Sponge-y and light with a whiff of lemon, these small cakes are lovely with tea. They are so easy to make because there is no need to separate the egg yolks from the whites.
Cook’s notes
The inspiration comes from China Sichuan Food but my daughter, Alex, modified the recipe by using more oil to make the Chinese egg cakes even softer.
She also did away with the water bath for beating the eggs since the water bath is only recommended for cold winter days to speed up the process. We’re in the tropics, there’s no winter here so never mind the water bath.
You may use any size of muffin pans to make Chinese egg cakes but just remember that the size of the cakes will affect the baking time.
Alex chose the pans with the smallest holes, the bottom of the cakes are 1 and 1/4 inches in diameter and the baking time is 15 minutes. Smaller cakes will require a shorter time and larger ones will take longer to cook. Of course.
A fan-assisted oven was used for this recipe so the baking temperature was lowered to 325F. If you’re using a regular oven, bake the Chinese egg cakes at 350F.
The yield and baking time indicated below are for small cakes cooked in muffin pans with the holes measuring 1 ¼ inches at the bottom.
To beat the eggs, start at the lowest speed then gradually turn up the speed until you reach the highest setting. The process takes anywhere from five to 10 minutes depending on the room temperature. “Ribbon stage” means that when the whisk attachment is lifted, the egg mixture falls down into the bowl like a ribbon.
Chinese egg cakes
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- grated zest from ½ lemon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F if using a fan-assisted oven. If not, preheat to 350F.
- Line three 12-hole muffin pans with paper liners.
- Using the whisk attachment of your electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together until they reach ribbon stage.
- Sift the cake flour directly into the egg-sugar mixture. Fold by hand using a spatula until evenly blended.
- Add the oil and fold in until no streaks are visible.
- Gently stir in the lemon zest.
- Scoop the cake batter into the prepared pans. Fill to ¾ capacity.
- Bake the cakes for 15 to 16 minutes or until lightly browned at the top and springy when touched.
- Remove the cakes from the pans and cool on a rack.
- Best served while warm.
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