Time flies, August is almost over.
August 31st marks the 51st Independence Day of Malaysia and September 1st is the beginning of Ramadan–the holy month of Islam. To celebrate the two important events in Malaysia, I thought I would introduce you to Kuih Bahulu, a traditional Malaysian kuih (or cake).
A favorite among many Malaysians of all races and ages, kuih bahulu is usually baked during the festive seasons such as Hari Raya and Chinese New Year. These sweet and eggy kuih go very well with coffee, and are always a crowd-pleaser during the festive seasons. A few kuih bahulu and a cup of coffee is a surefire way to greet your guests…
Kuih bahulu comes in different shapes, but the popular ones are the button and goldfish (pictured below). The kuih bahulu molds also come in different sizes–big and small. I used the small button and gold fish molds for my kuih bahulu because I simply adore cutesy size. (The kuih bahulu molds are available for sale on Rasa Malaysia.)
As the sweet aroma filled the air in my current home in California, a flood of fond memories were racing through my mind. I personally recall many kuih bahulu making and baking sessions with my late grandmother, my late mother, and my aunt. As we were busy baking the kuih bahulu, our anticipation of Chinese New Year and the warm thoughts of our family reunion brought much joy into our home kitchen. Making kuih bahulu has always been fun to me.
While French madeleines are hugely popular, I have to say that Malaysian Kuih Bahulu is no less than the madeleines. I personally think that kuih bahulu is our answer to madeleines, with a slightly different recipe but very similar methods. If you are interested in trying out my recipe of kuih bahulu and would like to purchase the mold, drop me an email. I hope you get to learn–and appreciate–the beauty of Malaysian kuih (cakes).
For my Malaysian readers, I wanted to wish you all “Selamat Hari Merdeka” and for my Muslim readers, Happy Ramadan!
Other Malaysian food art and recipes:
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup flour (sifted)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 tablespoons cooking oil/butter (optional)
Method:
Beat the eggs with an electric hand-mixer until frothy and then add sugar. Continue to beat until the sugar is well dissolved and the mixture becomes sticky.
Add in the vanilla essence and fold in the flour gradually and then add in the cooking oil/butter. Continue to beat the batter with the hand-mixer until well-blended. Grease the kuih bahulu moulds and fill up to the surface level.
Bake in preheated oven at 375 degree Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove bahulu from the moulds and cool on wire racks. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.
Cook’s Note:
The traditional kuih bahulu recipe doesn’t call for cooking oil or butter, but I find them a tad too dry. Adding the cooking oil/butter makes the kuih bahulu comes off the mould easily. Also, as you can see, my kuih bahulu are over baked because I lost track of time. They should be light brown in color.
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{ 40 comments… read them below or add one }
Kuih bahulu with Nescafe or teh tarik. To me its the scones of the east. Thankful I can still get it off the shelf anytime.
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i love kuih bahulu! i can eat quite a few at one go. and since the recipe looks easy enough, i am definitely going to give it a try. i have to go back to kl to get the mold – it doesn’t seem right to have kuih bahulu in any other type of molds!
keep the recipes coming – you are my absolute favorite food site :)
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I love the dish you baked the yummy treats in. I’m going to be on the lookout for these now. I hope I find them here.
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You’re right! Tomorrow is indeed independence day. Selamat Hari Merdeka! Mmmm the kuih looks awesome. I will have to try making it as well.
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I’ve never had them before but they do look incredibly pretty! :)
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That kuih bahulu look very pretty and interesting! I have never seen anything like that. I will try making them using your kuih bahulu recipe once i get my mould.
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Your kuih bahulu so perfect looking! Quite difficult to find good ones nowadays. Addictive stuff too!
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This looks great! It looks like it would be perfect with coffee or tea.
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I remember having these when I visited Penang — but not since, and that was a long time ago. What a lovely reminder of my too-brief time in Penang!
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I haven’t eat these for ages! Thanks for sharing the recipe, I might give it a try soon.
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They look yummy and so easy to make! I will definitely try them out.
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i got interested in Malaysian cuisine, coz a while a go, i saw a Malaysian star Carmen Soo, is the spelling correct?.. she will have a tv show in our country.. very sweet lady…
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Truth be told.. i never used to like Kueh Buluh. But of course it is a different story . .now that i can’t get it. I’ll have to email you for the mold really soon. :) thanks for sharing.
