Marilyn’s Puto

Your search for the best homemade puto recipe is over. The puto of your memories, soft fluffy deliciously moist with the distinctive crack on top is right here and dare I say better than what you can get at Goldilocks Bakeshop. Best of all, Marilyn’s Puto is simple and very easy to make.

The majority of Philippine native sweets called kakanin are based on rice and are usually eaten for Merienda a snack for in between meals and very seldom for dessert after meals.

Puto is usually eaten as a side dish for noodles and dinuguan. In the past, puto was made of rice and cooked in a steamer. Rice was soaked in water overnight, then ground into a slurry called galapong. Certainly a labour intensive task and not for the likes of me. By the way, the word puto is very close sounding to a derogatory word in the Philippines. The word itself comes from Malay/Tamil word that means portions and it makes perfect sense because puto was traditionally made in single portion sizes. Kerala, which is a state in India, has a version called puttu- a steamed rice and coconut log.

I’ve tried making puto with commercially available rice flour. It was just okay, nothing to get excited about and I wasn’t convinced that the ones made of flour was good enough, so I sort of just put the puto project in the back burner. I’m thinking it was too much trouble and if wanted it desperately I’d have to make a trek to a Filipino shop or wait until I go back to Manila.

And while you’re here, check out another Filipino favourite in Yema Custard Truffles.

The search for the best putomuffin recipe is over…

…until my friend Marilyn from Manila visited Sydney. She cooked some puto for me which was quite delicious. The puto she made tasted like the ones I remembered growing up with. She made some Puto topped with cheese and some had a savoury topping of salted egg and filled with braised pork which I later learned was called putopao, a hybrid puto and siopao. I was so surprised that it was made entirely of flour. It was soft and fluffy with the distinctive crack on the top.

The following is her recipe which is essentially a steamed muffin and I believe the best homemade puto. This Puto keeps well for a week as long as it’s covered. Delicious warmed up slathered in butter just like a breakfast muffin.

If you’re feeling fancier, you can add grated cheese, which I think makes a good contrast with the sweetness. I also believe it helps in forming the crack on top. The pandan version(green)I made, didn’t develop much of a crack. All the other ones I put cheese with, had cracks in them. And why am I so obsessed with the “cracks” you might ask? Well, the puto I grew up with, sold by vendors who used to ply their kakanin by the local church, had cracks. Now you know. By the way, if you make this recipe, do let me know how you went, via the comment section below. I would love to hear from you.

What you need to make steamed Marilyn’s Puto

• Plain Flour, Baking Powder – Yes this recipe uses flour instead of rice flour, which is the traditional way. However, I’ve tried recipes that has rice flour and I’ve never been happy with the result. The fluffiness I remember , was only present if I made it with wheat flour
• Caster sugar – Also known as granulated sugar. It has smaller grains than the normal white sugar which is ideal for baked and steamed goodies as it dissolves quickly.
• Butter
• Vanilla Essence
• Evaporated Milk or Coconut Milk
• Egg
• Sliced Salted Eggs, Grated Cheese – Toppings are optional

Simple Steps in Making Putomuffin

• Prepare your steamer set up, making sure that the pot has lots of water and that it will fit your muffin molds. Prepare the molds/pan you are using. Spray cooking oil to the mold/pan to prevent Puto from sticking
• Combine all ingredients except the toppings. Fill molds/pan 3/4 full with batter.
• Put cheese topping if you’re using cheese. I like to put cheese because it helps in forming the cracked top. Optional if you don’t like cheese.
• Steam for 10 minutes. DO NOT open the steamer during this time or you will end up with flat and dense putomuffins.
• If using salted eggs as toppings, put them on top of the steamed muffin, and steam for another 2 minutes.

Marilyn’s Best Ever Homemade Puto

Recipe by acmowlai

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: DessertCuisine: Filipino, asianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

12

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

Marilyn’s Puto

Ingredients

• 2 cups self raising flour OR 2 cups plain flour. If using plain flour use 3 teaspoons baking powder instead of 1 teaspoon only

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 75 g butter melted

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 cup evaporated milk or 1 cup Coconut Milk

• 1/4 cup water

• 1 egg beaten

• Optional Toppings/Flavoring

• grated cheese optional ,salted egg slices optional

• Pandan Essence or Ube Essence

Directions

• Combine all ingredients together except cheese, until smooth . Have your steamer set up. The water should be boiling.
• Spray oil on the pan you are using. The best pan to use is silicon which makes unmolding the puto easier.
• Pour batter Into the holes of a silicone muffin pan 3/4 full. Sprinkle grated cheese on top if using.
• Steam in a steamer for 10 minutes. DO NOT open the steamer during this ten minutes or you’ll end up with flat and dense puto. Be very careful when handling a steamer as it can cause severe burns!
• If putting salted egg, place a small slice of salted egg on top of muffin and steam another 2 minutes.
• For pandan/ube version
• Add a few drops of pandan/ube essence to the batter ( in step 1) drop by drop until the desired colour is reached . You can also use food colour.

Notes

• You can use a rice cooker to steam puto. The best pan to use is silicon muffin pan. The quantity in this recipe makes 1×6 inch diameter round puto or 12 minis.