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Water Chestnut Cake

July 27, 2015 30 Comments

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Step by step recipe of traditional Chinese water chestnut cake. Have you ever encountered with Chinese water chestnut cake in dim sum halls? They look yellow and transparent and present a sweet taste.

water chestnut cake

Water chestnut known as 马蹄 in Chinese, is a popular fruit, which has a unique sweetness and comforting crisp texture. Traditionally, housewives mainly make Chinese water chestnut cake to celebrate Chinese New Year along with other Chinese style cakes like radish cake. However the chilled version is a great dessert for summer days too. You may find that the cake has a brown color, which is actually bought by the sugar. If you prefer to have a more lighten one or even white one, simply replace the brown sugar partially or completely by rock sugar.

Check the ingredients firstly, the right picture shows the water chestnut flour and slab sugar, the left side is fresh water chestnut (usually available in winter).water chestnut cake

Soak the water chestnut flour with 150ml water for around 10 minutes.

During the process, dissolve sugar with the remaining water (550ml) over slow fire. Until the sugar is completely dissolved, cook the chopped water chestnut for 2 minutes and immediately stir the sugar water to soaked flour mixture. At this time, you will get a thick batter.

 

water chestnut cake

Set up the steamer and steam for 20 minutes.

water chestnut cake

And in order to make the cake as square as possible, I use an 8 inch and 50cm high square baking pan. However just make sure you get a large enough steam set up or you can either make less each time or store the batter in two square or rectangular steamers separately.

When hot, the cake will be crystal and transparent.

water chestnut cake

cool down completely and then cut into thick slices.

water chestnut cake

water chestnut cake

5 from 2 votes
Print
Water Chestnut Cake
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Total Time
40 mins
 
Chinese style water chestnut cake--a traditional and yummy dim sum dessert
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Chinese
Keyword: cake, Water Chestnut
Servings: 4 full of a 8 inch square pan and around 4 cm thick
Calories: 201 kcal
Author: Elaine
Ingredients
  • 125 g water chestnut flour
  • 5 fresh water chestnut , or you can use canned one too
  • 2 slabs of sugar pieces , around 190g, this can be replaced by brown sugar or white sugar
  • 700 ml water , 150ml for soaking + 550ml for sugar water
Instructions
  1. Soak the flour with 150ml water and stir until smooth. Set aside for 10 minutes. Then re-stir. You can strain the mixture if necessary.
  2. In a deep plan, add the remaining water and the sugar pieces, heat over slow fire until the sugar is completely dissolved. Bring to boil and add minced fresh water chestnut in. Stop fire until the content begin to boil again.
  3. After the sugar water boils, stir the sugar water slowly to the square pan for soaking the flour in first step immediately. During the process, keep stirring the flour water to avoid settling to the bottom. After adding the boiling sugar water, the batter will become really thick. Shake it slightly to trowel.
  4. Set up the steamer and wok and then steam the batter for around 20 minutes. To check whether the batter is completely done, insert a toothpick in and see whether it is clean after pulling out.
  5. Cook down completely and then cut it into thick slices. In summer days, it can be directly served cold after stored in fridge. And in winter days, pan-frying the cake with a small amount of oil and serve hot.
Nutrition Facts
Water Chestnut Cake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 201
% Daily Value*
Sodium 12mg1%
Potassium 36mg1%
Carbohydrates 51g17%
Sugar 48g53%
Vitamin C 0.4mg0%
Calcium 5mg1%
Iron 0.3mg2%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

water chestnut cake
You can enjoy them directly or store the left in refrigerator. And in winter days, pan-frying them for re-heat.

water chestnut cake
water chestnut cake

Filed Under: dessert and bakery, dim sum, Recipes

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  1. Anne says

    July 31, 2015 at 3:37 pm

    This looks amazing!!!! I’ve never tried water chestnut cake, but I really need to after seeing this post!!! I’m glad it looks so easy to make at home! 😀

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      August 1, 2015 at 7:52 pm

      Hi Anne,

      I used to have this water chestnut cake in dim sum halls. But honestly this is my first time to cook it at home. I am quite impressed by the simple process of make this yummy water chestnut cake. Hope you will try it Anne. And look forward to your good news.

      Reply
  2. Madeleine says

    August 9, 2015 at 8:28 am

    What can I substitute for water chestnut flour?

