Cooking with... Sherie of maameemoomoo: a 1/2 food blog

Shortly before the Chinese New Year, I spotted a recipe for kek lapis (Indonesian layer cake) with cranberry making the rounds on Twitter. I Tweeted the talented baker back and asked her about other local and regional desserts.

“There are desserts aplenty in Singapore!” she shot back in an email and provided me a long list of ones to try. Today, I am delighted to welcome Sherie, the baker behind that kek lapis, blogger at maameemoomoo: a 1/2 food blog, yogini, and mother to three adorable boys, to notabilia!

To Sherie…

o o o o o

Kuih, also known as kueh or kue, is a general term for bite-sized sweet snacks or desserts found in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Kuih keria is a doughnut made with sweet potatoes. It is often tossed in sugar syrup (which crystallizes into a glaze) and eaten at any time during the day—in the morning during breakfast or late in the afternoon with tea.

Kuih kerias sold by street vendors are not purple, but orange. So why is mine purple? Because I’ve been fortunate enough to find purple sweet potatoes in the wet market! Purple sweet potatoes are not that common and rather difficult to find. The first thought that raced through the mind when I spied these gems was, I need to use them for my guest post on notabilia!

Don’t worry if you can’t find purple sweet potatoes. Purple or orange, these kuihs are equally delicious.

Kuih Keria

For doughnuts:
500g sweet potatoes (peeled and steamed until fully cooked)
30g tapioca flour
60g all-purpose flour
oil for frying

For glaze:
200g granulated sugar
70ml water

To make doughnuts:
1. Mash sweet potatoes until very fine. Add tapioca flour and all-purpose flour to the potatoes. Knead to form a soft dough. Shape dough into balls and make a hole in the center.

2. Heat oil in large saucepan or wok. Deep fry the rings until they are golden.

3. Drain well.

To make glaze:
1. Boil sugar and water in a wok until it bubbles and thickens. Turn off heat and drop in the rings. Toss well in the syrup and remove.

Once the sugar crystallizes, the kuihs are ready to be served. Kuih keria is really quite simple to make. Unlike regular doughnuts, which need to be proofed twice, these kuihs can be fried straight away as they do not contain yeast. Really quite fuss free.

So what are you waiting for? Make some today!

o o o o o

Thanks, Sherie. I look forward to our durian high tea at Goodwood Park Hotel. Yes, readers, Sherie loves durian as much I do.

I welcome recipes from Singapore and beyond for Cooking with…. Priority is given to original recipes that have not yet appeared online. Please indicate if your recipe has already appeared online or has been submitted elsewhere. Please email all recipes, including high-quality .jpgs, to me with the subject line ‘Recipes.’

(Additional credits: Photographs by Sherie of maameemoomoo: a 1/2 food blog; geometric watercolor pattern via August Empress.)