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.
Hi Elaine, thanks for recipe. The min cakes are bite size and taste like really good. I made them tonight so I can eat them for breakfast tomorrow. Thanks
Turned out Good
Thanks Jon!
Hi Elaine,
Looking forward to bake this!
May I ask the oven baking temperature? In the recipe it says in middle rack for 15-20 minutes but I couldn’t find the info regarding the oven temperature.
And if I want to use baking powder, how much would you recommend?
Dear Lrene,
In the first step, you need to pre-heat the oven to 180 degree C. That’s the baking temperature.
Hi there, would it still work to use regular sized muffin tins instead of mini ones (and obviously make less cupcakes)? Thanks!
Yes, regular muffin tins works fine with extra 3-5 minutes baking.
The recipe is very simple and tasty …my children were very happy to see the cute cakes…..thank u….can u upload a rice cake recipe for my children?
Sure, Sarmistha. Rice cake will be arranged in the following month.
Can I substitute cake flour?
Hi can I use a baking pan for this instead of the muffin tin..
If you want to using a baking pan, just pour the batter in and bake for another 5-8 minutes.
You didn’t specify how much water to use. A larger container with half full of water will be different for everyone.
It actually depends on the container you are using. Just use cold water to cool down the mixture. It is not used in the cake.
Hi, I was wondering if you can exchange/substitute oil for butter?
Yes, butter gives a stronger flavor.
I dont have castor sugar, is brown sugar ok to use?
Sure.