling pin.
Using 3 mm thickness ring for the rolling pin, roll the dough and cut it with cookie cutter.
* Try not to roll more than 4 mm thick as the dough will be rise while baking.
It’s not necesarry to spare a lot of space in between the biscuits, coz the dough doesn’t tends to spread while baking.
Bake them in the preheated 160 C oven for about 10-12 minutes, depending on size or until golden brown around the edges.
Take it off from the heat and transfer to a rack until cooled completely.

Creamy Icing Filling

Simply combine the canned butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract. Mix them until completely smooth.
Divide into 6 equal portions (40 gr each), add in the extracts or flavour powder:
– Cocoa: add 2 tsp cocoa powder to 1 portions of icing
– Matcha: add 1 tsp matcha powder to 1 portions of icing
– Coffee: diluted 1/2 tsp of instant coffee, add in with 1 tsp of cocoa powder to 1 portion of icing.
– Raspberry: add 1/2 tsp of raspberry powder to 1 portion of icing
– Almond: add 1/4 tsp of blue pea powder and 1/2 tsp of almond extract to 1 portion of icing.

Assembly
Sandwich the plain biscuits with the icing filling and vice versa, place it in an airtight jar, Let it sets hard for at least 2 hours before eating.

NOTES

Always bake equally sized biscuits together to make sure they are cook in the same time.
If you mix different sizes, the small ones are already cooked when the larger ones are still raw in the middle.
Don’t re-roll dough more than 2 times or it will become tough.
Make sure that you store the biscuits in an airtight jar or container, so the crunchiness can last longer.
For the filling; you can substitute canned butter with either margarine, shortening or ghee if you like.
Stored properly, biscuits should last for up to 2 week at room temperature.

Posted on 25 May 20212 Nov 2026 by Bembum Kitchen

Sumikko Gurashi Mochi Browniesicle

Hey Guys, today we are making these “Sumikko Gurashi Mochi Browniesicle”. Adorable chocolatey fudgy chewy brownie on a stick.

They are the perfect blend of “Japanese Butter Rice Cake” with “Classic Brownies”, crispy on the outside and ooey-gooey mochi-licious on the inside.
They look just like traditional brownie but a lot less sweet than normal brownies.

It’s important to use glutinous rice flour (or Mochiko — sweet glutinous rice flour) for these brownies. It does not contain gluten and gives us the chewy, sticky mochi texture that we want.

These brownies come together quickly, paired with melted and modelling chocolate, pack a serious chocolate punch!

The exterior is similar to Brownie, but the interior is chewy like Mochi

Look! It has a crackly shiny crust, crispy edges and also a rich chocolate flavour and a chewy texture. It is the perfect blend of brownie and mochi.

And when still hot, they are more sticky and difficult to cut, so make sure the brownies cool completely before cutting.

Then simply insert regular popsicle stick into the base of the brownie, cover them with melted dark chocolate and then decorate each character with modelling chocolate.
I love modelling chocolate so much as they are really flexible mouldable delicious clay and there’s no special food colouring require to color the chocolate.

It’s not necessary to use expensive Couverture Chocolate, I found a good dark and white compound chocolate (or candy melts) works best for texture and still tastes pretty good.

I will create my favorite 9 characters: 5 larger pieces for the main characters “Sumikko”, 3 smaller side characters “Minikko” and 1 piece for lovely Mount Fuji “Yama”.
It can be any design or character you want… The sky is the limit!

And can you imagine, what do you get when Mochi and Chocolate Brownies get together???
I’m sure after you tasted it, you may never want to go back to eating plain fudge brownie ever again!

They are a perfect gift, dessert or snack for when you get the nighttime munchies, and make sure you pour yourself a really nice glass of cold milk or hot coffee. Because you can’t have brownies without milk or coffee, just like cookies.

Very Chocolatey Ooey-Gooey Mochi-licious on the inside

I hope that you give this recipe a try , it’s really fun, so tasty and I’m sure you are gonna love them.
For all the chocolate lovers out there, enjoy the recipe and happy baking!
Love You All!!

