Japanese Butter Sponge Cake 日式奶油海棉蛋糕

A light and springy spongecake with a nice and sweet butter scent. Happy for being able to decipher the Japanese language recipe to bake this cake successfully. Thank you Google translator ＼(^o^)／ 

A little extra batter that I baked in a cupcake paper :)

Sponge Cake 

Ingredients 

All ingredients in room temperature

Using 55g omega eggs 

4 egg whites

80g fine sugar

4 egg yolks

60g top/cake flour

20g corn starch

40g unsalted butter

Directions

1. Coat an 18cm round cake pan with a good amount of butter and dust with bread flour. Set aside.

I used a 7" springform cake pan.

2. Sieve top/cake flour and corn starch for 3 times.

3. Melt unsalted butter in a rice cooker using keep warm mode for about 10 to 15 minutes. Let the melted butter cool down before use.

4. Add egg whites to a clean and dry mixing bowl.

Beat egg whites till frothy, add in sugar gradually.

Continue to beat till almost reaching stiff peak.

5. Gradually beat in the egg yolks, one at a time.

Beat till the egg batter can leave an "8” on the surface and can stay for at least 5 seconds. 

Reduce the mixer speed to lowest at the last 1 to 2 minutes.

It is important for the egg batter to be well beaten, otherwise, the batter will deflate easily when you add in other ingredients in the later stage.

6. Sieve in the flour mixture from (2).

Mix manually using the whisks. Do not over mix.

After you have added in all the flour, use a spatula to give a more thorough mixing at the end.

7. Take a small portion of the egg batter to mix with the melted butter.

8. Return the butter batter to the egg batter, and mix well using a spatula. Ensure no butter is sink at the bottom.

9. Pour the batter to the prepared cake pan. Bang lightly to remove any trapped air bubbles in the batter.

I keep a small portion of the batter in a cupcake paper, to keep the batter within the 4/5 height of the springform pan.

10. Bake at the lower rack of a preheated oven set at 170 degree Celsius for 30 to 35 minutes.

11. After leaving the oven, drop the cake with the pan from a height of about 10cm thrice.

12. Invert the pan to cool on a wire rack.

Remove the cake pan when the cake dislodge and rest on the wire rack.

Cover with a paper tissue to minimize the moisture loss from the cake. Wait for the cake to cool down completely before cutting.

<<<<< Optional >>>>>

1) Cut the cake horizontally into 3 layers.

2) Spread vanilla ermine cream evenly over the cake surface and arrange sliced strawberries over. 

Place the second layer over and repeat the same step as above .

Place the top over, cover with an inverted tall container.

Place in the fridge for about 90 minutes to firm the cream and the cake layers.

3) Cut and serve. Enjoy :)

Vanilla Ermine Frosting & Garnishing 

Ingredients

10g honey

40g milk

5g all purpose flour 

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

40g salted butter, slightly softened 

5g icing sugar 

Directions

1. Add all purpose flour to honey and milk, mix well.

2. Heat over low heat till the mixture thickens. Stirring constantly.

3. Stir in the vanilla extract.

4. After the milk roux has cooled down to room temperature, seal with food wrap and store it in the fridge till needed.

5. After whipping the softened butter till creamy, add in the sugar and whip till it is light and pale.

I used fine sugar as I was lazy to search for the icing sugar. It's better to use icing sugar for a smoother cream.

6. Add in the cold milk roux, spoon by spoon. Mix well before adding the next spoon.

7. Cover and refrigerate till need it.

8. Slice 3 strawberries into thin slices. Set aside in the fridge.

Recipe adapted from

http://cookpad.com/recipe/974805

with arppreciation :)

Steamed Satay Chicken Bun 蒸沙爹鸡肉包

Steamed satay chicken bun is a slightly sweet and spicy version of the popular char siew or Chinese BBQ pork bun. I love eating satay with some fresh cucumber, so I added some to make a more balance flavour. Accompanied with the soft and sweet steamed bun, the sweet and spicy satay chicken filling make a good snack or filling meal :)

