Bembum Kithcen

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.

Posted on 27 Mar 20212 Nov 2026 by Bembum Kitchen

Neapolitan Mochi Ice Cream

Hi Guys, today we are making these “Neapolitan Mochi Ice Cream”. It’s a soft sticky chewy sweet rice dough with an ice cream filling inside.
It’s been my all time favorite dessert since I was 15^th, and you’ll be surprise to see how Kids love it so much.

These popular Japanese dessert is fairly easy to make at home. The famous brand that you can purchase in Japan is Lotte brand “Yukimi Daifuku”.

NO-CHURN Homemade Ice Cream without Eggs, Whipped Cream or Condensed Milk

Most of people use store bought ice cream to save time.
I personally love to make my own No-Churn ice cream for the fillings. Delicious creamy ice cream without any eggs, whipped cream nor condensed milk; and you can have 2 ice cream flavours in 1 go; The yummy chocolate flavour and vanilla almond to represent the traditional Neapolitan taste.

And YES, it’s always Shiratanako or Mochiko flour for making the best mochi dough. But for most of people is really hard to find them specially in Asian grocery stores and online.
That’s why I decided to substitute it with glutinous rice flour; there will be a difference in texture, but still taste great.

I don’t recommend to store the mochi dough in the fridge to speed up the cooling process, coz it will leads to condensation. The moisture will trap inside the dough and ends with sticky wet dough surface, it will be troublesome- hard to handle.

The texture of the soft mochi so memorable and it can also be flavoured as a complement to the ice cream filling. It is quite chewy and sticky, so make sure that you have enough corn or potato starch to help manage the stickiness.

I loved the soft and chewy texture of this refreshing treats.
Is there any food happier and cuter than mochi? It’s subtly sweet and a pillowy-soft chew.
You can also add a few drops of food coloring to the mochi dough or natural food dyes, the sky’s really the limit.

This is only a basic ice cream mochi recipe, waiting to be dressed up however you like. Add about a teaspoon of matcha powder to make green tea mochi, or a flavored extract to the wet ingredients to flavor it to your liking.

Chocolatey Mochi with Chocolate Ice Cream Filling

The ice cream is creamy, not too soft and not overly sweet; and the chewy mochi itself not too sticky or floury in flavor.

Vanilla Mochi with Vanilla Almond Ice Cream Filling

You can do as many flavours and colours as you want.
Imagine your kids smiling faces when they bite into their favorite ice cream inside the soft mochi shell.

This will make a really cool summer treat and a really fun cooking project with your children.

If you want to make it for some kind of party, such as barbecue or something I think it would be a perfect dessert. I hope Guys enjoy this recipe!

NEAPOLITAN MOCHI ICE CREAM
Yield: 6 pieces (60 ml each)
Active time: 1 hours
Total time: 9 hours

INGREDIENTS
Ice Cream Mixture:

240 gr Milk
30 gr Granulated Sugar
48 gr Milk Powder
10 gr Corn Starch
30 gr Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tbs Cocoa Powder
1 tbs Hot Water

Vanilla Almond Mochi Dough:

115 gr Water
40 gr Milk
40 gr Granulated Sugar
15 gr Vegetable Oil
1/8 tsp Beetroot Powder or Pink Food Colouring
1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Almond Extract
80 gr Glutinous Rice Flour

Chocolate Mochi Dough:

115 gr Water
40 gr Milk
40 gr Granulated Sugar
15 gr Vegetable Oil
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 tsp Cocoa Powder
80 gr Glutinous Rice Flour

