ROSE MANTOU

No, this is not the rose mantou.

This the birthday cake baked by my sister Vicky in Australia for the other sister, May's birthday over the weekend.
When she was telling me about the cake she was going to make, I could not picture how it would turned out.

But when I saw this picture, I was greatly surprised. She did such a creative cake to create something along the medical world. Pair of sethescope, the heart (May is in open heart surgery department), the pair of surgical gloves and the gauze cap and the "blood" (it was jam).

She did baked a Thomas the Train Cake for my nephew's birthday too earlier this year!

My birthday cake for May is this tray of Rose Mantou. Of course, I can only send a photo to her over here.

The recipe here is taken from the blog of Table for 2 -Wendy. I like her recipe, they are precise and detailed instructions are given. I have tried her recipes and I find that most of time they are reliable and successful.

I managed to find some purple sweet potato from the market. Steamed them and pureed them with water to make a fine paste before adding to the dough.

The dought after kneading- the dough is left to proof.
After an hour, the dough has doubled and is punched down before rolling and shaping.

I rolled the dough into a long roll and then weigh and cut into small balls

These balls are left in the fridge while I was shaping a few of them at a time.

Rolling out each piece - I rolled the edge thinner to create the rippled effect instead of hand shaping them.

Layering each piece onto of another before rolling into a log.

These are the first 2 roses.
Then I realised I have to help the rose to "open" their petals.

Here they are - looking pretty and ready for the 2nd proofing

After another 45 minutes of 2nd proofing, they are ready for the wok. Steam them over high heat for 20 minutes.
Remove immediately from plate to cool. The colour is a bit pale as I did not add any colouring.

They are very soft and you can smell the fragrance of the sweet potato too. I am totally satisfied with the work, its challenging and creative to make.