SUMIKKO GURASHI MOCHI BROWNIESICLE
Yield: 9 pieces (8-inch Square Pan)
Active time: 3 hours
Total time: 4 hours

INGREDIENTS
White Modelling Chocolate:

300 gr White Chocolate Compound or White Candy Melts
70 gr Corn Syrup
Food Colouring

Mochi Brownies:

35 gr Unsalted Butter
190 gr Milk
35 gr Vegetable Oil
125 gr Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
30 gr Eggs
150 gr Glutinous Rice Flour
20 gr Cocoa Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/8 teaspoon Salt

INSTRUCTIONS
Modeling Chocolate

Melt the chocolate in the microwave or a double boiler (let it cool to the touch). Add the corn syrup, stir just until it turns into a thick, smooth paste.
Pick up the dough as soon as you can easily handle it and knead it over the bowl (knead out as much oil as possible).
Pat the surface of the dough with some paper towel to sop up the oil (pat the dough quickly because the dough is quite sticky at this stage, if the paper sits too long it will get stuck in it).
Once patted dry, wrap it tightly in plastic. Store in an airtight container.
Allow the dough to sit 8-10 hours at room temperature or at least 1 hour in the fridge to set faster.

Mochi Brownies

Preheat the oven to 180° C, grease and line pan with parchment paper.
Place the unsalted butter and milk in small pan, cook over medium low heat until the butter melted. Take it off from the heat and pour it into a bowl.
Add in the oil, sugar and vanilla extract, mix until all the sugar dissolved and well combine.
Allow to cool slightly before you add the egg yolks (we don’t want it turned into scramble eggs).
In another bowl combine all the dry ingredients, mix well.
Pour in milk mixture onto the dry ingredients, do not over mix, whisk until just combined and no lumps remain.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan (the batter will be on the thinner side).
Tap few times to remove air bubbles and then bake for about 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted to the center comes out clean.
Take it off from the heat, remove it from the pan, peel the parchment paper and let them cool completely on a cooling rack.

Decorate

Cut mochi brownie according to the template.
Insert regular popsicle stick into the base of the brownie until it’s about almost to the top.
Dip them into a melted dark chocolate, tap a bit to get off any excess, stand these brownies up in a block of Styrofoam until the chocolate is completely hardened.
Colour modelling chocolate as needed and start decorate the browniesicle (kindly follow video instructions)

NOTES

When still hot mochi brownies are more sticky and difficult to cut, so make sure it cool completely before cutting.
Remember when making or working with modelling chocolate are to never overheat and never overwork the mixture when it’s warm. On extremely hot days have a shelf in the freezer set aside so you can pop the piece/pieces you are working on in the freezer for a few minutes to firm up before you continue to work on it.
There is no special food colouring required to colour Modeling Chocolate.
Modeling Chocolate already has liquid in it (corn syrup) so adding more won’t hurt. I like to use regular gel food colours like Americolor.
Mochi browniesicle serve freshly made.
To store; 2 days at room temperature, 3 days in the fridge or freezer for up to 1 month.
Please note; after 2 days in the fridge or 1 day in the freezer, they will lose the chewiness and the texture will becomes like normal brownie.

Posted on 4 May 20212 Nov 2026 by Bembum Kitchen · 2 Comments

Quick and Easy Nerikiri Wagashi

Hey Guys, today we are making these beautiful Japanese dessert “Nerikiri Wagashi”. The word of wagashi refer to Japanese traditional sweet which are delightful tea treats eaten across Japan.

Compare to the other type, I found that Nerikiri is the most artistic and interesting wagashi that meticulously hand-carved.

The outside layer Nerikiri dough made by combining white bean paste called Shiro-An with the soft mochi dough called Gyuhi.

By adding Gyuhi, it adds a smooth chewy texture to it. A very moldable malleable type of paste that can be design into various shapes.