Corn or Potato Starch

INSTRUCTIONS
Ice Cream Mixture

Prepare the silicone mould (if you use small plastic cup, glass or cupcake pan, make sure that you line the mould with cling wrap so it’s easier when unmould the ice cream).
In a medium pan, combine 240 grams of milk, sugar and milk powder, mix until no lumps remain.
Cook over medium heat until simmering, stirring constantly to avoid the mixture burning.
In the meanwhile, in a small container combine the corn starch, 30 grams of milk and vanilla extract, mix well.
Gently pour the corn starch mixture to the simmering milk mixture, continue whisking until the mixture starts to boil and thickened.
Remove from the heat, divide half of the mixture to the 3 cavities of the mould.
Mix the remaining mixture with cocoa powder that has been diluted with some hot water.
Divide this chocolate mixture to the rest of cavities.
Cover and store them in the freezer for at least 6 hours or preferably overnight to harden.
Unmould the ice cream; place them in the container that has been lined with parchment paper so it won’t stick to the surface. Pop them again in the freezer while continue with the mochi dough.

Mochi Dough
Microwave Method

In a microwave safe bowl, mix all the ingredients until well combined.
Cover the bowl with a cling wrap, microwave it on high heat for 1 minute, take it out and stir with a wet rubber spatula, cover again and microwave it for another 1 minute (we will know that the mixture is well cooked when all the colour is semi translucent).

*For the chocolate mochi dough; strain the mixture before microwave it to make sure there’s no lumps remain.

Steaming Method

In a medium bowl, mix all the ingredients until well combined.
Place the bowl in the preheated steamer (cover the steamer lid with a towel so the condensation won’t drop into the mochi mixture) and steam for about 20 minutes (stir it with a wet rubber spatula at halfway cooking and cover it again to finish cooking).

ROLLING

Cover the work surface with a piece of large parchment paper and dust with generous amount of corn or potato starch (if you are worried about eating raw starch, heat the starch in the pan for about 5 minutes).
Transfer the hot cooked mochi dough onto a parchment paper and sprinkle more starch on top of the dough.
Using your palm gently press and spread the dough onto a long rectangular shape, about ¼ inch thick (until it’s big enough to fit into 3 pieces round circles shapes).
Let the dough rest for about 45 minutes to 1 hour until the mochi is set and cooled down completely.

ASSEMBLY

Using round cutter, divide the mochi dough into 3 pieces for each flavour. Pick up one circle of dough, gently brush off the starch on both sides.
Brush the mould with some starch to prevent stickiness and then lay the dough in the center of the mould
Working with one scoop of ice cream at a time, (keep the rest in the freezer so they don’t melt), place one ice cream scoop in the center of the mochi dough and gently press the dough around the ice cream. Pinch the edges of the mochi to seal it.
Continue with remaining dough and ice cream (try to work fast or else the ice cream will starts to melts it will end up as a puddle on your hands).
Cover and store them in the freezer for at least 1 hour before serving.

*If your use other than silicone moulds, make sure that you cover the finished ice cream mochi individualy in a cling wrap to prevent stickiness and then place them back into the mould to keep the shape.

NOTES

Feel free to double or triple the recipe; more dough means longer time to cook the mochi dough.
I don’t recommend to store the mochi dough in the fridge to speed up the cooling process, coz it will leads to condensation, the moisture will trap inside the dough and ends with sticky wet dough surface, it will be hard to handle it.
It’s important to have a size of mochi dough that is just big enough to surround the ice cream, coz too much extra dough hanging off which will taste a bit hard once it frozen.
Mochi ice cream can be kept in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 week. When you’re ready to eat, let them sit out for at least 15 minutes to soften before biting in!
Recipe variations:
– Matcha: Mix in 1 1/2 tsp of matcha (green tea powder) to the vanilla ice cream mixture (omit vanilla and almond extract) and 1 tsp to the plain mochi dough (omit the beetroot powder).
– Coffee: Mix in 1 tsp of instant coffee to the vanilla ice cream mixture (omit almond extract) and ½ tsp to the plain mochi dough (omit the beetroot powder).

Posted on 2 Mar 20212 Nov 2026 by Bembum Kitchen

My Melody Taiwanese Savory Mooncake

Hi Guys, today we are making these “My Melody Taiwanese Savory Mooncake”. It’s a flaky crust moon cake with the savoury sweet fillings inside which has a really unique texture.

