Fa Gao 發粿 - Chinese Prosperity Cakes

Fa Gao 發粿 - Chinese Prosperity Cakes

Fa gao is a Chinese cupcake-like pastry, traditionally consumed during Chinese New Year or ancestor worship. The name of the cake is a pun, “fa” means both prosperity/fortune and raised (leavened). These cakes are usually dyed bright colors, like pink and green, during the New Year.

Fa gao is lightly sweetened, fluffy in appearance but dense. The defining characteristic is the blossom or split top. The more the ‘petals’ have blossomed, the more prosperous you will be and the more luck you will obtain in the New Year.

This recipe took me a few times to get right, partly because ‘baking’ is too much of a science and because I don’t have any patience. The first time, the texture wasn’t right, too gummy, like a hockey puck. Second time, the blossoms were weak buds. However, this time, when I lifted the lid to steamer, pure joy. My mom would be proud. Good luck and have fun!


Servings: 4

Ingredients:

130 ml of hot water
½ cup of brown sugar
½ cup of cake flour
½ cup of rice flour
2 tsp of baking powder


Directions:

1. Start by bringing your steamer to a boil over high heat.

2. Dissolve the brown sugar in hot water.

3. In a mixing bowl, sift together the cake flour, rice flour and baking powder.

4. Add the brown sugar water to the dry ingredients. Whisk together until well combined.

5. Fit your molds with cupcake liners and pour the batter in until it almost reaches the top of the cupcake liner.

6. Place the fa gao into your boiling steamer and cover. Let it steam for 20 to 25 minutes. Don’t peek until your timer goes off.

7. Enjoy warm!


Notes:

Don’t be tempted to open your steamer before the timer goes off. The steam will escape and the fa gao won’t bloom.

There are many variations of this recipe, some use yeast, others use only rice flour. This was my third attempt at making fa gao and found this recipe to work best for me. Also, no eye-balling this recipe, the measurements have to be exact.

Make sure you have enough water in your steamer so you don’t have to refill mid-way.

If you don’t have cake flour, take ½ cup of all-purpose flour, remove 1 tbsp and replace with 1 tbsp of cornstarch.


Background Music:

"Slick Rick in Indonesia" by DJ Grumble