Oven Baked Puto

Baked Puto

( Filipino steamed Cake)

Puto is a Filipino steamed cake topped with cheese or sometimes with salted egg.

Puto has been a part of childhood, I remember me and brothers would always look forward to have some puto in the morning. My Lola (grandmother) use to go to the market early in the morning so that she can get some puto for us, if she goes later in the day it would be sold out. 

As the years goes by puto made with rice had become very rare. Oh I miss those days, I can still remember the taste of the original steamed rice cake. Now a days, most the puto in the market are made of flour, and had some variations. 

One time my partner told me that he had some Indian rice cake (Idli) in the fridge and told me that it was just for him because he was craving for it and he can only have it when his mother is around. So I don't really like eating Indian food anyway. Shhhh.. But he changes his mind and share half a piece of the idli, so I tasted it and it reminds me of my childhood. And I start to crave for a puto, I know for sure that theres no way for me to get the same puto as what my grandmother use to buy before, but I can make something that will taste the same. So I try to google some recipe of puto but all I can get is a steamed recipe. I dont have a steamer and I dont have a puto mold. What should I do should I just give up and wait until next year when I go back home in Philippines. I can buy steamer because we just want to maintain as less kitchen utensils. We want a minimalist kitchen. I got a rice cooker with steamer but that is too small. Then, I remember I was able to make a baked leche flan and all the recipe I found are steamed. So I can give this a try. And it was a success. Baked puto.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups plain flour, sufted
• 3/4 cup  white sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp. baking powder
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 2 tablespoon water
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoon butter melted
• Cheese for toppings
• 
  

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees C.
2. Mix together the flour, sugar and baking powder. Pour in the water and evaporated milk and stir well. Mix in the eggs and butter.
3. Pour the mixture into muffin tins. Find a baking tray that your muffin tins will comfortably fit in. Pull the oven rack out a little - approx 1/4 out of the oven - and place the baking tray (with the muffin tin inside it) on the rack. Very carefully pour about 4 cups of hot tap water into the baking tray. Then very slowly and carefully slide the rack completely into the oven.
4. Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Be very careful not to burn your hands with hot water or steam when you remove the muffins from the oven. Top with grated cheese.