Ipoh, the capital of Perak state in Malaysia is famous for its 'white coffee'. This 'white coffee' originated from an old coffee shop, 'Sin Yoon Loong' tucked in a corner of Leech Street now known as 'Jalan Bandar Timah' in the old town of Ipoh. Other than white coffee, 'Kai Dan Kou', steamed sponge cake sandwhiched with a layer of their housebrand 'kaya' ~ coconut jam is also a popular item on their menu. If you want to take a peep @ this coffee shop, do hop over to this site for a short review.
My Cantonese style 'Steamed sponge cake' is very straight forward. With no oil and using only the very basic ingredients, eggs, flour and sugar, it's very light, not too sweet, good for breakfast as well as for tea.
Beat the eggs with sugar till thick and creamy, fold in the sifted flour with a hand whisk, pour into a paper lined cake tin and steam under boiling water for 30 to 35 mins. and it's done!
I didn't sandwhich the sponge cake with kaya, instead I sprinkled in some prewashed 'kei chi' ~ wolfberries to give it an oriental touch and colour!
And eating these wolfberries will enhance your eyesight too!
Ingredients
- 4 whole eggs
- 1 egg white
- 4 oz caster sugar
- 4 oz superfine flour
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 level tsp baking powder
- Some wolfberries for decoration - optional
- Line an 8 inch sq. cake tin with greaseproof paper, set aside.
- Sift the superfine flour with the baking powder, set aside.
- Beat eggs, egg white and sugar on low speed, then on high till creamy and thick. (When you lift up the beater, the drippings must be able to hold its shape for a few seconds before disappearing, then the batter is ready).
- Meanwhile, heat up a steamer with water and bring to a rapid boil.
- Using a hand whisk fold in the flour mixture into the egg mixture in 3 batches and blend well. Pour batter into the prepared cake tin. Tap tin lightly to remove air pockets.
- Immediately place cake on steamer rack, covered. Steam for 30 to 35 mins. on high heat.
- Remove the steamer lid quickly and carefully so that condensed steam will not drip onto the cake.
- Test with skewer inserted in the centre of the cake till it comes out clean. Remove from steamer.
- Sprinkle in some prewashed wolfberries as desired. Carefully lift up the cake and remove the greaseproof paper.
- Let cake cool for about 10 mins. Cut cake with a serrated knife before serving.
- Do not let the batter stand. The steamer must be ready, water rapidly boiling once the batter is done.
- Other than a cake tin, you can also use a glass casserole, or a paper lined bamboo basket.
- Any leftovers can be kept in a container and it stays fresh the next day. No need to steam again.
Do find out more from this site.
I love this type of 'kai tan koh' My mom made this for us so often years ago. We love to dunk it in our milo :) By the way I think you left out the amount of eggs in your ingredients.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning Cheah, you're so early today! hehe.... So, is this just fresh from your steamer! The cake looks absolutely stunning. I like having this with kaya jam. Haven't try steaming this kind of cake though. My kids not so fond of this! Yeah, you know, kids today! Hope you're enjoying your day.
ReplyDeleteCheers, kristy
Lovely! I love this steamed spongecake too...yours looks so fluffy and light! delicious!
ReplyDeleteLovely sponge cake. How many eggs do you need?
ReplyDeletesimple & elegant look :)
ReplyDeleteICook4Fun
ReplyDeleteOops, thanks so much for pointing out the omission. Should be 4 eggs and 1 egg white. Age catching up!
Kristy
I love this type of sponge cake, very light, can wallop many pieces.
You have a lovely day too!
Jeannie
Thanks, but got so many craters.
Rotterdam ICON
I was scratching my head when you popped up this question on eggs. In future, just point out directly, no offence, ha, ha! Have edited the post already, 4 whole eggs and 1 egg white.
Peng
Thanks for dropping by. I understand you're busy minding your kids!
Oh nice! The steamed cake looks so pretty :)
ReplyDeleteWow...beautiful colour with the gei zi on top. I haven't tried this. It looks soft ad moist. This would be so lovely with Chinese tea....mmmm
ReplyDeleteSteamed cake looks and sounds so much better, esp. in the summer time.