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Thanks for the bringing back the memories of making kueh bahlu. I have a question though, are they made traditionally in an oven?
My mother’s family used to make them on occasion but we made them with the mould on a traditional charcoal stove. The mould sits on the stove and one of my aunts would fill it with the mix. After a few minutes (they cook fast on the really hot mould) with the metal lid back on, when the kueh has reached the perfect shade of golden brown (it usually took a few batches to get the timing just right), my aunt would lift the lid and I would pick them out quickly with a toothpick, before the mould is filled again with the mix for another batch of kuehs.
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the best bahulu i’ve tried before was from a small stall in kemaman, terengganu. freshly prepared, i had it hot and it was heavenly! looking at your pics reminds me of it :)
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My kids love kuih bahulu. They sure can eat a lot of it a on sitting!
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Kuih bahulu is sold in most hypermarkets in Pg now but taste wise still lose out to those homemade ones.
I have yet to taste those with powdered sugar.
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Normally, I will call it kuih pulu instead of kuih bahulu. i like it very much!
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oooh…I’d love anything that goes well with my coffee!
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i can have 20 of them kuih bahulu. Dip in coffee, they’re delicious! iv got to borrow your mould so i can try your kuih bahulu recipe for raya. ;)
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These look so cute Bee, almost like madeleines. Wish you a happy Ramadan too.
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These are lovely when eaten warm! :o)
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Testing
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they look great. I think I would test that once, in my mold, which represent grappes lol cheers
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Oh they look adorable! I love their shape! :)
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Have them with kopi-o. OoOooo comfort food.
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oooh look at those sweet little treats! nam nam nam, hic
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gosh!i’m gonna try this out for my kuih raya.it seems hard for the tradisional one they just use hands to beat the ingredient..the more tradisional it goes,the tastier it will be. :)
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ohhhhhh! great recipe. I must try this. I am back in Malaysia, I think I will search for the mould and bring one back before coming back to Dallas. Thanks much for recipe!
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GOSH i really miss these things!! i used to have a bag with me as a kid all the time and brought em to school to share. they were such yummy little cakes i couldn’t live without.
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i use duck eggs instead 0f chicken. to make bahulu….the taste n color r awesome….wanna make it more..thanx god my family owned a duck farm..hehe
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Thanks for the recipe. Miss this kuih so much. I’ve recently tried it and it tasted wonderful.
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Am living in the US currently. Wonder if anyone is selling kiuh bahulu. But I shall give your recipe a try… First one I see that uses cups as a measurement (lucky me!) instead of grams lol.. Thank you~!!
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Hi Rasamalaysia,
Thanks for your recipe, I tried it last night & was a success but the only problem is it sticks badly. I have the mould heated up & apply oil & heat it again & then only I fill in the batter. And also do I need to stir the batter each time I fill in the mould. The kuih bahulu was baked around 12-13 minutes & was abit dry. I converted the 1 1/4 cup of flour to 175gm & sugar to 190gm. Please advice. Thanks.
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Hi,
I just tried your receipe with the butter and definitely greased the pan before baking and it is sticking very badly. What can I do to prevent the sticking?
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I’m having 3 baulu monsters in my house. They like it fresh from the oven. In the end I ended
up with just a small container waiting to be emptied in a few days time.
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Hi. I love your informative website with all the fascinating recipes. I once saw a recipe for large green chillies stuffed with mince. It was a malaysina cook book but I have misplace it. Would you by any chance know this recipe? Zeenath
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made this last nite. taste great straight from the oven but chewy when left over nite. the 1/4 tsp of bicarbonate of soda is for what purpose? i saw in other recipes they are using baking powder. i think the textures a bit dense. how’s yours like?
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Delia – kuih bahulu is supposed to be dense. The baking soda/baking powder help it to rise.
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Hi, I tried baking this a while ago but I think it went overflow after baking. I’m not too sure how full should I fill the mould. It looks more like a muffin now >.<. Hope to get a reply as I’ll be baking again in a couple of days. Thanks =)
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Also, I realised that my kuih bahulu was a bit hard..How do I make it softer?
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
You should fill it about 80% full. Kuih Bahulu is supposed to be “harder.” If you don’t like it that hard, use slightly less flour. Good luck.
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