Prosperity Cakes for Chinese New Year

I remember being a kid and going back to school in January. All the kids at school would be extremely miserable because all the Christmas festivities for the season were over. No more Santa, presents or goodies, at least not for another year. I on the other hand couldn’t wait for January because I knew Chinese New Year was always just around the corner (and my birthday)! This meant even more food, goodies and better yet, money. All of it very much a part of growing up in a Chinese family, especially mine since my parents are very very traditional.

My parents celebrate Chinese New Year for the full 15 days. Cooking a myriad of different dishes daily, they’re still trying to explain to me all the different meanings behind each dish. I only hope that I will one day be able to remember them all, let alone learn how to cook each one. I truly admire my parent’s ability to hold on to their traditions all these years and I would love to pass that along to my children (when we get around to that).

Since I enjoy each dish, it’s always been extremely tough for me to pick a specific one to highlight on my blog. I decided on the Prosperity Cake (aka Fat Go) essentially meaning rich and prosperous in Chinese. I chose this recipe because it was something I really enjoyed as a kid, when my parents used to make them, but then they stopped for a while because the temperatures and flour found here just didn’t produce the same quality cake that they were used to.

As for me, I thought they were delicious none the less. So I was pretty sad when they decided to stop making them. It wasn’t until a couple years ago that the Asian supermarkets around town started to carry them. My parents started buying them again and I started eating them every chance I got. Although I still don’t find that they taste the same as my parents. Now that I’m older and have really discovered the joys of cooking and baking just like my parents do. I decided it would be a neat idea to make these cakes and in turn give them to my parents for Chinese New Years.

Below is a modified version of the recipe I found online.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did growing up and that they bring you true prosperity! Happy Chinese New Year, Sun Neen Fai Lok and I hope everybody has a great year of the Dragon!



Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 1/2 block Chinese brown sugar (or 1/2 cup golden brown sugar)
1 cup rice flour (or self rising cake flour)
1 tsp baking powder

Preparation:
Line 6-12 ramekins with cupcake liners, depending on the size of the ramekins.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, dissolve the brown sugar in the water (if using Chinese brown sugar, you’ll need to use hot water or heat up the mixture until all the sugar dissolves).

In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda.

Slowly stir the flour mixture in to the sugar mixture until combined.

Divide up the batter evenly amongst all the ramekins.

Steam for 15-20 mins or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

Variation:
You could use 1/4 cup coconut milk and 3/4 cup water to add additional coconut flavour to the cake. I prefer the traditional one, but it never hurts to experiment.

Enjoy!