Literally Ma Lai Gao means Malaysian Cake. But actually this cake is not a traditional cake from Malaysia. This popular Chinese cake can be found in many Dim Sum restaurants. This cake is brown like honey or also called colored like almond, because it uses brown sugar. With a light and soft texture, Ma Lai Gao is perfect for afternoon tea.

There are generally two ways of making Ma Lai Gao, by using yeast and without using yeast. In this recipe we will make Ma Lai Gao the easy way and without using the yeast. These cakes are easy to make because the ingredients that are needed are the daily ingredients, including eggs, sugar, flour and oil.

Materials needed

• 5 eggs
• 140 grams of sugar
• 140 grams of light brown sugar (can be replaced with brown sugar)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 120 grams of sweetened condensed milk
• 260 grams of wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 80 grams of canola oil
  

How to make :

Prepare a 20 cm diameter round dish. Wash the base and inner sides with margarine or oil. Cover both parts with oil-resistant loaf of bread.
Prepare the steam pan, fill it with water. Heat with a big fire. After the water boils, reduce the heat to medium until the water boils gently.
Beat: eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar and salt, using a high-speed mixer for 5-6 minutes until the dough thickens and expands approximately 3-fold.
Add the vanilla extract, baking soda and sweetened condensed milk. Then shake for 30 seconds with medium speed until evenly distributed.
Sift the flour and baking powder into the dough, then shake with medium speed for 30 seconds until well blended or until there is no flour. The dough should be thick but soft, no lumps.
Finally, enter the canola oil, then stir the dough using a spatula by folding, until all the dough is flat.
Pour the dough into a baking sheet. Tap a baking sheet on the table gently as much as 2-3 times to remove air bubbles in the dough.
Insert the baking pan into the steam pan, cover with a clean cloth, then cover the pan with the lid. Steam for 30-35 minutes. Check the maturity of the cake by jabbing a toothpick in the center of the cake. When the toothpick is clean and there is no sticky dough, then the cake is cooked