pukis — Indonesia

Kue pukis, usually simply called pukis, is an Indonesian snack cake with a soft, spongy centre and a lightly caramelised, half-moon shape. It is cooked directly in a special metal mold rather than baked in an oven. The snack is reported widely across Indonesia and is a familiar sight in neighbourhood markets, where vendors cook it to order over a charcoal or gas flame and sell it warm, often alongside other mold-cooked kue such as kue rangi or kue pancong. To prepare it, wheat flour is combined with coconut milk, eggs, sugar and yeast into a batter, which is left to rest and rise until slightly bubbly. The mold, made of a row of half-moon basins, is heated and lightly greased, then filled with batter and topped with extras such as grated cheese or chocolate chips before the lid is closed to finish cooking through steady, even heat. What distinguishes this version from other mold-cooked Indonesian snacks of the same family is the shape of the mold itself — a half-moon or boat-shaped basin rather than the round or flat basins used for related cakes — together with the toppings scattered into the batter before it sets.