Home > Kue Talam Pandan (Indonesian Pandan Talam Cake)

Kue Talam Pandan (Indonesian Pandan Talam Cake)

Posting Date: 12/20/16

Kue Talam Pandan (Indonesian Pandan Talam Cake) is one of popular snacks in Indonesia. You can find it in any local markets and cake stores in Indonesia. Even though it is considered as snacks in Indonesia, by Western standard, it should be considered as dessert because it tastes sweet. It is commonly made with rice flour, tapioca flour/starch, flour, yam, etc. They are so many different types of Kue Talam. The differences are the ingredients used. It may use palm sugar in the ingredients. It may also use yam, potato, etc. It always comes with at least 2 layers. The adjacent layers always have different colors. So, it may come with green and white color if it has 2 layer or green, white, and green when it has 3 layers. The colors are not limited to green and white. It could also be red, brown, orange, etc. The cake is made by steaming it in a steamer. So, you will steam one layer first. Once the first layer is set, you will add the second layer mixture and steam it until it is set. If it has 2 layers, it normally uses coconut milk for the top layer and thus, it has white color on the top. To make the cake, you will need a steamer and individual cupcake molds. I use silicone cupcake molds. I also tried metal cupcake molds but I found silicone cupcake molds were easier to get the cake out of the mold. If you don't have individual cupcake molds, you can use small cups that are heat resistant.

Traditionally the green color in the cake comes from pandan leaves and hence, the name of Kue Talam Pandan. It also gives pandan flavor. Since it is hard to find pandan leaves in Asian stores, I use pandan essence or flavoring. You can normally find pandan flavoring in the Asian stores, especially if they have aisle that sells Indonesian items. If you cannot find pandan flavoring, you can use food coloring.

This recipe makes about 18 cakes if you use cupcake molds.

Ingredients:

Bottom Layer: 200 g rice flour
Bottom Layer: 50 g tapioca starch or tapioca flour
Bottom Layer: 100 g sugar
Bottom Layer: 100 ml water
Bottom Layer: 2 drops pandan essence or flavoring. Pandan is used to add flavor and green color. If you cannot find pandan flavoring, you can substitute with green food coloring but use 1 drop of green food coloring.
Bottom Layer: 1/2 teaspoon salt
Bottom Layer: 400 ml coconut milk
vegetable oil
Top Layer: 50 g rice flour
Top Layer: 25 g tapioca starch or tapioca flour
Top Layer: 1/2 teaspoon salt
Top Layer: 400 ml coconut milk
Tool Required: Steamer
Tool Required: individual cupcake molds. I use silicone cupcake molds and they are easier to get the cake out of the mold than the metal ones. If you don't have cupcake mold, you can use any small cup that is heat resistant. You can also use small ramekin.

Methods:

Turn on the stove to high. Fill up your steamer pan with water and put the steamer on the stove.
First we will make the bottom layer. Combine rice flour, tapioca starch, and sugar in a bowl. In a small bowl, combine water and 2 drops of pandan flavoring. Using a whisk, mix the water and pandan well so that pandan is completely dissolved in water. Add pandan mixture. salt, and coconut milk to the flour bowl. Whisk the pandan flour mixture so that it becomes smooth and there is no lump.
Brush each cupcake mold with vegetable oil. This is to prevent sticking. Fill up each mold with the pandan flour mixture until 2/3rd of the mold. The other 1/3rd will be filled up later using coconut flour mixture.
Make sure the water in the steamer is boiling. Once boiling, put the molds in the top rack of the steamer and put the lid on. Let the cake cooked until the bottom layer is set. In my stove, it takes about 20-25 min but it might be varied from 1 stove to another and the type of steamer is used. To know if the bottom layer is cooked or not, you can visually check if it is still in the liquid form. If so, it is still not cooked. When it is set, it gives a slight resistance when pressed with your finger. It is like pressing jello with your finger.
While the cake is steaming, we can combine the ingredients for the top layer. Combine rice flour and tapioca starch in a bowl. Add salt and coconut milk. Whish the coconut flour mixture well until it becomes smooth and there is no lump.
Once the bottom layer is set, remove the top rack of the steamer where you put the molds and add more water to the steamer pan. Fill the top of each mold with coconut flour mixture. Put the top rack back on the steamer pan and place the lid on. Let the top layer cooked until it becomes set. To know it is cooked or not, the top layer should not be liquid and runny. It should also look set and when it is pressed with finger, it should give a little resistance like pressing jello. Once top layer is cooked, remove the cupcake mold using tongs and place it on the cooling rack. Once cool, remove the mold and place the cake on a plate. If you use silicon mold, you can take the cake out easily by slightly peeling the mold off from the cake. The cake will be separated easily. If you use metal mold, you will use a small knife to pry it on one of the edge of the mold. Or you can just serve it on a mold and eat it with a spoon. If you don't have enough mold and have pandan flour mixture and coconut flour mixture remaining, repeat step 3, 4, and 6.
Since the cake is sticky, if you have left over, you can store it by wrapping each cake with plastic wrap.

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