Unlike the common traditional mooncake that are sweet, some spicy braised meat was added to the mung bean paste as a filling, they blends really well, the savoury perfectly complement the sweetness.

Crispy crust outside, Sweet spicy salty filling inside

You have some bits to bite in the smooth fillings, the savoury pairs the sweetness perfectly, the crunchiness of the layer crust even make it more special.

You can actually omit the meat portion if you wish too, but that’s what makes it special in my opinion. And if you are not preparing this for moon cake festivals, it’s definitely a good snack or a nice breakfast item.

The beautiful flaky crust itself created by combining 2 different type of dough which is called water and oil dough that has been layered by rolling and folding similar in making puff pastry dough.

Feel free to create any design you like but always remember that for the combined dough, you need to make the oil dough colour slightly lighter than the water dough so it doesn’t show on the surface of the water dough when you roll it.

So this is how we combine the dough;
Lightly press down to flatten the water dough and place the oil dough in the center of the water dough. Fold the combined dough like an envelope, seal all the seam and shape it round again.
Cover and let them rest for at least 10 minutes so the gluten can relax a bit.

Place oil dough in the center of the water dough

After resting, take one combined dough, using rolling pin, roll the dough into a long rectangular shape as evenly as possible, don’t press it too hard as you might tear the water dough membrane, about 3 mm thick is enough (pic. 1)
And then roll it up like you are preparing swiss roll (pic. 2)

Then turn the swiss roll direction with the shorter side pointing at you, using rolling pin roll it again into a long rectangular shape (pic. 3 & 4)

*One important tip when you roll the dough is always make sure that your rolling pin is clean from any dough flakes coz it will attracts the water dough surface which can cause a lot of cracks on the mooncake later.

And finally, roll it up again like a swiss roll (pic. 5 & 6)

Please note the colour will be much lighter when baked in the oven.
The minced meat is slightly on the salty side to compliment the sweet of the mung bean paste. If you prefer more spicy, feel free to add more chili or for a bigger kick, you can add a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, that will be great too!

And if the times permit, you even can prepared this meat the night before and store them in the fridge to let the flavor develops, it will taste even better.

Oh I love My Melody so much, they are my favorite Sanrio character since I was a child.

They taste amazing when served slightly warm and paired with a cup of hot tea or maybe your favorite coffee.
They are so adorable, tasty and also satisfying with their unique texture, it’s really hard to describe unless you have a chance to taste it

The recipe is rather long winded but it is rewarding coz they are so pretty and delicious.
I really hope you Guys give it a try coz this mooncake really suit my taste buds and I have to stop myself for further eating.

And if you want; you can share your creations with me with the “hastags bembumkitchen”, I really love to see all your creativity and I’ll make sure to give a like or thumbs up!

Enjoy the recipe, Love you All!!

MY MELODY TAIWANESE MOONCAKE
Yield: 10 pieces
Active time: 3 hours
Total time: 4 hours

INGREDIENTS
Mung Bean Paste:

100 gr Split Yellow Mung Beans
100 gr Hot Water
75 gr Granulated Sugar

Braised Meat:

100 grams Minced Pork
1 tbs Corn Flour
1 tsp Garlic (Minced)
1 tsp Ginger (Minced)
1/2 tbs Onion (Minced)
1/2 tbs Rice Wine
2 tbs Soy Sauce
1 tsp Chopped Chilli Padi
1/2 tsp Five Spice Powder
1/4 tsp White Pepper
1/4 tsp Salt
2 tsp Sugar
1/2 tbs White or Black Sesame Seeds

Water Dough:

200 gr All-Purpose Flour
50 gr Shortening
20 gr Icing Sugar
100 gr Cold Water
Food Colouring (Pink, Black, Blue, Yellow)

Oil Dough:

75 gr Cake Flour
35 gr Shortening
Pink Food Colouring

INSTRUCTIONS
Mung Bean Paste

Wash mung beans in several rinses of water until the water runs clear, then soak them in a hot boiling water for 30 minutes (the water will be absorbed and the beans gets bigger).
Preheat the steamer, bring water to a boil and then steam the soaked beans for about 30 minutes or until it can be easily mashed.
Pour the beans into a non-stick pan, add in the sugar, cook over medium low heat (it will be wet at first as the sugar melts,keep stirring until it gets drier).
Using a spatula, press the beans until it resembles a thick paste (as the water evaporates, the beans will no longer be sticky).
Feel free to use blender or immersion blender if you prefer a really fine paste.
Take it off from the heat, cover it with a plastic wrap, store in the fridge to firm up.

Braise Meat

Sprinkle corn flour to the meat before cooking (it will helps prevent overcooking and toughening of the outer layers so the result will be more tender and flavourful).
In a medium pan, heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, add in the minced garlic and onion, cook until golden brown.
Add in minced pork, continue cooking until it change in colour.
Pour in the rice wine and soy sauce, stir well.
Add in the rest ingredients and mix until well combined.
*Feel free to add more chili or cayenne pepper if you like more spicy.
Cover and store them in the fridge to let the flavor develops.

Water Dough

In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients, stir until it forms a sticky dough.
Lightly transfer to a work surface and knead until it forms a smooth dough.
Divide the dough for each details, color as needed
Cover each colours with a cling wrap and let it rest for at least 20 minutes.

Oil Dough
Mix the flour and shortening, add in the pink food colouring (this oil dough colour must be slightly lighter than the water dough for the base of My Melody’s head).
Keep mixing until it forms a soft dough (it can be slightly sticky). Cover it with a plastic wrap to prevent the dough dry.

COMBINE, ROLL & BAKE

Divide the bean paste into 10 equal portions (25 gr each), shape it into a ball.
Using your thumb press the center of the bean ball to create a hole. Insert about 1-2 tsp of the braised meat filling in the center, and then wrap and seal. Perform the same for the remaining 9 portions.
Combine 2 dough:
Divide the “soft pink” water dough and oil dough into 10 equal pieces (19 grams water dough, 11 grams oil dough).
Lightly press down the water dough to flatten and place the oil dough in the center of the water dough.
Fold the combined dough like an envelope, seal all the seam and shape it round again. Continue with the rest dough.
Cover and let them rest for at least 10 minutes so the gluten can relax a bit.
Roll the combined dough:
Take one combined dough, using rolling pin, roll the dough into a long rectangular shape as evenly as possible (don’t press it too hard as you might tear the water dough membrane), 3 mm thick is enough.
Roll it up like you are preparing swiss roll.
Turn the swiss roll direction with the shorter side pointing at you, using rolling pin roll it again into a long rectangular shape. Then roll it up again like a swiss roll.
Set aside, cover it up while continue with the rest dough.

FILL & DECORATE

Fill
Take one of the swiss roll dough, using rolling pin, flatten it into a circle shape.
Flip the dough, place one portion of a bean ball at the center of the dough, and start covering the bean ball from all sides, rotate while tighten your palm, make sure the skin and filling stick together evenly.
Seal all the seam. Shape the mooncake a bit oval as My Melody’s head. Repeat this process for the rest of the Mooncake.
Decorate
Add details according to My Melody’s Head, add the spark of her eyes with some white food colouring

BAKE
Bake in the preheated 170°C oven for about 15-18 minutes.
Remove from the heat, allow to cool slightly on the pan for about 10-15 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

NOTES

Don’t let the water dough sit too long coz it will release the oil and cause a lot of crack on the mooncake surface later.
Best serve 20 minutes freshly baked.
To store in an airtight container; 1 day at room temperature, 1 week fridge, 1 months freezer.
To reheat; 180°C oven for about 5-10 minutes

Posted on 25 Jan 20212 Nov 2026 by Bembum Kitchen

Traditional Orange Nian Gao (Quick & Easy Way)

Hi Guys, today we are making these “Traditional Orange Nian Gao”. A symbol of a high year, an increase in prosperity and a good luck.
Despite numerous varieties, my favorite will always be the West Java Indonesian Nian Gao which they called “China Cake”.

