Disclosure: This recipe is proudly sponsored by Panasonic Singapore. All opinions are my own.
STORY BEHIND THE RECIPE
After all the feasting over the Christmas and New Year period, I wanted to make something light and festive for my kids’ teatime. So these Japanese-inspired steamed cakes were the perfect choice, and took me only 20 minutes active time + 12 minutes in the oven!
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They are pretty healthy as each cake contains just less than half a tbsp of oil. Yet the texture is super soft, light and moist, thanks to the addition of egg white foam to the batter. I know that it is waaaayyy past Christmas already. But I had these super adorable Christmas ornaments left over from our Christmas log cake, and so decided to make it into a food art activity for the kiddos at teatime – needless to say, they had sooo much fun decorating the cakes with the masak-masak!
I have always loved the Japanese steamed cakes from a famous local bakery, so my goal was to re-create the light, airy and cottony-soft texture of my favourite Japanese steamed cake. It took me 7 attempts adapting from various recipes before I achieved today’s result, which I think are finally worthy of sharing with you here!
The kids couldn’t wait to tuck it, and my younger one, E, who usually nibbles at her food actually finished a whole cake and asked for more – it was that good!
This recipe is inspired by Josephine’s recipes (originally a baked sponge cake recipe) but I have re-imagined it as a steamed sponge cake and significantly reduced the oil and sugar to make it healthier, yet it is still soft and cottony good!
I used my Panasonic cubie steam oven to steam the cakes. It is so compact and a breeze to use. No need to set up any steaming apparatus over the stove, wait for the water to boil or constantly top up the boiling water. Simply fill up the water tank (a full tank will last a good 30 minutes!) and you are set to go!
Cleaning up after was equally hassle-free! I simply wiped down the oven and emptied out the water tank and water collection tray – all done in just 2 minutes!
The Cubie Oven retails for $399 and is available at all major departmental stores. You can check out the full product specs here.
TRICKS OF THE TRADE
- These steamed cakes taste great on its own, but if you like, you can add a touch of vanilla essence. If you prefer something fancier, you can jazz them up with different flavours by using chocolate powder or fresh fruit.
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- Chocolate Paste
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- Blueberry Paste
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- Strawberry Paste
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- Mango Paste
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- The meringue (egg white foam) is the key to this recipe – make sure you use fresh cold eggs for making meringue, and be very careful when incorporating the meringue into the batter. Make sure the egg whites are at stiff peak consistency before combined with the batter.
- NEW EXPERT TIP! Placing a clingwrap loosely over the ramekins minimises condensation on the surface of the cakes, allowing them to rise higher and more evenly. Give it a try and you will see a big difference in the cake texture!
HOW TO MAKE JAPANESE STEAMED CAKES
Measure out all the ingredients for the recipe (see ingredient list here). Prepare the ramekins lined with lightly greased cupcake liners.
Then separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. Place the egg whites in a clean measuring cup / small tall container and refrigerate. Add the egg yolks to the warm milk mixture and mix until combined.
Sift the cake flour and baking powder into the milk mixture until just combined – do not overmix. Then use the same sieve to sift the batter for a smoother texture (or use your fingers to press out any lumps).
Then add the sugar a little at a time. Alternate adding more sugar and whisking the egg white. Continue to whisk until the egg white reaches stiff peak consistency. Test the consistency by lifting up the whisk to see if the egg white tip forms a stiff peak.
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- Reaching soft peak consistency
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- Stiff peak consistency
Remove the steamed cakes from the oven. Drop each ramekin from a height once to minimise shrinkage. Serve warm or at room temperature!
GETTING THE EGG WHITE FOAM RIGHT
The egg white foam helps to give a more airy and fluffy texture to the cake, so it is critical to get this right.
- Using fresh cold eggs will give you a more stable egg white foam with smaller and more uniform bubbles.
- Adding some cream of tartar (about 1/4 tsp) to the egg whites also helps to stabilize the egg white foam. You can substitute cream of tartar with lemon or lime juice. But if you are very skilled at handling egg white foam, you can skip this step.
- Make sure you whip the egg white until it reaches soft peak consistency.
- Do not let the egg white foam stand for too long. Once it is whipped, the cakes should be in the oven within 10-15 minutes.
- Be very gentle when mixing the egg white foam into the batter – you want to minimise deflating the bubbles in the foam. It is best to use a silicon spatula to cut a path and fold the foam into the batter using a figure of eight motion. Avoid using a wooden spoon and do not use an electric mixer for this step.
- Adding 2 tbsp of the egg white foam to the batter first helps to lighten it, making it easier to mix in the rest of the egg white foam without deflating it.
