Bean paste is a vegetarian cream made from just two ingredients, white beans and sugar, closely resembling the Malaysian-style cream used for decorating cakes and cupcakes. It takes a while to make: the beans are soaked overnight, boiled, pureed, and cooked down to a semolina-porridge consistency. I recommend giving it a try, if only as an experiment - enjoy!
Bean Paste, Vegetarian Cream
A vegetarian cream made from white beans and sugar for decorating cakes and cupcakes in Malaysian style.
Ingredients
Method
- Soak the beans in water so they swell and expand - ideally overnight, for 12-15 hours.
- Drain the water, add fresh water, bring to a boil, and cook for a couple of minutes - until the skins come off easily. Drain, cover with cold water, and peel the beans.
- Return the peeled beans to the pot, cover with water, and cook until soft enough to puree, about 1.5 hours.
- Remove from the heat, puree with a blender, and pass through a sieve a couple of times.
- Transfer the puree to cheesecloth folded into a couple of layers and squeeze out the excess liquid.
- Transfer the mixture to a saucepan, add the sugar, and cook down while stirring constantly until it reaches the consistency of semolina porridge.
- Divide the finished cream into bowls, tint as desired, and transfer to piping bags. Freeze piped decorations briefly before using them to decorate the cake.
Tips
- Tint the cream once it's finished, dividing it into bowls, and transfer it straight into piping bags.
- Finished flowers and decorations are best frozen briefly in the freezer before decorating the cake.
- Cook the mixture down while stirring constantly, like pastry cream - it's a slow process.
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