And while you can easily buy red bean paste in Japanese or Asian grocery stores, premade white bean paste almost impossible to find outside of Japan.

It’s actually quite simple to make from fresh Lima or Navy beans, but that kind of beans are also hard to find and the process does take some time.

In this recipe, I will show you how to make Quick and Easy Nerikiri dough using Cannellini Canned Beans.
With this method you can skip a few step of making fresh white bean paste from scratch, the process will be faster and even simpler.

It won’t be as white as the authentic fresh Nerikiri Dough, the colour will be slightly beige, but still taste really good.

We will be use back side of flour sifter to separate the skin from the bean paste, but if you don’t have it on hand, just use regular strainer. It will be harder and more time consuming, but still works well.

Look! The bean paste is so soft and creamy with slightly beige in colour.

You can choose to color the Shiro-An or Nerikiri dough with either natural colors like powders made from the vibrant red beetroot, cocoa powder and matcha or even food colouring

Whenever I make Nerikiri I try to use natural food colouring as much as I can. It’s not just because healthier, yet the fragrance and flavour also makes your sweets more appetising and delightful to enjoy.

And for the tools, there are specific traditional tools used in shaping the Nerikiri.
This wooden triangle stick is one of the most common wagashi tools that are not easy to come by. It has 3 different shapes in one stick and cost around 3000 to 4000 yen.

I personally a fan of the plastic fondant or clay modelling tools as they are cheaper and easier to find. Compare to triangle stick, they even have so many different shapes that allow us to create more various forms.

Each piece of Nerikiri are unique and has their own names; A cherry blossom, fireworks, chrysanthemum, papple pear.

It’s an art form that serves meaningful purposes and traditions of the Japanese culture.

They are delicate and beautiful, SO MUCH! that you may actually find it hard to eat in the end.
I’m usually keeping my homemade nerikiri in my freezer to show off to all my family before I finally decide to enjoy them with my tea!

Even though nerikiri are not your everyday snacks, They are perfect for the festive seasons as gifts.

A box of 10 edible art pieces can brighten up anyone’s day.

And don’t forget, once we finished we got to enjoy some matcha green tea with the elegant sweets we had made.

Nerikiri being slightly sweeter than other typical Japanese traditional sweets.
It’s perfectly complement the matcha, it’s balance the sweetness with a little bit bitterness of the tea creating a harmonious flavour palette that enhances the already amazing tea ceremony experience.

The texture is really soft, it’s much more firm, not too chewy like dango and you can really taste the white bean paste.

It’s very light, much softer than the typical red bean.

I hope that you will love the recipe, take your time to finish this process nicely, enjoy the art of beautiful Nerikiri!

QUICK AND EASY NERIKIRI WAGASHI
Yield: 10-12 pieces (about 55-60 grams each)
Active time: 3 hours
Total time: 3 1/2 hours

INGREDIENTS

Shiro-An (White Bean Paste):

960 grams Cannellini Canned Beans (4 cans)
200 grams Granulated Sugar

Gyuhi (Soft Mochi Dough):

32 grams Glutinous Rice Flour
44 grams Water

Food Colouring

INSTRUCTIONS
Shiro-An (White Bean Paste)