It’s made by mixing the glutinous rice flour, pure Gula Malacca, salt and water, then add in the minced orange peel to the mixture.
By using pure gula malacca and orange peel not only so much better in flavour, but it also has a lovely fragrance.

The color of course much darker and after so many hours of steaming, it will turn very dark, almost of a similar sweet cake, Dodol.

Some people use greaseproof paper or even food grade plastic for layering the moulds,
I personally love to use banana leaves simply because it’s natural and healthier and also add more delightful fragrance to your Nian Gao.

And for the orange peel, I am using Japanese minced dried yuzu peel here or you can substitute it with Italian mixed peel. It also works well.

The Nian Gao will still appear very soft at the end of cooking time, we need to let them cool down completely, let it sit at room temperature in a plastic container or wrapper for at least 24 hours before unmoulding.

You can eat the rice cake once it’s steamed, just remember that it’s very sticky and gooey when it’s hot.
The best way to enjoy this Sweet Rice Cake is wait for it to cool. They will be slightly firmer or you can store them in the fridge so it will firm faster and easier to sliced them.

So pretty! This is almost similar as the one sold in the store

Nian Gao also a popular gift when visiting family and friends during the chinese new year celebration.
If you have plan to make this as a present, you can simply cover the top with a piece of acetate film with some Chinese New Year sticker on it, and before you stick them, make sure that you apply some vegetable oil onto the acetate film so it will be easier to remove later.

And when ready to serve them just reheat with steamer or microwave if you want to eat them plain or you can follow my Pan-Fried or Steamed Coconut Nian Gao recipe, a great way to use leftover Nian Gao from Chinese New Year. It’s really good!

Look!! Light and airy thin batter coating the outside of the nian gao, while soft, chewy and stretchy Nian Gao on the inside.

And for the Steamed Coconut Nian Gao also quite easy and so delightfull, and it’s perfect for coconut lovers.
You just need to steam the grated coconut for about 10 minutes, add in the salt, and simply fully coat the softened nian gao with grated coconut.
How cool is that?

Whishing you a happy and prosperous Chinese New Year! It’s time to celebrate the hard work, a time for families to reunite, feast, give thanks and rejoice.
I hope you enjoy these recipe as much as I do, Love You All!

TRADITIONAL ORANGE NIAN GAO
Yield: Three 5-inch Round Pans or (One 6-inch, One 5-inch and One 4-inch)
Active time: 1 1/2 hours
Total time: 4 hours

INGREDIENTS
Molds:

Three 5-inch Round Pans or (One 6-inch, One 5-inch and One 4-inch)
Banana Leaves
Rubber Band

Nian Gao Batter:

550 grams Gula Malacca
700 grams Water
1/2 teaspoon Salt
600 grams Glutinous Rice Flour
3 tablespoons Orange Peel

Pan-Fried Nian Gao (For 1 Pan):

One 5-inch Nian Gao (Sliced)
50 grams All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
50 grams Eggs
3-6 teaspoons Ice Water

Steamed Coconut Nian Gao (For 1 Pan):

