Putu Piring or Kuih Tutu, a popular Malay sweet snack made of steamed rice flour and filled with delicious coconut palm sugar. Now imagine it in cake and you’ll have this beautiful Putu Piring Cake 😊 !

Delicious!

Soft moist rice flour vanilla sponge brushed with coconut palm syrup and crowned with silky coconut frosting and fresh grated coconut. Putu Piring in cake and IMHO every mouthful, a delight!

What is Putu Piring?

Putu Piring is a traditional Malay steamed rice cake, handmade from rice flour, filled with palm sugar and served with lightly salted fresh grated coconut.  ‘Putu’ means cake and ‘Piring’ means saucer in Malay – the traditional Putu Piring are so-called because they are handmade to look like little white UFO saucers.

This is Putu Piring …

Whilst I was never a big fan of this Malay sweet snack, I was totally smitten by Sinpopo’s Putu Piring cake. Sinpopo is a popular cafe, well known for their local flavour cakes. The Sugar Crumble never bakes for her own hatchday 😄 and last year, Hubs just happened to buy Sinpopo’s Putu Piring cake for the celebration.

Homemade version … isn’t it pretty?

It was love at first bite. Soft moist sponge cake, light coconut cream frosting, burst of coconut palm sweetness and freshly grated coconut with just a tinge of salt,  giving added fragrance and texture.

Since she could not stop thinking about it, the Sugar Crumble decided to make her own and hence birthed this Putu Piring Cake.

Looks a lot like a snow cake?

To be authentically Putu Piring, instead of the usual genoise sponge, this Putu Piring Cake uses a rice flour sponge cake. Layered with homemade coconut palm syrup and silky fresh coconut whipped cream, this recipe has made me fall in love with Putu Piring in cake all over again 😊 !

I hope you will try and be wow-ed by this recipe. Watch the video tutorial(s) to make this gorgeous & delicious Putu Piring Cake!

Rice Flour Sponge Cake tutorial

Putu Piring Cake tutorial

If you like this recipe tutorial and like to see more, subscribe to my YouTube channel here 😊

And if you like this Putu Piring Cake, you might also like my other Asian bakes/desserts.

• How to make Kee Chang (碱水粽）
• Easy Bika Ambon
• Pulut Hitam Creme Brulee
• Durian Creme Brulee
• Coriander Chiffon Cake
• Mie Goreng Cake
• Pistachio Matcha Pineapple Tart

Tips to get the perfect Rice Flour Sponge every time….

• Don’t over-whip the egg whites. They should be whipped to soft peaks only. Check out my Rice Flour Sponge Cake video @2:30 min to see what soft peaks should look like

Soft peaks …

• Always whisk gently and slowly so as not to deflate the air built up in the batter.

• Mix the yolk mixture into the meringue until just combined, do not over-mix.

Always gently whisk …

• Rice flour absorbs more liquid than wheat flour therefore make sure your liquids in the recipe are measured properly and not reduced.

Warm liquids help to aerate the batter

• Always bake in a pre-heated oven. I baked at the lowest rack of the oven as the cake browned too quickly when it was baked at the middle rack. You may want to test out to see which rack level bakes best for your oven temperature. 

Rising beautifully … but don’t open the oven yet

• Do not open the oven door to check the cake until towards the end when the baking is almost complete. Otherwise run the risk that the cake may sink in the middle due to the temperature change when the oven is opened.

Salty much?

For those of us who often cook with coconut milk, we know we do not skip the salt. It is Compulsory!

Salt & coconut cream are an unlikely but inseparable pair. Just like apple to pie, peanut butter to jelly, milk and 🍪 … you get the picture. A little greatly enhances the taste.

Magic salt …

A simple dash of salt brings out the floral nuttiness of the coconut milk and highlights those subtle notes. In fact, for true Putu Piring fans, a dash of salt is also usually added to the freshly grated coconut so that there is a hit of salt as one bites into those little fresh coconut shreds. Therefore, do not skip the salt.

Easy Frosting

I’m not good with frosting but with this Putu Piring Cake, it is easy. No need for crisp straight sides, all my frosting imperfections were covered by the exuberant final throw of fresh grated coconut. It’s pretty much free form frosting – a little more, a little less …that’s entirely up to the baker!

Transformed!

One important tip for this Putu Piring Cake – use only fresh grated coconut. If you use frozen desiccated coconut, the aesthetics and the taste will not be the same … so trust me, it’s worth the effort to get freshly grated coconut for that final soft snowy finish.

Storage

This Putu Piring Cakes can keep for 3-4 days well sealed and chilled in the refrigerator.

Top view is gorgeous too ☺️

Did you make this? I would love to know how it turned out. Please leave me a review or tag me on Instagram or FB @thesugarcrumble.com

Print Recipe

Putu Piring Cake

Putu Piring, a Malay steamed rice flour snack filled with delicious coconut sugar. Now imagine it in cake & you’ll have this beautiful Putu Piring Cake!

