Spiced steamed cake (ma lai go?) - Looking for a recipe

[shain]

Hi, I'd be grateful if someone could point me at some recipe for the following Taiwanese/Chinese steamed cake: image - specifically, a dark colored version flavored with a spice mix that include anise, fennel or licorice.

I believe the cake to be "Malay sponge cake" (ma lai go / 馬拉糕) or "black sugar cake" (黑糖糕). There's no shortage of recpies for this cake, but none that includes a spice mix / anise / licorice.

I might try guessing the spice blend (star anise, ginger and clove and pepper, perhaps?).

Thanks  

[Burmese Days]

I looked pretty well but couldn't find any recipes which include any licorice-esque flavors. The closest I found was this spiced ma lai gao but it's spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg.

It might be helpful to know where you heared of this type of ma lai gao? Did you try it somewhere or read about it?

 

[shain]

@Burmese Days Thanks for looking into it, I really appreciate it. I had it from a street vendor in Taipei a year ago. It was quite late and we were a bit tipsy on the way back to the hotel. I remember us not being hungry at all, but the scent was intoxicating. The cake itself was OK, but I'm sure there's a lot of potential to it.