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      August 10, 2015 at 8:13 pm

      Hi Madeleine,
      That’s an interesting question! You can also make jelly with fresh water chestnut by using wheat starch or mung bean starch. However if water chestnut flour is skipped, it should not be named as water chestnut flour.

      Reply
  3. Ally says

    January 3, 2016 at 6:18 am

    Hi there,

    Is it possible to make the cake without adding any sugar?

    – Just light sweeteners like Stevia or Lo Han Guo?

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      January 4, 2016 at 10:39 am

      Hi Ally,

      Sure, you can skip sugar and add other sweeteners. It is just a tradition to add sugar in this cake.

      Reply
  4. Kelly vu says

    January 26, 2016 at 1:56 am

    I make chestnut cakes but the cakes is not very firm enough like the one in dim sum . Can you help me.

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      February 16, 2016 at 9:32 pm

      Hi kelly,
      May I know whether your chestnut cake is firmed and what’s the current texture. If it is just slightly soft, you can adjust the water slightly for an extra firm texture.

      Reply
      • Doris says

        January 21, 2017 at 5:01 pm

        Yes, mine is very soft like jelly. cannot cut have to scoop with a spoon. May I know what is the reason? is it a different brand of chestnut powder, too much water, or ????
        Thank you for your advice.

        Reply
        • Elaine says

          January 22, 2017 at 10:28 am

          Hi Doris,
          This never happens to me for the special brand of chestnut powder I used. Can you read the instructions and see how much water recommended on the package. If it is too soft, the problem might be the water amount.

          Reply
  5. Torb says

    February 4, 2016 at 6:23 am

    HI was just wondering if this was really chewy and whether it would be counted as a preserve of a fruit?

    Reply
    • Torb says

      February 4, 2016 at 6:27 am

      Also how long do pre-made shop bought ones last for?

      Reply
  6. Giusi says

    May 23, 2016 at 12:27 am

    I used the Indian water chestnut flour because I could only found that one and it is not coming out transparent. Do you know why?

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      May 25, 2016 at 2:25 pm

      How about the texture? The water chestnut flour in China actually is kind of starch made from water chestnuts.

      Reply
  7. Odelia says

    December 19, 2016 at 5:40 am

    I have 2 questions:
    1)The 150ml water for soaking waterchestnut flour is part of the 700ml water?
    2)You did not mentioned after soaking the waterchestnut flour for 10mins it should be stirred and strained. It is not like a smooth flour. What is left on the strainer are pieces of dried waterchestnut which needs to be throw away.

    This is my 3rd time making waterchestnut cake for CNY.

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      December 19, 2016 at 1:34 pm

      Hi Odelia,
      For your questions
      1. Yes, we need 700ml water in total.
      2. After soaking, the mixture should be quite smooth, so I did not strain the mixture. But that’s a great suggestion. I have updated the recipe.

      Reply
  8. Rebecca says

    February 21, 2017 at 9:53 am

    Hi,

    I just have 1 question the cake is made however I find it not as sweet as I like ( my personal taste) is there anyway that I can add more sugar at this point?

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      February 21, 2017 at 10:06 am

      No, the sugar can only be added in the second step.

      Reply
  9. we be kings says

    March 24, 2017 at 7:37 am

    Is this similar to what is osmanthus cake? I’m reading chinese novels and they all mention osmanthus cakes and I can’t remember if I’ve ever had it in a resturant. Do you know how to make it? Thanks. Really enjoy your site.

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      March 26, 2017 at 8:23 am

      We have two types of osmanthus cake in China. One is osmanthus jelly cake which is quite similar to this one. But the one mentioned in the novels should be the other one, steamed rice flour cake with osmanthus cake.

      Reply
      • we be kings says

        April 4, 2017 at 10:05 am

        Aahh… okay I see. Thank you for replying

        Reply
  10. Marga C. says

    September 21, 2017 at 2:35 am

    5 stars
    Hi all, I came across with this water chestnut recipe. It is really very easy to follow the instructions and very delicious.
    Some of you mention that the cake was to soft or not coming out transparent.
    Look for PURE water chestnut flour. I use PAN TANG BRAND.
    Some other brands use a combination of flours, just read the ingredients in the box.

    Reply
    • Elaine says

      September 25, 2017 at 9:04 pm

      Thanks so much Marga for this useful information. Yes, we need high quality pure water chestnut flour for this recipe.

      Reply
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