ReplyDeleteJust out of curiosity, is the topping supposed to be full of little holes?
Thanks, Penny
ReplyDeleteMaryMoh
Yes, it will be nice with a cup of hot Chinese tea.
Angie
ReplyDeleteI'm not too sure about the craters but I saw that Peng's steamed pumpkin cake also has them.
http://pengskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/07/blog-post.html
Those sold commercially do not have so much craters but then their texture are different, can't really taste the egg, it's just soft and spongy.
my son Lucas just asked me to make this cake for him, your cake just remind me again. Yours look spongy and good!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sonia. You make and post yours and see whether there are so many craters or not.
ReplyDeleteYour steamed sponge cake looks so well made. Must be delicious with a cup of tea or that white coffee.
ReplyDeleteCheah, I made this once but with kei chi in it. Taste so good. Yours remminded me once again of this steamed sponge cake :)
ReplyDeleteBiren
ReplyDeleteYes, tastes great with Ipoh white coffee, but I prefer 'kopi 'O'!
Elin
Did you post it? Want to see whether it's got so many 'lubang'!
Thank you for joining us again :) I can easily finish have a tray of that. :)
ReplyDeleteYum yum, I love kai tan ko, my favourite! But I have to admit I am not too fond of wolfberries, my mum always made soup anad insisted we eat them for our eyesight! They are so very pretty though :)
ReplyDeletehihi.. may i know the 4 eggs is means for egg york and 1 egg white? or 4 eggs and 1 egg whites, which means in total will using 5 eggs?
ReplyDeleteChris
Chris
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by. It's the norm that when we say 4 eggs, mean 4 whole eggs. So in this recipe is 4 whole eggs and 1 egg white, meaning you'll have a egg yolk left. I've also edited the recipe to make it easier to understand. Thanks.
haha...tahnks for your reply... i did the this Steamcake before i check your reply, i used 3 egg yorks and 1 whole eggs... its turn out very soft and spongy too with no small hole... next time i will try your recipe again =P
ReplyDeletechris
Anonymous
ReplyDeleteOh, that's great. Not so much egg whites, not so foamy thus resulting in less craters, I presume. Good try!
I am SOOOO making this tomorrow. I love steamed cakes but dont have enough recipes for them. Thank you so much . I saw your posts on muhibbah malaysia. Otherwise I wld have missed this .tq to tummies and shaz too!
ReplyDeletezurin
ReplyDeleteNice of you to drop by! I love this steam cake and hope you'll like it too.
is this the same as ji dan gao? my grandmum loves it! this sounds liek a great recipe (: love the wolfberries too, my mum always say they'll make me see better in the dark ;)
ReplyDeleteShu Han
ReplyDeleteYes, it is ji dan gao but steamed instead of baked. Ha, ha, seems that wolfberries are good, helps to enhance eyesight!
Hi , i dtumbled upon your great site ! i've always been looking for easy malaysia food recipes ! I love steamed cakes and was thinking of trying this recipe out , i was wondering whether they can be made into individual cupcakes ?
ReplyDeleteKaren
ReplyDeleteAre you the lady who sat next to me at the recent course in PMO? I'm not so sure about steaming this in individual cups. Maybe you can but you'll need to line the cups, those allumninium tart cups, with baking paper, then hopefully it won't stick.
was looking for kai tan kou & stumbled upon your recipe. Quick question - can i omit the egg white?
ReplyDeleteNot advisable. The addition of egg white helps in raising the cake and makes it soft and spongy.
DeleteHi,
DeleteI tried the recipe... good... soft and spongy but i feel the texture is dry??
Is it i over beat it??
Pls advise..
TQ
Dorvin
I'm not so sure. As long as the creamed mixture is thick and ribbony when you lift up the whisk, should be ok.
DeleteOk so...what if I just bake this? Will it still work?? I don't have that kind of steamer:(
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure as I've never baked this before. It's meant to be steamed. You can improvise, perhaps use a pot, add water and place the cake on a stand. Maybe you can give it a try.
Delete