Bentng (Three Layer Egg Custard Cake)

I don't know what Bentng means or why this is called Bentng. It is made from only 3 main ingredients - eggs, coconut milk and sugar. Of course there is a little bit of flour to bind the custard and pandan juice for fragrance and coloring. In terms of taste, imagine how kaya (coconut jam) tastes like. It is very similar tasting as the ingredients are the same as kaya. And the texture is soft and smooth. Totally yummy!

As far as measurements are concerned, it is pretty simple too. One bowl of eggs, one bowl of sugar and one bowl of coconut milk. To cut down on sugar, my Aunt reduces it to three quarters of a bowl. You could cut down more if you like.

The Bentng sold in town these days are not as tasty as the ones I used to eat when I was a child. This is due to cost cutting whereby the vendors use less eggs and more flour. So it would be more worthwhile to make Bentng at home. 

This recipe was given to me by my Aunt and I was very fortunate to learn the method from her a few months ago.

Bentng (Three Layer Egg Custard Cake)

Ingredients :
- 1 bowl eggs
- 1 bowl coconut milk
- 1 bowl sugar (I scaled this to 1/2 bowl)
- 4 tablespoons flour (see notes below)
- 7 to 8 pandan leaves blended in some water to extract juice
- some yellow coloring (optional)
- some green coloring (optional)

Method :
- Beat eggs and gradually add sugar while beating.
- Beat until sugar dissolves.
- Add coconut milk and stir to evenly mix the batter.
- Add flour and mix.
- Strain the batter and divide into 3 equal portions.
- For the green batter, add 1 teaspoon of flour into the pandan juice first (I forgot to do this step) and then add to the batter and stir. You can add a bit of green coloring to get a more intense color.
- Add a bit of yellow coloring to the other two bowls of batter (if using coloring).
- Oil the baking pan and pour in the first layer of yellow batter. Steam for about 10-12 minutes
- When the yellow batter is almost firm, gently pour in the green batter and steam for about 10-12 minutes.
- Repeat with the last yellow batter.
- When to batter is fully cooked, remove pan from steamer and cool.
- Cut into diagonal shape and serve.
- May be chilled in the fridge before serving.

Notes :
- the bowl I used is about 200ml in volume each.
- you need to adjust the amount of flour according to the volume of the batter. In my case, if I use a bigger bowl, I would most likely add another 1 or 2 tablespoons of flour. Don't put too much flour or else the kuih will be hard.
- before pouring in the 2nd batter, ensure that the first layer is almost firm. If you pour in too early before it firms up, the batter will bleed into each other (see photo below). And if you wait too long until the batter is fully cooked, then the layers won't stick together and will separate when you slice the kuih.
- there is no necessity to use coloring. It is just to intensify the color as natural pandan will give you a very light green and the yellow of the eggs will depend on the intensity of the yolk's color.
- if you use a removable bottom or springform pan, it would be easier to remove the kuih.

I was impatient and poured the yellow batter too soon. The green batter bled into it :(

This batch is better but still there were some green spots.

This is how it looks like in the pan. Quite messy, I will use removable bottom or springform next time.

This kuih is also nice eaten cold from the fridge.

I am submitting this post to Malaysian Food Fest, Terengganu Month hosted by Lena of frozen wings.