This egg-based Chinese cake is like your typical sponge cake in bakeries. It is light and airy and can be easily prepared with only 6 ingredients: 5 eggs, sugar, milk, corn oil, honey, and low-gluten flour. The entire family will surely enjoy this fluffy cake after meals or for snack time.
What Is A Chinese Sponge Cake?
Chinese sponge cake is a common dessert sold in Chinese bakeries around the world. You may notice in other sponge cake recipes that yeast or baking powder is required. However, in my recipe, it is entirely not the case.
My recipe only requires whipped whole eggs to serve as the rising agent for the cake, making it light and airy. Unlike other recipes needing to separate egg whites from yolk such as Spongy Baked Chinese Cupcakes Recipe, you can beat the whole egg and whip together the egg white and yolk already in my recipe. It simply calls for the technique of beating the eggs until whipped or soft peaks form.
Aside from the egg base, you will also need some sugar, milk, corn oil, honey, and low-gluten flour to form the batter. Choose your chosen cake mold and you are ready to bake the cake. If you are a dessert lover, try my pastry recipes such as Light & Fluffy Hong Kong Style Mango Pancakes and Soft & Bouncy Chinese Water Chestnut Cake (Ma Tai Gou).
Tips And Suggestions When Making Chinese Sponge Cake
Don’t skip this part yet as you will need these tips and suggestions when making Chinese sponge cake. Plus, I listed some ingredient alternatives you can try if you wish to swap the main ingredients. Here’s what you need to know when making Chinese sponge cake:
- Whole Egg
- The eggs are beaten with sugar using an electric egg beater until they form soft peaks like whipped cream. Using an electric egg beater will make creating soft peaks much easier and faster. One advice I’d like to share is to ensure that the eggs are not cold and beaten at room temperature. When you follow these tips, you are guaranteed a light and airy texture.
- When you say soft peaks, it cannot hold its shape and falls from the lifted beaters. This is the consistency you are going for and not medium or stiff peaks. Medium and stiff peaks can hold their shape.
- Do not overbeat the eggs or overmix the entire batter as this may cause excess air bubbles that can cause the cake to collapse or produce cracks.
- Sugar
- Sugar adds sweetness and helps thicken the cake mixture. It also contributes to the mixture’s more stabilized structure to make a better shape.
- Any type of sugar will work, including white sugar, brown sugar, and coconut sugar.
- You can mix all the sugar right away with the eggs, but you can also add it gradually in small amounts as you beat the eggs for a better form.
- Milk
- Since milk has fat, it adds a richer taste and improves the texture by making it moist. Moreover, it improves the color of the cake’s crust by making it more golden.
- You can use plain milk or plant-derived milk. If you want a creamier taste, you can also use whole milk. Other substitutes you can try are low-fat and skim milk, but it won’t be as rich as regular or whole milk.
- In case you don’t have milk, water will also work but will not make the taste richer and will only make it light and airy.
- Corn oil
- Oil helps add moisture and fluffiness to the cake. I chose corn oil for this recipe since it is lightweight and has a neutral taste.
- Other neutral-tasting oils you can use are peanut oil, soybean oil, and vegetable oil.
- Honey
- The purpose of honey is to retain moisture in the cake. Moreover, it helps add a richer color and taste.
- You can replace honey with maple syrup, corn syrup, or molasses.
- As a last result, you can simply add more sugar to replace honey.
- Low-gluten flour
- Low-gluten flour is the ideal flour for sponge cake if you want to achieve a soft, delicate, and crumbly texture.
- Types of flour that are considered low-gluten are pastry or cake flour, barley flour, spelt flour, rye flour, and all-purpose flour.
- Avoidhigh-gluten flour like vital wheat gluten flour, bread flour, or 00 flour since this will not produce a soft cake but a chewy and dense cake.
What You Need To Make Chinese Sponge Cake
A successful Chinese sponge cake should have a thin golden crust and a soft and moist texture. To help you make these ideal results, you will need a few helpful kitchen tools and the right ingredients. Here’s a list of everything you need to make Chinese sponge cake.
Kitchen Tools
- Mixing bowl
- Electric egg beater
- Silicone spatula or stirrer
- Sieve for sifting
- 8-inch cake mold or your choice of mold
- Baking tray
- Oven
Ingredients
- 5 whole eggs
- 50g of sugar
- 40ml of milk
- 30g of corn oil
- 30g of honey
- 160g of low-gluten flour
How To Make Chinese Sponge Cake
Follow my step-by-step instructions below to make the best Chinese sponge cake. You can also watch my quick recipe tutorial videos on Instagram or TikTok for more proper guidance. Don’t forget to tag me @kitchenmisadventures on social media to share your creations and comments about the recipe!
Beat the eggs and sugar in a bowl with an electric beater until soft peaks form.
Then, add milk, corn oil, and honey and mix well.
Next, mix in low-gluten flour by sifting it first through a sieve. This separates large bits to create a smoother texture.
Flip and mix the batter thoroughly using a silicone rubber spatula.
Pour the mixture into an 8-inch mold and preheat the oven. Before baking the cake, give the cake mold a few drops on a flat surface to remove air bubbles and flatten the batter.
Set the oven to 120°C (248°F) with both upper and lower heat sources activated, and bake for 30 minutes. You will know the cake is cooked with the toothpick insertion technique. Insert the toothpick in the center, remove it, and check if it comes out clean. If it comes out with batter residue, then it means the cake is not yet fully cooked.
Once the cake is cooked, let it cool and remove from the mold.
After letting it cool, you can slice the cake without tearing it. If you cut the cake while still warm, cutting it may not be smooth.
Enjoy your delightful homemade Chinese sponge cake after meals or as a snack.
How To Make Chinese Sponge Cake
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Electric egg beater
- Silicone spatula or stirrer
- Sieve for sifting
- 8-inch cake mold or your choice of mold
- Baking tray
- Oven
Ingredients
- 5 whole eggs
- 50 g of sugar
- 40 ml of milk
- 30 g of corn oil
- 30 g of honey
- 160 g of low-gluten flour
Instructions
- Beat the eggs and sugar in a bowl with an electric beater until soft peaks form.
- Then, add milk, corn oil, and honey and mix well.
- Next, mix in low-gluten flour by sifting it first through a sieve. This separates large bits to create a smoother texture.
- Flip and mix the batter thoroughly using a silicone rubber spatula.
- Pour the mixture into an 8-inch mold and preheat the oven. Before baking the cake, give the cake mold a few drops on a flat surface to remove air bubbles and flatten the batter.
- Set the oven to 120°C (248°F) with both upper and lower heat sources activated, and bake for 30 minutes. You will know the cake is cooked with the toothpick insertion technique. Insert the toothpick in the center, remove it, and check if it comes out clean. If it comes out with batter residue, then it means the cake is not yet fully cooked.
- Once the cake is cooked, let it cool and remove from the mold.
- After letting it cool, you can slice the cake without tearing it. If you cut the cake while still warm, cutting it may not be smooth.