One 5-inch Nian Gao (Sliced)
250 grams Grated Coconut
1 teaspoon Salt

INSTRUCTIONS
Molds

Remove the center hard part of the banana leaves (you can use greaseproof paper or food grade plastic). Clean the leaves under running water.
Blanch the banana leaves in hot boiling water for about 5 minutes to soften it so it won’t tear easily (alternatively you can soften it by heating over a stove). Pat them dry.
Using the moulds as a guide, measure the length and width of the leaves.
The width should be 2 times of the height of the moulds, and the length should be enough to cover the circumference of the mould. Cut off the excess.
Wrap the leaves around the mould, covering half of the outer rim.
Secure the position of the leaf by putting a rubber band around the rim of the container. Insert the remaining part of the leaves into the mould.
* Please note that the leaves should cover the inner wall and at least half of the bottom part.
To help shape the inside part of the mould, insert a smaller round container into the mold and press the leaves against the base and the inner wall of the mold.
Repeat the same process by adding two more leaves. Don’t be confused if the leaves is too small, you can still use it by patch them to one another.
For the bottom part, cut 2 pieces of round shaped leaves with the diameter slightly bigger than the base and then insert and press against the bottom to cover the base completely.

Nian Gao batter

Place gula Malacca, salt and water in a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer, until the sugar completely melted.
Once melted, remove from the heat, strain the mixture and let it cool completely.
In the meantime, prepare the steamer by bringing the water to a rolling boil.
After the sugar mixture cooled down, gradually pour it into the glutinous rice flour, stirring in between until the mixture is smooth. Strain the mixture to make sure there’s no lumps persist.
Pour the mixture onto the moulds (do not fill the mould all the way to the top, leave half inch clear space to top of the pan).
Sprinkle 1 tablespoon orange peel for each mould, tap the mould for a few times, cover each moulds with aluminium foil to prevent the water condensation drops to the Nian Gao.
Place inside the steamer and steam on medium heat for 2 hours (you may need to refill the water throughout the cooking process, don’t let it dry out).
Take it off from the heat, remove the aluminium foil immediately and then let it sit on a cooling rack to cool completely before storing.
Wrap in a plastic container for at least 24 hours before unmoulding.
Unmould and cut of the excess banana leaves, leave about 1-2 cm from the edge of the Nian Gao.

Pan Fried Nian Gao

Slice the Nian Gao in a square shape about 1/4-inch thickness.
In a medium bowl mix the all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Add in the eggs and mix until just combined.
Gradually mix in the ice water, don’t add the ice water all at once, start by adding 1 teaspoon at a time until you get the perfect consistency (not too thick or too watery).
Dip Nian Gao slices to the batter.
On a medium heat, apply some margarine to the pan (if you use butter, add some vegetable oil to avoid the butter burning).
Pan fry the Nian Gao until golden brown on both sides, press once in a while to check whether the inside cooked well (control the heat so the batter won’t get burn while the Nian Gao on the inside isn’t soft and chewy just yet).

Steamed Coconut Nian Gao

Slice the Nian Gao in a square shape about 1/4-inch thickness, steam or microwave it until a bit sticky and soft.
Steam the grated coconut for about 10 minutes. Add in the salt, stir well.
Coat the softened Nian Gao with salted grated coconut.

NOTES

Yes you can eat the Nian Gao once it’s steamed, but it will be very sticky and gooey when it’s hot.
The best way to enjoy this Nian Gao is wait for it to cool.
At day 3, usually the this cake will be much more firm or you can store them in the fridge so it will firm faster and easier to sliced them. And when you cut, don’t forget to apply some vegetable oil to your knife or any kitchen tools to prevent stickiness.
To store Nian Gao; 2 days at room temperature, 1 week in the fridge, 6 months in the freezer.
Pure Gula Malacca should be dark in colour and pliable to touch. Hard lighter colour gula malacca have likely been mixed with cane sugar.

Posted on 14 Jan 20212 Nov 2026 by Bembum Kitchen

Salted Caramel Mexican Coffee Buns (Tangzhong Method)

Hey Guys, today we are making these “Salted Caramel Mexican Coffee Buns”. A sweet buns which is basically made with coffee topping and butter filling.

It’s actually originated in Malaysia and quite popular around Asia. Papparoti and Rotiboy are the most famous brands for these delicious coffee-coated buns, while in Singapore was popular with Roti Mum.
They even customized the buns with other flavours combination such as chocolate, cheese, kaya and peanut

The familiar and alluring smell of the coffee buns will always be the first scent that greets the nose and they go perfectly well with coffee, hot coffee preferably.

