I decided to try my hand at making a birthday cake for YP this year. As I don't have an oven, I opted for a steamed version. Yes, you can prove the critics wrong! You can achieve financial freedom! You can make a cake without an oven!

Being a hardcore engineer, I'm applying a structural thinking approach and will introduce the ingredients and the accessories separately.

"The ingredients."

"The accessories."

The first thing you want to do is to sift in 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/8 teaspoon of bicarbonate soda into 300g of self raising flour. The sifting process takes about half hour and requires a lot of patience. Put on some pimp music and imagine the powder's something more than it actually is.

"Sieve the flour (300g) in with the baking powder and bicarb soda."

Once you're done with the flour, set it aside, take out the mixer bowl, dump in 4 eggs and 200g of sugar. Mix it till it froths (or as the aunties say, "ribbon stage").

"4 eggs + 200g castor sugar."

"Mutilate the unborn chicks with sugar."

While, the eggs and sugar are rocking each other's world, mash 400g of bananas. Yes, use your hands, go crazy. When done, combine it into the egg-sugar mix.

"This is how you train kungfu my charming friends."

Now, gently pour in the flour + 150g of corn oil. At this stage, the mix will suddenly develop a high level of viscousity and the mixer will ter-sekat sekat. Just add more power. WHRRRRRR - DUKCHI DUKCHI DUKCHI!!!

While it's mixing, take out the cake pan and grease it, and then lightly dust it with flour. Turn the cake pan over and tap the base to remove excess flour.

"Add in flour mix and leave to mix. Grease pan with margerine."

"While dough is mixing dust cake pan with flour. Multi-task! Show your multi-core multi-thread processing power!"

Pour dough into cake pan. Remember to tap the base to remove air bubbles. Steam it in a wok for 30 mins or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. It will smell great, but resist the temptation to open the wok! Go do something else like play dota. (Just remember to come back in 30 minutes or else your cake will gg liao.)

"I also took the opportunity to give myself a facial steam treatment to unclog my pores."

Half hour later...

"Holy hiroshima!"

Nothing a little engineering ingenuity can't fix... (now note this difference between a professional and a noobie).

"Trim off ugly top for quick fix...hehe."

"Looks better when turned over. Good work and good game!"

Now what? Clean up the mess lor!

"Work work."

Overall statistics:

• Cost: ~ RM 50 (inclusive of some accessories)
• Total time elapsed: 2 hrs
• Results: Sucky looking but ok tasting. Have to ask YP la...

Addendum: Special thanks to Jia Yee for all her advice and lending me her alat mengebek. Also thanks to my mum who made so many cakes throughout my childhood of which I never truly appreciated. Now I know how much work and aspiration goes into each cake. Sorry ma.