Prep Time40 minutes mins

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Servings: 6 inch round cake

Author: Kai

Ingredients

Rice Flour Sponge Cake

• 95 g egg white ~ 3 egg whites
• 45 g egg yolks ~ 3 egg yolks
• 60 g granulated sugar
• 90 g rice flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 45 g fresh milk
• 30 g oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Fresh Cream Coconut Frosting

• 3 tbsp coconut palm syrup (check recipe link above)
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 100 ml coconut cream
• 1/4 tsp salt

Assembly

• 3 cups freshly grated coconut
• 3/4 cup coconut palm syrup (check recipe link above - for frosting and brushing on cake)
• 1 pandan knot

Instructions

Rice Flour Sponge

• Pre-heat oven to 150C.
• Double sift rice flour together with the baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• Add yolks and mix lightly with a hand whisk until just combined.
• Combine the milk and oil and warm for 15-20 seconds in the microwave.
• Add the sifted flour mixture in 2 to 3 parts, alternating with the warm milk. Mix until just combined. (The warm milk helps the eggs to aerate and keeps the batter light and airy). Set aside and whip the meringue.
• Beat egg whites until foamy. Add the granulated sugar in 3 parts and beat till soft peaks.
• Add 1/3 of the meringue into the yolk mixture to and whisk gently to loosen it. Once it is combined, add the yolk mixture together with 1 tsp vanilla extract to the rest of the meringue and lightly mix.
• Switch to a spatula and mix gently until the batter is even and well combined. Be careful to fold gently and slowly so as not to deflate the air that has been whisked into the batter.
• Line the base of a 6 x 3 inch round cake tin and pour in the cake batter. Tap the cake tin a few times on the work table. Then, gently run through the batter with a wooden skewer. Both the tapping and stirring with a skewer will help to remove large air bubbles.
• Once the oven is pre-heated to 150C, bake at the lowest rack of the oven for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Set the cake aside to cool completely before unmoulding.

Fresh Cream Coconut Frosting

• Whisk 2 cups cold heavy cream until medium peaks.
• Stir in 1/4 tsp salt into 100ml coconut cream. Add the salted coconut cream and 3 tbsp coconut palm syrup to the cream and whisk until stiff peaks. Coconut frosting is ready.

Assembly

• When the rice flour sponge cake is cooled completely, cut it into 4 even layers.
• Secure the 1st cake tier on the cake board with a dab of frosting and brush on coconut palm syrup. Layer generously with coconut frosting followed by freshly grated coconut. Repeat with the other cake tiers.
• Cover the top and sides of the cake with coconut frosting. Remove any excess frosting with a cake scraper.
• Generously throw on freshly grated coconut to cover the whole cake. Decorate with a pandan knot and keep the cake chilled in the fridge until serving.

Video

Notes

If you like this recipe tutorial and like to see more, subscribe to my YouTube channel here! 😊

 

#1 Tips to get the perfect Rice Flour Sponge every time….

• Don’t over-whip the egg whites. They should be whipped to soft peaks only. Check out my Rice Flour Sponge Cake video @2:30 min to see what soft peaks should look like
• Always whisk gently and slowly so as not to deflate the air built up in the batter.
• Mix the yolk mixture into the meringue until just combined, do not overmix.
• This Putu Piring Cake uses a rice flour sponge base and rice flour absorbs more liquid than wheat flour. Therefore make sure tlhe iquids in this recipe are measured properly and not reduced.
• Always bake in a pre- heated oven. I baked at the lowest rack of the oven as the cake browned too quickly when it was baked at the middle rack. You may want to test out to see which rack level bakes best for your oven temperature. 
• Do not open the oven door to check the cake until towards the end when the baking is almost complete. Otherwise run the risk that the cake may sink in the middle due to the temperature change when the oven is opened.

 

Check out this recipe tutorial to see how to make my Rice Flour Sponge Cake.

 

#2 Salty much?

For those of us who often cook with coconut milk, we know we do not skip the salt. It is Compulsory!

Salt & coconut cream are an unlikely but inseparable pair.  Just like apple to pie, peanut butter to jelly, milk and 🍪… you get the picture. A little greatly enhances the taste.

A simple dash of salt brings out the floral nuttiness of the coconut milk and highlights those subtle notes. In fact, for true Putu Piring fans, a dash of salt is usually added to the freshly grated coconut so that there is a hint of salt as one bites into those little fresh coconut shreds. Therefore, do not skip the salt.

 

#3 Easy Frosting

I’m not good with frosting but with this Putu Piring Cake, it is easy. No need for crisp straight sides, all my frosting imperfections were covered by the exuberant final throw of fresh grated coconut. It’s pretty much free form frosting - a little more, a little less …that’s entirely up to the baker!

One important tip for frosting this Putu Piring Cake - use only fresh grated coconut. If you use frozen desiccated coconut, the aesthetics and the taste will not be the same ... so trust me, it’s worth the effort to get freshly grated coconut for that final soft snowy finish.

 

#4 Storage

This Putu Piring Cakes can keep for 3-4 days well sealed and chilled in the refrigerator.