Traditional Chinese baked sponge cake ~ 烤鸡蛋糕

These old fashioned Chinese baked sponge cakes bring back fond memories of my childhood of  yesteryears.  They taste somewhat like the CNY Kuih Bahulu and I remember snacking on them when I was little.  I've tried making this twice, googled and tweaked the recipe from here and there but the cakes turned out chewy instead of soft and moist.  I was about to raise the white flag when I told myself that I might be third time lucky and thankfully I managed to get what I wanted on my third attempt.  So perserverence does pay!

The recipe may look easy but the beating of the eggs to 'ribbon' stage and the folding/whisking of the flour into the egg mixture can be tricky ...... that's why I had to try thrice before I could achieve what I wanted.  I kept two cakes in a container and they were even softer the next day.... Yum is the word!

Traditional Chinese baked sponge cake ~ 烤鸡蛋糕

Ingredients 

• 2 eggs  (65g to 70 gm with shell)
• 60 gm plain flour
• 1/2 tsp  baking powder
• 40 gm caster sugar
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil 
• 1 tsp vanilla paste or 1 tsp vanilla essence (I used vanilla paste)
•  a pinch of salt 

Method

1. Lightly spread out the flour on a plate and dry in the sun.  (Malaysia is a land of free sunshine) OR bake it in the oven for 1 min.  Spread out to cool. 
2. Once cooled, add in the baking powder and sift thrice.  Set aside.
3. Break the eggs into a mixing bowl, beat on high speed till frothy, gradually add in the sugar and continue beating.  Add in salt.  Mix in the vanilla paste and beat on high to creamy, thick and pale, till the 'ribbon' stage.   (When you lift up the beaters, the mixture falls from the beaters in a ribbon-like pattern).
4. Sift in half the flour and mix on the lowest speed for a few seconds.  Continue with the remaining flour and mix on the lowest speed.  Add in the oil and mix on the lowest speed for a few seconds.
5. Use a spatula to quickly and lightly mix the batter till flour is thoroughly incorporated paying attention to the bottom part of the batter in the mixing bowl.
6. Spoon the batter into paper lined muffin pan and bake in  a preheated oven @ 180 deg.C for 20 to 22 mins. till golden brown.  Test with a skewer till it comes out clean.
7. Remove from pan and let cool completely.
8. Yield :  6 cakes