Serimuka (Steamed Rice Cake with Coconut Custard)

Serimuka aka Putri Salat

This is a Malay traditional cake. It is one of the most common cakes you can find in Singapore. There are several common characteristics you will notice in most traditional Malay cakes. They are mostly steamed cakes and almost all makes use of coconut milk because coconuts are aplenty in this region and use rice flour instead of wheat flour because rice is easily and more commonly available in this region.

Traditionally, I was told, rice flour were home-made. The women would soak the rice overnight then drained and grounded to a paste the next day. It will then be wrapped tightly in a piece of cloth. A heavy object is then placed on top of it to exert pressure and squeeze out the water making it to become dry.

But we have come a long way since and now we can buy rice flour in packets from the supermarket. Thank God for that 🙂

Today I will be sharing the recipe for Serimuka or Putri Salat. It is an easy cake to make but there are no shortcuts. This cakes like most Malay cakes, have two layers. The rice layer at the bottom and the custard topping on top. Please see the recipe below.

Kueh Bakar

Kueh Bakar

I was trying to figure out what to call this cake in English. After so much guessing I’d rather leave it out totally. Basically this is a Malay cake, the texture is similar to that of custard but less sweet and normally green in color because of the screwpine (pandan) juice that are used in the recipe. It’s baked in it’s signature flower shaped mould.