Steamed Cupcakes

In honor of Chinese New Year, I decided to to try my hand at something I've always wanted to make: Chinese sponge cakes.

When I was in junior high, my mom worked in downtown Manhattan, and her co-workers loved to go to Chinatown for lunch meetings. Every once in a while, she'd bring me little treats, and out of all them, the sponge cakes were my favorite.

They were so light and airy, and had just the right amount of sweetness. They seemed to melt in my mouth, like magic.

After some searching around on the net, I was happy to find that many recipes for chinese steamed cakes were pretty simple, but there were so many little variations.

Some recipes used cake flour, others rice flour. Some beat the yolks and whites separately, others didn't. Some recipes didn't include eggs at all!

To top it off, there were about 4-5 different names for seemingly the same thing (or maybe not). Anyway, my head was spinning with information overload...

Ultimately, I just closed my eyes and picked a recipe...hoping that it would come close to the delicious cakes I remembered.

I also ended up tweaking the recipe I used, so here's the rundown...mishaps and all:

Chinese Sponge Cakes w/ Orange Syrup

for the orange syrup

1/4 cup shredded orange rind/ zest

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

Combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved and mixture begins to thicken slightly.

Stir in the orange zest and bring the syrup to a boil. Let simmer for about 8 minutes, then pour the syrup into a dish to cool.

for the cakes

4 eggs

1/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup rice flour

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp almond extract

Place a vegetable steamer or trivet in a large pot (large enough to hold whatever dish you'll be steaming in) and fill with water, to about a 1/2 inch from the surface of the steamer. It's important that the water doesn't actually touch the bottom of your dish. Cover the pot and turn the heat to high so it can build up steam.

Meanwhile, sift the baking powder and flours into a bowl and set aside.

Combine the eggs, and sugars in a bowl and beat on medium speed until the sugar is dissolved and the batter has tripled in size, about 5 minutes. Add the extract.

Sift the flour mixture over the batter, and continue to beat on low for an additional minute.

Pour the batter into a greased or lined 9 inch baking pan and set in the steamer.

(I split half the batter into cupcakes using reynolds foil liners and just sat them in a pie plate)

In order to catch any condensation that may drip down onto the cake, cover the top of the steamer with a folded dishcloth, making sure to carefully tuck in the edges, since you don't want the fabric close to the flame.

Cover the steamer with the lid and turn down the flame slightly.

Steam for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

While it's steaming, check to make sure the water hasn't dried out.

I probably didn't give the cakes enough clearance to rise because when I removed the dish towel, some of their the tops came off along with it! So they had a mottled surface. Good thing I made the orange syrup, it covered that right up, lol.

They came out pretty spongy, but not as light as I wanted. Still good though.

So, all in all, it wasn't a total failure. The cakes tasted very similar to what I remember, but they didn't have that light melt-in-your-mouth quality. I have a feeling the prosperity cakes, which don't use eggs, might be what I'm looking for. So I'll try those soon...

Also, I do really like the idea of steaming cakes. It's pretty quick, and I think it'll be a great thing to do in the summer since no hot oven is required!

Happy Chinese New Year!