SAVORY CUPCAKE - Bánh Bông Lan Trứng Muối (Recipe) | Helen's Recipes

Think about it. How are you going to make cupcakes without an oven? Hi everyone, it's Helen here. Today, I will be making Vietnamese cupcakes with salted egg yolk. It's called bánh bông lan trứng muối. I was in Vũng Tàu a few months ago. It's a beach city around 100 kilometers from Saigon. And when I was wandering on the streets, I was offered to sample this very delicious cupcakes by this lovely lady. She had a very simple food cart on the street side, yet seemed to be very passionate about the products that she was selling. She explained to me a little bit about the background and some basic ingredients that come into making these cupcakes. The cupcakes wasn't baked in the oven, but were made with a traditional mold that was set on top of a charcoal stove. The lid of the mold is in form of a tray where more hot charcoal is added to provide a second heating element for the cupcakes, making them golden brown on both sides, yet still very moist inside. To be honest, I wasn't too fascinated in the first place because these cupcakes look quite like a similar version of cupcakes in Central Vietnam called bánh thẩm that we normally put on New Year's offering trays, and I wasn't really a big fan of those. But when I tried these cupcakes here, it's really a whole different story. They were soft and moist and had the perfect balance between sweet and savory with the salted egg yolk on top. Some of them are topped with cream cheese and pork floss. They were so great that I'm really tempted to try them at home. Unfortunately, I don't have such a traditional cupcake mold here, but fortunately I have a modern oven in my kitchen, and I hope you have one too. So let's go make them! You will need the yolks of salted eggs. You can buy the salted duck eggs at the Asian store or making your own salted eggs by soaking fresh eggs in brine for about a month. These are salted eggs I make myself from chicken eggs. If you want a more detailed video how I make them, just let me know in the comments or simply give this video a thumb up. These eggs have a briny aroma, a very liquid egg white, and a firm texture round egg yolk that has a very bright orange-red color. Just separate the yolks and cover in cooking wine with a slice of ginger to reduce the strong smell. Then set aside for about 10 minutes. After that, arrange them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and brush with some vegetable oil. You can either steam or bake them in the oven. Then let cool and cut in half. For the cake batter, you're gonna need butter at room temperature, sugar, all-purpose flour, milk, two eggs, baking powder, and some salt. In a bowl, mix together the baking powder, flour, and salt. Beat the butter until it flies and sticks to the sides of the bowl. Then gradually add in the sugar and keep beating on low speed until the butter and sugar are well combined. If you have one of those stand mixer like KitchenAid, just throw butter and sugar in and let the machine do the job. Scrape down the sides, then higher the speed and continue beating until the butter turns really pale. This is called creaming method. You want to beat the butter until it turns pale and fluffy. This makes the cakes more fluffy later. Make sure you take the butter out of the fridge at least half an hour to an hour before baking. When you feel no grain or very few grains of sugar in between your fingers like this, it's good enough. Then add in one egg at a time and beat on low speed until well combined. Then add the other egg. Make sure all the ingredients, the butter, the eggs, and the milk, are at room temperature. Meaning take them out of the fridge at least one hour before baking. When it's all combined and smooth, we're gonna gradually add in the flour and milk. Add 1 fourth of the flour first, then mix gently just until you see no white color of the flour. Then add 1 third of the milk and also mix in. Keep adding like this until you finish the milk and flour. If the cake batter happens to curdle when you mix in it, there's no need to throw it out and start again. Just continue to add the flour and the mixture will be smooth again. Don't over mix the cake batter. Otherwise, the cake will be tough. Just add the flour and milk gradually and alternately and mix in until well combined. Today I use mini muffin tin because it's similar to the size of the cupcakes in Vietnam. Spray or brush with some cooking oil to avoid sticking. Then distribute the cake mixture into the mold. Just fill around 2 third full so that they have some room to rise. Bake in a preheated oven at 165 degrees Celsius or 330 Fahrenheit for around 8 minutes. Until they have risen like this but still uncooked in the center. Now place half of the salted egg yolk on top and press to stick it to the cake. Then return them to the oven and bake for another 7 to 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Look at them. They're so beautiful. Super moist and fluffy in the center. The taste is the great combination between sweet and savory. You can also add laughing cow cheese in the center. You can also add Chinese sausages, pork floss and coriander on top. You can also bake them bigger size in normal muffin tin. If you use larger mold, the baking time will be a bit longer about 20 to 25 minutes. They are really irresistible. Just like the amazing dishes that you have cooked and sent me photo. So many of you have made hollow doughnuts or bánh tiêu recently. What a coincidence. I always feel good when I upload a video and see you cook the same dish the next days like these amazing crispy dumplings. If you like this video, don't forget to click like and subscribe to my channel for more delicious Vietnamese cakes. Thank you for watching. Bye. Bye