Happy Lunar New Year! In celebration of the year of the Tiger, today I’m sharing Fa Gao, or Chinese Prosperity cake. With my own little flavor twist, of course.
Sometimes over here, emotions and apathy win out. After the last few weeks, I saw the Lunar New Year looming and despite my best intentions to come up with a spread, I had nothing to give. However, inspired by my friend’s post about her own fa gao yesterday, I figured this was an easy recipe to muster up and it was! If you’re also feeling low on the energy, this is one for you.
For some background, fa gao is a traditional sweet eaten for the new year to bring prosperity and wealth in the year ahead. I mean, can’t we all use those kinds of good thoughts? Steamed rather than baked, they are distinguished by the almost flower-like split that develops at the top of the cake when finished. Even though I knew in my heart what they were supposed to look like, when I opened my steamer to actually see them, I admit to letting out a little squeal of surprise.
There are a few recipes I found out there, and when my friend shared her recipe with me, she actually used pancake mix! I’d be game to try it that way next time, but for this go-round, I adapted this recipe and added a few more flavors to remind me of my travelin’ times.
You see, four years (!) ago, my friends and I happened to be in Vietnam the week before Lunar New Year, and the excitement for upcoming frivolity was buzzing in the air (much like it is here the week before Christmas). The buzz in Vietnam ALSO came from the amount of coffee we consumed because Vietnamese coffee is spectacular. Thus, as a nod to that trip and those delicious times, I threw some coffee and cinnamon in the mix because I do love me some Vietnamese coffee.
Anyway, back to the cakes. This recipe uses a mere six ingredients – four if you don’t want to add my flavor mix ins. That’s it! And they are ingredients you probably already have in the house:
brown sugar
all-purpose flour
baking powder
water
cinnamon
instant coffee
From my readings, I learned that the cakes are meant to be chewy in texture, often achieved by using glutinous rice flour. However, my GRF is securely packed with the rest of my belongings in storage, so to achieve the traditionally chewy texture, I just overbeat the regular all-purpose flour.
Yes, I’m telling you to overbeat the flour. Go at it for a good five minutes. I know, it defies everything you’ve ever been taught about baking, but you gotta do it for this one.
Once the flour is good and ready, it’s divided into ramekins (I used a deep pastry cup) and steamed, yes, steamed for about 25 minutes. After that, your flowers will be bloomed!
I actually was going to go extra with it by adding some powdered sugar or a coffee glaze but, you know, they were pretty darn good without the extra-ness.
Served with coffee, they were just enough to satisfy the sweet tooth.
I do hope you make them, and with that, wishing you happiness and prosperity in the year to come!
Fa Gao
Traditional Chinese prosperity cakes, this fa gao uses ordinary ingredients that bloom into the prettiest pastry to celebrate the new year!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 130 mL boiling water
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 TB instant coffee
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 4 egg tart molds or ramekins, thoroughly oiled
Directions
- Step 1 Add the sugar and coffee to the boiling water and stir well until all is dissolved. Set aside to cool completely.
- Step 2 Add the flour, baking powder and cinnamon to another bow. Add the cooled liquid to the dry ingredients and beat extremely well, for about 3-5 minutes until the tough is thick and not-runny.
- Step 3 Divide the batter evenly into the four oiled molds.
- Step 4 Fill the bottom of a large wok or stock pot with water deep enough to not run dry during the cooking period and set up the steamer. Once the water is at a rolling boil, place the molds in the pot. Cover with a tight fitting lid and steam over high heat for about 25 minutes. Don’t remove the lid during the process or you’ll lose all the heat!
- Step 5 Unmold when ready to serve. Enjoy!