Strain and place Cannellini Beans in a large heatproof bowl, then pour enough of the boiling water to cover the beans for about 1-inch.
Soak the beans for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a fine-mesh strainer to drain.
Rinse the beans under cold running water and drain.
*Soaking and rinsing purpose is to remove some of the beany smell and taste.
To mash the beans
Set the flour sifter upside down on top of a flat tray, using spatula or rice spoon press the beans against the walls of the sifter to separate the skin from the bean paste.
Continue to smash and push the beans against the sifter in a side to side motion until you have pressed all the beans through the mesh. A lot of skins will be left behind on the top of the sifter, these can be discarded.
*You can use regular strainer to do this.
Place the bean paste onto heavy bottomed non-stick pan, add in the sugar, cook over medium heat stirring constantly until all the sugar melted.
It will be wet at first as the sugar melts, keep stirring until it gets drier.
*I took about 50 minutes to cook this, if you have bigger pan that will be a good option coz in larger surface, the water will evaporate faster, so you can shorten the cooking process.
When the dough starts to dry, lower the heat while keep stirring so it doesn’t gets burn.
The dough is done when it’s forming a thick paste and you can see a few dry doughs left on the bottom and sides of the pan.
At this point, you should be able to make a lasting indentation in the bean paste with your finger and the paste should not stick to your hands. If it still very sticky, cook for about 5 or 10 minutes longer.
* Important Tip: Make sure that you remove enough water out of Shiro-An before you mix it with the Gyuhi coz if it still contains too much water while mix it with Gyuhi, the final Nerikiri dough will become watery, too soft, hard to shape, and there’s no turning back.
Take it off from the heat and spread the Shiro-An inside the pan to cool completely (some moisture will evaporate while doing this).
*Please note, any dough or bean paste or wagashi should not be exposed to air too long, coz if it dries too much, it will gets hard and it won’t be easy to moistened or softened.
Once it cools down at room temperature, spare the 200 grams of Shiro-An for the filling (cover in a plastic wrap) and keep the rest for Nerikiri Dough.

Nerikiri Dough

To make the Gyuhi (Soft Mochi Dough)
In a small pan, combine the glutinous rice flour and water. Mix until no lumps remain.
Cook over medium low heat, keep stirring until the mixture becomes a bit transparent, sticky and thick, remove from the heat and let it cool a bit.
To combine Shiro-An and Gyuhi
The ratio of Shiro-An and Gyuhi should be 10 by 1; for example if I have 500 grams of Shiro-An, I need around 50 grams of Gyuhi.

Cut the Gyuhi into small pieces and place them into the Shiro-An, mix well until uniform in texture.
Squish the dough together with your hands for about 2 minutes until the mixture is soft and pliable (the dough should not stick to your finger too much).

Transfer the dough onto a clean cotton cloth, using your hands fold and knead the dough inside the cloth (repeat this process a few times for about 1 to 2 minutes).

Then pull and tear the dough into small pieces, place them inside the cotton cloth, let them rest for 1 minute.
After 1 minute, gather all small pieces together and knead again for 1 minute (you will notice that the dough will become smooth and really soft). Immediately cover the dough in a plastic wrap.

Proceed with colouring, shaping and moulding according to the video.
*Please note 1 portion Nerikiri will need 20 grams of Shiro-An (white bean paste) filling and 35 grams of Nerikiri Dough.

NOTES

Nerikiri dough and Shiro-An can be made ahead of time, tightly sealed and frozen up to 1 month or refrigerate for up to 4 days. It can be easily reheated until it’s pliable again and ready to use.
I highly recommend to divide Nerikiri Dough into each serving (35 gr each), wrap them individually with a plastic wrap and then store them in the freezer (in an airtight container) to use later.
When making Nerikiri, always prepare some cooked glutinous rice flour (cook in the pan for 5 minutes) and vegetable oil to prevent stickiness.
*If you feel the dough a bit soft and sticky, add a little bit of cooked glutinous rice flour or you can apply a little bit of vegetable oil on your palm and the tools to prevent stickiness.
It’s completely up to you to decide how you want the wagashi to turn out. Kindly color and flavor your Nerikiri Dough and Shiro-An filling according to your preference.
I like to use natural food colouring for Nerikiri because besides it gives beautiful colours, the fragrance and flavour makes your sweets more delightful to enjoy.
To store Nerikiri; fridge for up to 5 days and 1 month in the freezer.
To defrost
Whenever you need want to make several “Nerikiri Wagashi”, take a few portions out from the freezer, thaw them on the counter at room temperature. Don’t open the plastic wrap while defrost, press the dough once in a time until you can feel that it soft and pliable again. Unwrap the dough, knead a while then you can use them.