Kue Cubit (Indonesian Pinch Cake)

Easy dessert recipe: Kue Cubit or Indonesian pinch cake! These cute bite-sized mini cakes are soft, fluffy, and customizable. made with flour, milk, and egg. Add your favorite toppings for extra fun!—perfect for a sweet treat, anytime family treats, or school snacks. An iconic Indonesian street food that screams nostalgia!

Get ready to dive into pure snack heaven!

What’s Kue Cubit (a.k.a. Indonesian Pinch Cake)?

Kue Cubit are mini cakes from Indonesia formed in a special pan. These little cakes are very easy and quick to make. They are made from a simple batter of wheat flour, sugar, egg, margarine, milk, baking powder, and baking soda. They’re soft and spongy inside, often half-cooked for a gooey center, and topped with fun ingredients such as chocolate sprinkles

These bite-sized cakes from Indonesia that are super easy to eat—literally, you can “pinch” them with your fingers! That’s where the name comes from. So that was where this cake got its name, this snack is called kue cubit or pinch cake because of its small size, as we have to pinch it when we want to eat it. You’ll often find them at street food stalls or school canteens, especially around Jakarta.

The History

Kue Cubit became a big hit in the 1990s, especially among school kids. Sellers would pop up outside school gates or busy markets, cooking these cakes fresh and pulling them out of the molds with a quick pinch using skewers or tongs.

Fun fact: The recipe was likely inspired by Dutch mini pancakes called poffertjes (from the colonial days). Both use a similar batter—flour, milk, eggs, and baking powder—and are made in little molds. But this kue cubit adds a twist by throwing on toppings and making them extra gooey in the middle.

You can keep things classic or turn the batter into different flavors and use different toppings for fun. Serve Kue Cubit as a snack, breakfast, or dessert.

Why You’ll Love It

• Super quick to make
• Only needs basic ingredients: flour, sugar, eggs, margarine, milk, baking powder, and baking soda
• Tastes amazing, warm and fresh
• Easy to customize with your fave flavors and toppings

Serve them as a snack, for breakfast, or dessert—they’re great any time of day!

So there you have it—your own homemade Kue Cubit! Whether you like them gooey in the middle or cooked through, plain or loaded with toppings, these tiny cakes are always a crowd-pleaser. Happy pinching and snacking!

Ingredients of Kue Cubit (Indonesian Pinch Cake)

• All-purpose flour; the main structure of the batter. It forms the body of the cake, giving it shape and texture
• Granulated sugar: Sugar adds sweetness to the batter. It also contributes to the browning and slight caramelization of the cakes as they cook, which enhances both flavor and color.
• Baking soda and Baking Powder are a leavening agent that helps the batter rise and become airy. Baking powder contains both acid and base. It helps create a gentle, consistent rise and contributes to the overall fluffiness.
• Vanilla extract enhances the aroma and flavor, giving the cakes a comforting, sweet scent.
• Egg adds richness and structure. It helps bind all the ingredients together and contributes to the soft, slightly chewy texture that makes kue cubit so satisfying.
• Milk provides moisture to the batter and activates the leavening agents. It also adds a mild creaminess, improving the texture and giving a soft crumb.
• Margarine adds fat, which makes the texture tender and rich, also contributes to flavor, and helps keep the kue cubit moist. You can use unsalted butter as an alternative.
• Chocolate Sprinkle for Garnish

Let’s Make Kue Cubit (Indonesian Pinch Cake)

First, melt the margarine in a small saucepan or microwave-safe bowl. Set it aside and allow it to cool slightly while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Second, in a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth and well blended.

Then, sift in the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Sifting helps prevent lumps and ensures the dry ingredients are evenly distributed in the batter.

Next, whisk the dry and wet ingredients together until the mixture becomes a smooth, thick batter. Make sure no lumps are remaining.

After that, pour in the cooled, melted margarine. Mix until the margarine is fully incorporated and the batter has a silky, cohesive texture.

Now, let the batter rest for about 15 minutes at room temperature. This rest period allows the gluten to relax, which results in a softer, more tender texture when cooked.

Meanwhile, preheat your kue cubit mold or takoyaki pan over low heat. Lightly grease each cavity with a bit of margarine to prevent sticking.

Once the mold is hot, fill each cavity about ¾ full with the batter. This leaves room for the batter to rise and puff up.

Cover the pan with a lid and cook on low heat. Allow the cakes to puff up, form bubbles on the surface, and turn golden brown on the bottom. This usually takes about 2–3 minutes.

Serve and Enjoy!

Before the surface fully sets, you can add your favorite toppings—like chocolate sprinkles, shredded cheese, crushed Oreos, or mini chocolate chips—for extra flavor and fun.

Finally, once cooked to your desired doneness (some prefer them half-cooked and gooey in the center), gently remove the kue cubit from the pan using a skewer or fork.

Serve warm and enjoy while they’re soft and fluffy!

Recipe Notes

• For modern topping versions, you can add matcha powder, red velvet, or chocolate in the batter, Oreo crumbs, or shredded cheese for topping.
• Texture preferences: You can cook the kue cubit until the surface hardens slightly for a gooey center (half-cooked style), or let it cook longer for a denser texture.
• No mold? You can also use a pan and form them like mini pancakes.
• Make them richer in flavor: Substitute butter for margarine for a richer flavor.

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