Old style Chinese egg cake calls everybody’s childhood memory. This is also referred as mini Chinese sponge cake.
I am always wondering where those yummy little cakes are originated. But I am familiar with them when I was just a little girl. At that time, cakes were quite treasure because we cannot make them at home. However they are always available at larger stores. You can even smell the aroma from miles away.
Growing up, I love to recall the food in my childhood from time to time. At the very beginning, this Chinese egg cake is steamed other than baked. Then at sometime, baked version was on almost every store. Compared with steamed version, I prefer baked version because I can still taste the raw egg taste even after adding lemon zest in the batter.After made this successfully around two weeks ago, I make this little egg cake at least twice every weekend for a quick breakfast.
There are many easy and quite yummy cakes during my childhood. This one is made with egg and flour and we have another one made with yeast and rice flour, check that recipe here-Chinese steamed rice cake(sometimes is also known as sugar cake)
The muffin tin I am using is around 50*15mm for each cupcake.
The most important step of this recipe is to whip the egg until really light(white and no large bubbles anymore). I would suggest using warm water to speed up the process in cold winter days.
I got lots of requests concerning about measuring the ingredients in volume like cups, tablespoons and teaspoons.For traditional Chinese stir fries or soups, I used to skip any measurement process and made adjustment based on personal experience. But I started measure in volume especially for seasonings once I realize that reliable personal experience need years of practice. I use my kitchen scale for almost all of my baking and dessert recipes, as the precise ingredient amounts are so important of a successful baking. So Elaine still highly recommend buying yourself a kitchen scale. Technology changes cooking skill only if you use it.
However, I understand that many of you come across with a desperately needed recipe but there is no kitchen scale on hand. So I update this recipe with volume measurement. I am using US volume measurement. So 1 cup=240ml, 1 tablespoon=15 ml and 1 teaspoon=5ml.
Chinese Egg Cake
Ingredients
- 2 middle size eggs ,room temperature eggs
- 60 g cake flour ,1/2 US cup
- 40 g castor sugar ,around 3 tablespoons+1 teaspoon
- 5 g oil ,olive oil or other vegetable oil around 3/4 teaspoon
- warm water ,for speeding up the whipping process, not required in summer days.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 C around 350F.
- Prepare a larger container and add half full warm water, then place your mixing bowl on the warm water. Add eggs and castor sugar. Whip at medium speed until light and fluffy. And then use low speed to remove some large bubbles. This step is the key of success and may take 12- 15 minutes until the mixture reach the ribbon stage.
- Shift flour in. Then use a spatula to combine well. And lastly add oil and well combined too.
- Prepare a mini 12 paper lined muffin tin mold and pour the batter in.
- Bake at the middle rack for 15 to 20 minutes until the surface is well colored.
I’m not sure if this one is the same as my favourite cake, but they look a like except the fact that this one is made in a more modern way. I will try it one day
Hi can we use granulated sugar instead of castor sugar?
Hi Lisa,
Castor sugar will be firstly recommending for the best result. Granulated sugar is much difficult to dissolve and may influence the texture.
what is castor sugar?
Castor sugar is finely granulated sugar which can be dissolved quickly.
Marvelous recipe! I cut down the sugar by 10g as i made the cakes for my 22 months old girl. Thank you!
Thanks Phyllis for the feedback. I always reduce the sugar in my daughter’s egg cake.
Sorry to say that this recipe is a failure. It is so hard. I followed all your instructions. Don’t know what has gone wrong. 🙁
Hi Amy,
Can you describe what’s wrong with your cake? Although the steps are quite easy but there are lots of details may bring failure especially in whipping and mixing process. If the air bubble is spoiled, the cake will not be fluffy.
Hi Elaine…..i am a teacher and i would love to try this with my students……do i have to use only the egg white…or i have to whisk both the yolk and the egg white…….thx
Hi Gertrude,
For this cake, we whisk yolk with the egg white and it may really take some time to make the batter fluffy. Be patient during the process. Good Luck and Happy cooking.
Will this recipe work in a full sized cake pan (6 or 8 inches diameter)?
Hi Cortney,
I have not tried yet but I guess the batter should work in a 6 inch cake pan.
Hi Elaine i have tried your recipe but i did not use the hot water below the mixing bowl since it is quite warm nowaday . the cake rise and very nice except the taste seems to be dry and a little bit hard in texture. Can i ask what causes the failure of my mixture. thanks
Hi Solang,
Thanks for trying the recipe and send me feedback.
As there is only a little oil contained, the cake itself is not moist and it should be slightly dry. But if it is too dry, I guess the problem is the batter is not combined enough and there is still really large bubbles inside. If possible, can you send me a picture of it so we can find out the possible reasons.
Hi, do you mind leaving the measurements in cups and tsp/tbsp?
Recipe updated Kelly. Happy cooking!
Buy a scale. It’s not hard and weighting your ingredient is way more precise ??♀️??♀️
My cakes came out hollow, and I followed the recipe. Do you have any idea how they would become that way?
Sorry Mia, I really cannot figure the details if the cakes are described as hollow. I will try to bring a video later for showing the details process and steps. It is really not that difficult but there are some important tips.