Chocolate steamed cake

I have not done steamed cakes for a long time. In fact, this is only my third time. I previous two times have not been very successful. This time, I am trying out a recipe from the KAF cookbook, in hope that I'll have better result. I am making this to share with a neighbor that I've not seen for weeks.

Recipe: Chocolate steamed cake (make 2 small cakes)

Ingredients:
- 1.5 ounces unsweetened Trader Joe's baking chocolate
- 1/2 tp cocoa powder
- 1 tp butter
- 2 tp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tp kosher salt
- 1+1/2 tp baking powder
- 1/2 cup skim milk (2/3 evaporated milk, 1/3 water)

Procedure:
1. Melt chocolate pieces and butter in a saucepan on low heat. When chocolate has melted, add vanilla. Stir. Set aside, keeping warm.

2. Sieve together flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder.

3. Beat an egg until light and lemon-colored. (Honestly I don't know when this happens.)
4. Add sugar to the beaten egg. Beat until fluffy. (This does not seem to happen in my experiment.)
5. Add dry ingredients and milk alternately to the egg mixture. Beat lightly to mix.
6. Add chocolate mixture and stir to blend.
7. Place batter in a greased metal bowl. Place in bamboo steamer. Steam on med-low setting for 1.5 hours.
8. Remove from kettle. turn out cake while it is still warm, and allow to cool on a rack.

Results:

12:47pm, all ingredients (except egg):

12:50pm, chocolate with butter, ready to melt:

12:59pm, flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa sieved together:

1:03pm, chocolate melted in pan:

1:06pm, egg to beat on low setting:

1:08pm, egg beaten for over 1 minute on low setting:

1:08pm, ready to add sugar in 2-3 batches:

1:10pm, last batch of sugar added:

1:12pm, sugar and egg mixed:

1:15pm, mixture being beaten at medium speed to try to get fluffy:

1:18pm, mixture beaten:

1:19pm, dry ingredients and milk to add to mixture:

1:23pm, dry ingredients and milk beaten into the mixture:

1:29pm, chocolate stirred in:

1:36pm, batter poured into greased pans:

1:36pm, batter height in pans:

1:37pm, ready to steam:

1:39pm, setting of layer 2 to prevent condensation on the bottom layer:

1:40pm, steaming started:

Steam for 1 hour and 10 minutes without opening the lid, water needs to be just simmering, not boiling hard.
2:53pm, layer 1 done:

2:53pm, layer 2 done:

2:54pm, heights of the two layers:

2:54pm, tops of the two layers:

2:56pm, edge of layer 1, spongy and soft:

2:57pm, layer 1 broken off when trying to turn out of the bowl:

2:57pm, interior of layer 1:

2:54pm, top of layer 2:

2:59pm, bottom of layer 2, with just a little piece torn off from the dish:

3:00pm, edge of layer 2:

3:00pm, top of layer 2 turned right-side up:

3:05pm, layer 2 to cool in steamer lined with paper towel:

 Wonderful steamer!

Observations:
1. Wow! Spectacular result!!!
2. This cake is especially light and moist when it's just out of the steamer.
3. I must confess that this experiment has rebuilt my confidence with steaming cake, such as ma lai go. It makes me dance.
4. Bamboo steamer is a perfect tool for steaming because it avoids condensation. It is not necessary to cover the two dishes during the steaming process.