The aroma of this Mexican coffee bun is really tantalizing and makes you just want to eat it piping hot.

In this recipe, I’m gonna show you how to use Tangzhong Method in bread making. One of the most reliable method to produce soft and fluffy breads. This method contributes to the ultra airy, pillowy texture of this bread.

Tangzhong starter or called roux starter is basically a liquid (milk or water) and flour that is being cooked into a paste and then incorporated into the dough.

Some people (I used to) scared of making bread and the FAQ is “How to tell if your bread dough is fully kneaded?”

Actually, we can check to see if your dough is well-formed by doing the windowpane test by stretch it out into a thin membrane without breaking it. That’s an indication that the gluten is
well-formed.

For the Coffee Topping, YES! you can substitute it with espresso powder if you don’t have instant coffee on hand, but I really don’t recommend it coz it will make your buns taste a lot less flavorful

So.. try stick to instant coffee!
Use the best instant coffee you can get coz this is the thing that will spell the difference for your coffee buns.

Perfect Homemade Caramel for the Bread Filling

And instead of butter, I will use my homemade salted caramel sauce for the bread filling, which is so tasty. It’s melty and slightly savory against the sweet cookie crust and buns!

The combination of the soft bread with the sweet, salty, velvety smooth caramel sauce is completely divine!

This caramel sauce is so good! Left over can be refrigerated for up to 1 month and taste great on everything, especially for your favorite ice cream sundaes.

The Sweet Aromatic Coffee Shell for the Buns

Please note, you don’t want to pipe down this beautiful aromatic mixture all the way because that will be WAY too much topping, coz once you put these into the oven they will melt downwards and form a coffee shell over the buns.

If you pipe until the bottom, the topping will just ooze down all over the place.

Look how amazing these buns are! It not too oily and It doesn’t flattens at all.

The caramel inside is melty, it’s leaked out as they baked, the gooey crusty texture on the bottom of the buns intensely flavorful and so aromatic. Just one whiff of these is enough to make my mouth watery! They are so difficult to resist.

I don’t think making these buns are difficult, although they do require some time and a number of steps.

If you keen to sell these, this a good choice to start baking business ideas in my opinion coz the ingredients quite cheap and it’s easy to produce. This bread also addicting for some people, that’s a good thing!

And Yes, packaging is really important for selling point, but the main key of success still on the taste of our baking goods.

As home bakers, we don’t need to produce such a mass packaging for starter which can cost a lot of money. Yet, we can simply use ready made paper bag or even make DIY packaging with our own design, like what I did here.

These bread has a perfectly moist, creamy interior with a crisp outer crust. Crispy on the outside, soft bread in the inside, with an additional salted caramel in the center of the soft bun.
Oh I Love Caramel so much! It’s really addictive and they really gone too fast.

I hope you will enjoy the recipe of these memorable taste of the caramel coffee-coated buns and let’s spread the love for coffee buns!

SALTED CARAMEL MEXICAN COFFEE BUNS
Yield: 5 Pieces
Active time: 1 1/2 hour
Total time: 5 hour

INGREDIENTS
Caramel Filling:

100 grams Granulated Sugar
40 grams Unsalted Butter
60 grams Heavy Cream
1/2 teaspoon Salt

Coffee Topping:

3/4 teaspoon Instant
1/4 teaspoon Hot Water
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
25 grams Unsalted Butter
25 grams Granulated Sugar
25 grams Eggs
25 grams Cake Flour

Tangzhong Starter:

10 grams Bread Flour
60 grams Water

Bread Dough:

120 grams Bread Flour
30 grams Cake Flour
10 grams Milk Powder
20 grams Granulated Sugar
3 grams Instant Yeast
15 grams Eggs
45 grams Water
40 grams Tangzhong Starter
1/4 teaspoon Salt
10 grams Unsalted Butter

