Filipino rice cake (Puto)

The best puto I tasted was made of rice flour. Not the ready-to-use rice flour from the store but actual rice grains made to powder by grinding. I'm not sure if this is still a thing but that is really the best 'puto' I had. Ordinary bread flour can be used as a substitute if there's no rice flour available.

As you maybe aware, making puto involves steaming a mixture which you would normally bake otherwise. You may want to upscale or downscale the volume of this recipe but make sure to keep the ratio balanced. You need to have small molds that can be steamed - it could be made of silicone or aluminium tin.

Ingredients:
2 cups of rice flour
1 cup of granulated white sugar
6 teaspoon of baking powder
2 cups of fresh milk
1/2 teaspoon of vanila extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup of grated cheddar cheese
Butter for brushing the molds

Procedures:
1. Prepare each molds by greasing it with butter or oil using a baking brush
2. In a mixing bowl, sift and combine all dry ingredients - rice flour, sugar and baking powder
3. In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients - milk, vanila extract and eggs. You can use electric mixer for this
4. Gradually pour the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Use low to medium speed as you do not want to create a lot of air bubbles which will be trapped in the mixture and will then form undesirable holes when steamed
5. Add vanilla extract and grated cheese. Fold slowly using a spatula.
6. Once vanilla and cheese are evenly combined in the mixture, the batter is then ready. Fill each prepared mold with batter up to 3/4 full
7. Prepare the steamer. Add 5 cups of boiling water or room temparature water on the bottom of the steamer and place to the cooker in low heat. Cover the steamer lid with cheese cloth or clean kitchen towel. This needs to be done to avoid water from dripping to the batter
8. While waiting for the water to boil, carefully place each mold to the steamer basket. Once the water started boiling, position the steamer basket above the bottom pot and put the cloth-covered lid on
9. Steam for about 10 minutes. This is for the size of the mold I used (see pictures below). Check if fully cooked by inserting toothpick into the rice cakes. If it comes out clean, then it's ready to be taken out of the steam. If not, cook for further 3 minutes interval and check back again. Remember, if you are using a bigger molds, it takes more time to cook. You can add a small slice of cheese on top when the cakes are halfway cooked. This is how I remember it done locally back home
10. Once cooked, wait til it slightly cooled down. Carefully remove from the molds and put into a serving plate
11. Best served with grated coconut on top along with coffee as breakfast! You can freeze the remaining puto and steam when you want to eat it.