How to Make Soft and Plump Pukis

Name: Pukis
Prep time: 90 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 100 min
Ingredients: 10 gr flour; 4 gr instant yeast; 50 ml water (warm); 20 gr sugar; 165 ml coconut milk (thick); 100 gr sugar; ½ tsp salt; 165 ml milk; 80 ml condensed milk; 1 tbsp vanilla essence; 2 eggs; 3 egg yolk; 100 gr sugar; 300 gr flour; 125 gr unsalted butter (melted); Butter or margarine to brush; 2 tsp chocolate paste; 1-2 tbsp pandan extract; A few slices of cheddar cheese

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Pukis is a traditional Indonesian snack, made of fermented batter with coconut milk. The sphere cake is super soft and has spongy, fluffy texture that will make you fall in love at first bite. Made from a simple batter and mixed with chocolate or pandan, Pukis is a snack that’s hard to resist.

A plate of six pukis of different flavors lined up in front of a pan full of pukis.

Indonesia has so many traditional snacks or dessert that are still very popular until now. One of them is pukis. It is a soft and plump cake made of fermented egg batter with coconut milk.

Long fermentation hour results in a very soft and fluffy cake with a nice honeycomb texture inside. This is what makes pukis a very popular street food.

There are other cakes that uses fermentation method similar to this one like Bika Ambon or Mini Pandan Bika Ambon. Malaysian Honeycomb Cake also has similar texture but the batter is not fermented. Putu Ayu Pandan Pastel Tutup

Why You Will Love This Recipe

Bouncy texture and delicious – Fermentation of yeast and coconut milk will create a wonderful texture and flavor that you will never find in other snack. You should really try this recipe and you will love it for sure!
Small sizes– The cakes come in small sizes and one batch can yield for up to 25 small pieces enough for the whole family.
Inexpensive – The ingredients are all very easy-to-get from any grocery store and very inexpensive.

Recipe Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

Coconut Milk – use canned coconut milk, it is more practical. But if you have fresh coconut milk, you are welcome to use it.

Instant Yeast – Make sure your instant yeast is in good condition. If it is still good, the yeast mixture will be bubbly after 15 minutes.

Butter – You can use butter or margarine. The traditional recipe mostly use margarine. But I find that using butter is even better.

Flour – Use regular flour or all purpose flour.

Cornstarch – A little cornstarch will help make the cake fluffy.

Variations

You can be very creative with this pukis recipe. Take some of the vanilla butter and add other flavor like taro, pandan, chocolate. Or you can also add roasted peanuts, cheese slices or ham slices.

Just experiment and create many flavors out of the original batter. Start from chocolate, pandan, taro, or maybe red velvet. Just be creative and have your own pukis trademark!

Be sure to check out the full recipe and ingredient list below

How to Make:

Step by step process of preparing the yeast mixture and coconut milk mixture.

STEP 1. Mix all the ingredients for yeast mixture in a bowl. Stir well until the yeast, flour, and sugar dissolve (Images 1, 2). Cover with cling wrap and let it ferment for 15 minutes. Mix all the ingredients for coconut milk mixture. Pour coconut milk, sugar, salt, condensed milk, and vanilla extract into a sauce pan (Images 3, 4, 5).

STEP 1. In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the yeast mixture. Stir until the yeast, flour, and sugar fully dissolve (Images 1, 2). Cover with cling wrap and let it ferment for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine all the ingredients for the coconut milk mixture: coconut milk, sugar, salt, condensed milk, and vanilla extract in a saucepan (Images 3, 4, 5).

Step by step process of mixing the egg batter.

STEP 2. Place the saucepan over low heat. Stir until the sugar fully dissolves and the mixture simmers gently. Remove from the stove and let it cool slightly. In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugar. Beat with medium speed until the batter becomes pale and thick (Images 6, 7). Sift together the flour and cornstarch into a separate bowl. Add part of the sifted flour and cornstarch to the egg batter (Image 8) and whisk until well combined.

Photo collage of mixing the yeast mixture and coconut milk mixture into the batter.

STEP 3. Next, add part of the coconut milk mixture (Image 9) and whisk again. Alternate adding the remaining flour mixture and coconut milk mixture until everything is incorporated into the egg batter. By now, the yeast mixture should be nice and bubbly—pour it in (Image 10) and whisk until smooth. Add the melted butter and whisk well (Image 11). Your basic Pukis batter is ready! Cover the bowl with cling wrap or a cloth (Image 12) and let it ferment for 1-2 hours, or until it doubles in volume.

Photo collage of mixing the basic batter with chocolate and pandan extract.

STEP 4. After the batter has fermented (Image 13), give it a whisk to deflate the bubbles (Image 14). Divide the batter into three portions—follow your preference or my video guide. I separate 450-500g of the batter and add homemade pandan extract to make pandan batter (Image 15). Take 150g of the batter and mix in chocolate paste or cocoa powder (Image 16). I use the chocolate batter just for an accent on top of the vanilla batter.

Photo collage of baking the batter using pukis mold.

STEP 5. If you don’t have a pukis mold, a pancake pan will work just fine! Brush the mold with butter (Image 17) and heat it on the stove until it’s really hot. You can test by sprinkling a few drops of water—if it sizzles, you’re ready! Stir the batter, then pour it into the mold holes until ¾ full (Image 18). Cover with a lid and bake on medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the cakes are plump and springy (Image 19). Take them out and place them on a cooling rack. While still warm, brush the tops with butter or margarine (Image 20). Keep going until all the batter is used up. Enjoy your fresh, fluffy Pukis!

Serving

Serve this wonderful snack with a glass of traditional drink such as Wedang Jahe (Red Ginger Drink) or Lemongrass Pandan, Ginger Lemon, or Butterfly Pea Flower Tea. They are perfect when paired with Pukis.

Pro Tips

Always stir the batter before pouring into the mold.
The pukis mold has to be really hot before pouring the batter in. Otherwise, the cake will be sticky and hard to take out from the mold. And also the cake will not rise so well.
Make sure your yeast is in good condition. To know the yeast is in good condition is by checking the yeast mixture after 10-15 minutes. The mixture will be bubbly.

FAQs about Pukis

What mold should I use if I don’t have pukis mold?

No Pukis mold? No problem! You can use a muffin pan or mini loaf pans as an alternative. Just lightly grease them and adjust the cooking time so the Pukis still come out soft and fluffy. They might look a bit different, but trust me—your taste buds won’t care!

What should I do if the yeast mixture is not bubbly?

If your yeast mixture isn’t showing any bubble action after 10 minutes, chances are the yeast is inactive. Make sure you’re using warm (not hot!) water to activate it. If it’s still flat, swap out the yeast for a fresh batch and start again. The Pukis batter needs that yeast to rise!

Why is my pukis not plump?

A few things could be the culprit here! Check if your batter rested long enough for the yeast to do its thing—usually 30-45 minutes. Also, avoid overmixing, as it can make the batter dense. Lastly, make sure your cooking temperature is not too low; the batter needs enough heat to puff up.

Pukis with chocolate flavor cut in half.

Storage

This cake can only stay fresh for 2 days because it contains coconut milk. If you have some leftover, keep it in a closed container in the fridge. The next day, reheat with a pan or in a microwave.