OTHER COOKING TIPS / VARIATIONS
- Make sure you measure out all the ingredients and prepare the ramekins in advance. This will minimise the time that the batter is left standing, and will help achieve the lightest texture.
- It is best to use cake flour, rather than all-purpose flour for this recipe, as cake flour gives a finer and light texture to the cake.
- For chocolate steamed cake, add 1.5 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder to the cake flour before sifting.
- For strawberry / mango / blueberry steamed cake, add 2 tbsp of finely chopped strawberries / mango / blueberries to the egg yolk mixture before adding the cake flour.
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Japanese Steamed Cake (Mushi-Pan)
Ingredients
(A) Wet Mixture
- 4 tbsp Milk
- 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- A pinch Salt
- 1 Large Cold Egg Yolk or 1.5 small
(B) Dry Mixture
- 60 g Cake Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
(C) Egg White Foam (Meringue)
- 1 Large Cold Egg White or 1.5 small
- 1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar
- 2 tbsp Sugar
Equipment
- 5 Ramekins 8.5cm in diameter
- 5 Cupcake Liners
Instructions
- Measure out all the ingredients and prepare the ramekins lined with lightly greased cupcake liners first.
- Add the milk and oil into a small pot and warm over low heat until the sugar and salt dissolve. Remove the pot from heat.
- Then separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. Place the egg whites in a clean measuring cup / small tall container and refrigerate.
- Add the egg yolks to the warm milk mixture and mix until combined. Then sift the cake flour and baking powder into the milk mixture until just combined - do not overmix. Then sieve the batter for a smoother texture (or use your fingers to press out any lumps).
- Fill the water tank of the Cubie Steam Convection Oven, then set the oven to steam-medium for 3 minutes to heat up the oven.
- Meanwhile, take the egg white out from the fridge and whisk using an electric whisk until slightly frothy. Add in the cream of tartar. Then add the sugar a little at a time. Alternate adding more sugar and whisking the egg white.
- Continue to whisk until the egg white reaches stiff peak consistency. Test the consistency by lifting up the whisk to see if the egg white tip forms a stiff peak.
- Add about 2 tbsp of the meringue to the batter and fold in gently using a figure of eight motion. Be careful not to overmix or fold in too vigorously as the meringue will deflate and the cake will not rise well.
- Once combined, add in the rest of the meringue into the batter and fold in gently until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the ramekins. Place the ramekins over the steaming tray provide and cover loosely with a sheet of cling wrap. Steam immediately in the Cubie oven using the 'steam-medium' function for about 12 minutes. Use a clean skewer to poke through the centre of the cake to test if it is done - the skewer should come out clean.
- Remove the steamed cakes from the oven. Drop each cake from a height once to minimise shrinkage. Serve warm or at room temperature!
Notes
GETTING THE EGG WHITE FOAM RIGHT
The egg white foam helps to give a more airy and fluffy texture to the cake, so it is critical to get this right.- Using fresh cold eggs will give you a more stable egg white foam with smaller and more uniform bubbles.
- Adding some cream of tartar (about 1/4 tsp) to the egg whites also helps to stabilize the egg white foam. You can substitute cream of tartar with lemon or lime juice. But if you are very skilled at handling egg white foam, you can skip this step.
- Make sure you whip the egg white until it reaches soft peak consistency.
- Do not let the egg white foam stand for too long. Once it is whipped, the cakes should be in the oven within 10-15 minutes.
- Be very gentle when mixing the egg white foam into the batter - you want to minimise deflating the bubbles in the foam. It is best to use a silicon spatula to cut a path and fold the foam into the batter using a figure of eight motion. Avoid using a wooden spoon and do not use an electric mixer for this step.
- Adding 2 tbsp of the egg white foam to the batter first helps to lighten it, making it easier to mix in the rest of the egg white foam without deflating it.
OTHER COOKING TIPS / VARIATIONS
- It is best to use cake flour, rather than all-purpose flour for this recipe, as cake flour gives a finer and light texture to the cake.
- For chocolate steamed cake, add 1.5 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder to the cake flour before sifting.
- For strawberry / mango / blueberry steamed cake, add 2 tbsp of finely chopped strawberries / mango / blueberries to the egg yolk mixture before adding the cake flour.
- Expert Tip! Placing a clingwrap loosely over the ramekins minimises condensation on the surface of the cakes, allowing them to rise higher and more evenly. Give it a try and you will see a big difference in the cake texture!
pretty good recipe! one issue, i didnt have the oven, so i improvised and used silicone ramekins in a 9×13 pan (fill the pan with a small amount of water, maybe a centimeter or so), put the pan in the oven at 350 fahrenheit convect while it preheats, then when the oven is ready, put the batter-filled ramekins into the pan, and check it every 10 mins or so (took around 20 mins for me)