Steamed Cake - Childhood Version

I've had a few flashbacks to my childhood when I would remember something yummy my mother used to make and wonder how easily I could replicate that. Thanks to the internet, googling up these recipes is a breeze and one can usually find a really easy recipe which is not too far off the mark.

Today I tried my hand at making a steamed cake Chinese style. Mum used to make these purely because of necessity as we did not live near shops or bakeries so she had to make these simple cakes to satisfy her family's craving for dessert or just something sweet. And the ingredients are so simple, just eggs, plain flour and sugar. I threw in some baking powder just in case my arm power was not enough to beat the batter to death and make the cake rise and split open with little craters on the surface when cooked. Just as well because it was really, really hard to beat that thick batter. I remember mum and another aunt beating their batter really hard, especially that aunt who had hers in a red pail and added some 7-up to it for the carbonation rising effect. And the talk of clockwise and anti-clockwise beating motions.

I couldn't find a suitable round pan and so steamed it in my loaf pan which worked just as well, standing in my big deep frying pan with the lovely steam cooking my golden loaf. After 40 minutes it was done. Delicious.

I had replicated a piece of my childhood in a dish. It was a warm feeling, a taste of simpler times.