Yield: 16 x 8cm bun

Satay Chicken Filling

Ingredients 

2 boneless chicken leg, about 380g

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp coriander powder

1 tsp pepper powder 

Direction

1. Rinse and remove chicken skin. Cut chicken into small cubes.

2. Marinate the meat with salt, coriander powder and pepper powder. Set aside.

Satay gravy 

2 tbsp onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1~2 tsp Mee Siam or sambal chilli paste

40g coarsely ground peanut

1/2 tsp sweet soy sauce

40g palm sugar

1/4 tsp salt

30g water

Starch water

(1 tsp corn starch mix with 1 tbsp water)

Juice from 1~2 limes

1/2 tsp coriander leaf, chopped

1 tbsp japanese cucumber, shredded 

Direction

1. Cut cucumber into thin strips. Marinate with 1/8 tsp salt to drain the juice out.

2. Use a paper kitchen towel to pat dry the cucumber stripes. Set aside.

3. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in the pot. Add in garlic and stir fry till fragrant, then add in onion.

4. When the onion has softened, add in palm sugar to melt.

5. Add in the mee Siam or sambal chilli paste.

6. Stir in the sweet soy sauce, ground peanut powder and water.

7. When the mixture starts to boil. Pour in the starch water and mix well.

8. Transfer the peanut gravy to a clean bowl and squeeze in the lime juice.

9. Mix well and rest aside to cool down.

10. After the peanut gravy has cooled down, pour to mix with the marinated chicken and cucumber strips.

11. Cover with a lid, set aside till needed.

Sweet Bun Dough

The Sponge

Ingredients

80g HongKong flour 包粉/香港低筋面粉

1 tsp instant dry yeast 即发干酵母

70g water 水

Direction

1. Mix flour and instant dry yeast in a mixing bowl.

2. Slowly add in the 70g of water, stir in one direction till it form into a paste.

3. Cover and let the dough proof for 50 minutes. 

The Dough 

Ingredients 

Sponge from above

250g Hongkong flour 包粉/香港低筋面粉

50g confectioner's sugar 糖粉

1/2 tsp double acting baking powder 双重发粉

1/8 tsp salt 盐

20g rice bran/corn oil 米糠油/玉米油

70~90g water, add as required 水，水量自酌

Direction

1. Mix HongKong flour, confectioner's sugar, salt and double acting baking powder by using a hand whisk.

2. Pour the remaining ingredients, except the water, into the mixture in (1).

3. Slowly add in the water and stir at the same time, till you get all the ingredients into a big lump.

Leaving behind about 20g of water to be added depending on the consistency of the dough.

Avoid adding too much water to the dough, to help the buns keep its shape after steaming.

4. Transfer the dough onto a floured work top and knead into an elastic and smooth dough.

5. Flatten the dough and divide into 16 portions, each about 37g. Roll into balls, coated with flour, and place in a mixing bowl.

6. Roll out the dough into a flat dough with the edge thinner than the center. Flip the dough skin over, so that the smoother side will be facing out when wrapped.

Scoop a spoonful of satay chicken filling onto the center of the dough skin. Wrap up the dough，pleats several folds, and  sealed the opening.

Place the bun dough onto a piece of paper. The paper helps you to carry the buns into the steamer later.

7. Proof the buns for 20 minutes before steaming.

Start counting down the proofing time, the minute you finish shaping the first buns. If you only start to count down the proofing time after finish shaping the last buns, the first bun would be over-proofed.

Start heating a pot of water for steaming the buns, when you start shaping the buns.

8. When the water boils, steam the buns for 5 minutes under medium high flame.

Turn down flame to medium and continue to steam for about 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, open the lid slightly for 1 minute.

After 1 minute turn off the flame, and let the buns stay in the steamer for 5 minutes.

9. Transfer the buns to a cooling rack.

You can also keep the warm buns in a rice cooker to prevent the outer layer from drying up.

10. Serve the buns warm :)

Keep the unconsumed buns in the fridge for overnight storage.