INSTRUCTIONS
Caramel Filling

In a medium heavy pan, heat the sugar over medium heat until melted, swirl the pan occasionally. Continue cooking until the sugar has reached a deep amber color (almost a reddish-brown colored and have a slight toasted aroma).
* Be careful, at this point the caramel can go from perfect to burnt in a matter of seconds, so keep a close eye.
When the caramel reaches its sweet spot, turn off the heat, add in the butter (watch out, it will bubble up). Stir until the butter is completely melted.
Remove it from the heat, slowly pour in the cream (be careful, it will bubble up ferociously). Whisk until all of the cream has been incorporated and smooth.
Add in salt, stir well. Set aside to cool for about 10-15 minutes, pour into your favorite glass jar, let it cool completely, close the lid and store in the fridge to harden it.

Coffee Topping

Dissolve instant coffee with a small amount of hot water, add in vanilla extract, set aside.
In a medium bowl, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy and pale in color. Gradually add in the eggs, mix well.
Add in the coffee mixture and mix, fold in the flour and mix until smooth.Transfer the mixture into a piping bag and chill in the fridge to firm up.

Tangzhong Starter

In a medium pan, mix the bread flour and water until no lumps remain.
Cook over medium low heat, keep stirring until the mixture turn into a sticky paste (be careful not to burned the paste).
Take it off from the heat, cover it with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap onto the surface of the mixture to prevent the skin form on the surface, let it cool completely.

Bread Dough

In a large bowl, mix the bread flour, cake flour, milk powder, sugar and yeast. Add in the eggs, water, Tangzhong Starter and salt. Mix for a minute until a sticky dough forms.|
Add in the softened butter and fold it into the dough with your hands until well combined.
*It will be sticky at first, it’s not necessary to add additional flour and then end up with a tough bread.
Transfer the dough onto a work surface and continue kneading (10-15 minutes), feel free to use electric mixer. As you knead the dough, it will be less and less sticky, knead until the dough becomes smooth and elastic.
* Check if your dough is well-formed by doing the Windowpane Test; Take a little bit of dough, stretch it out into a thin membrane without breaking it. That’s an indication that the gluten is well-formed.
Round and place the dough into a clean grease bowl. Cover with a plastic wrap and let it rise until it almost doubles in size.
Punch down the risen dough, divide dough into 5 equal pieces (55 grams each)
Roll each dough into round, pull around the edges, tuck underside into itself.
Hold and roll the dough with our hands in “C” shape, give a little pressure on it, smoothing top and sides at same time as turning.
Cover each roll with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 10-15 minutes (to relax the gluten).
After being rested, flatten each ball into a disc, place a half tablespoon caramel filling in center, enclose it by pulling the seams of the dough over and around it.
Hold and roll the dough with our hands in “C” shape into a ball and place it on baking sheet lined with parchment paper (spare at least 3-inches space around each buns as they will expand during final proof and while baking).
Cover the shaped buns with plastic wrap or kitchen towel, let them rise for 30 to 40 minutes or until almost double in size.
In the meantime take out your coffee toppings from the fridge and preheat the oven to 180°C.
Once the buns has risen, pipe the coffee topping in a tight circular pattern. Starting from the top of the buns down to about the middle part of the sides of your coffee buns.
*Don’t pipe down all the way because that will be WAY too much topping which will just ooze down all over the place.
Bake the buns for about 12-15 minutes. Take it off from the heat, transfer and let them cool completely on the cooling rack.

NOTES

I don’t recommend to use espresso powder for the coffee toping coz it will make your buns taste a lot less flavourfull.
To proof the dough in cold days; place them in the preheated 60°C oven that has been turned off.
Buns best eaten freshly baked while still warm. You can store them in the fridge for 2 days.
Reheat; in the preheated 180°C oven or toaster for obout 5-7 minutes, take it out.
The top will soft at first, let them sit for about 5-10 minutes, it will become crispy.