Maolan steam cakes

In celebration of Easter which isn't until April 24 this year apparently, not like I would know by the candy sales at Target here. I mean, there isn't Target here, I don't actually mean that sarcastically... anyway - in pre-celebration of Easter, and actually mostly just in celebration of the weekend, I decided that I would head over to Maolan and conduct a small baking experiment! When I returned to the States in February, I made sure that I brought back the Wilton silicon baking cups that I bought from Sur La Table last year. Baking is a passion of mine and I wanted to make sure that I made it possible in China. With the cute cups, I also bought matching Easter egg with chicks cupcake papers. See:

Ah! But I'm getting ahead of myself, letting you see the finished product before I even show you my equipment. Surely you're wondering how I plan on baking muffins in China with no oven... I contemplated it for a while before my eyes fell upon this.

Ta da! The rice cooker, prominent in almost every Chinese household, Lucas, Casey and Chenyuan's house was no different. Sitting in the corner of the kitchen would be my oven for the day. I came prepared, not only with cups, papers, but a mix. A just add milk mix that I would never have touched in America.. but feel so blessed that I have in China!

After a quick pour of milk, I whipped the mix gently before I  dolloped tiny portions into the cups. 

 

 Would this turn out to be delicious or a hot mess? With fingers crossed, I tossed three experimental ones into the rice cooker.

 

Sssss! The steaming of the rice cooker sizzled as I lifted up the top. I couldn't resist! I had to seeeeee! Success.  Behold! Nommy blueberry American muffins. Just in time for Easter colors. 

The Biggie

I steamed with 1/3 of a cup of water at the bottom of the pan - I wasn't sure how the heat would travel through the rice cooker without the help of a little bit of moisture. Ten minutes later - another batch came out! I made a total of four batches of tiny mini steam cakes. Nothing tastes better than success on the first try. Except, perhaps repeated success... I have chocolate chip muffins - to which I will add some bananas, next time. For those of you coming to China with hopes of eating delicious baked goodies, there's hope for you yet!

The minis

*These muffins have received the Alex Casey Jones stamp of approval!