Steamed Choco-Egg Cake 蒸蛋糕

Yield: One 14cm round cake

Ingredients:

2 eggs, separated, room temperature
70g fine sugar

50g milk, room temperature

10g condensed milk
10g vegetable oil

1/2 tsp vanilla essence 

85g top flour
1/2 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp cocoa powder

~ 1 tbsp hot water 

Directions:

1. Line a 14cm cake tin with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. Mix flour with baking powder using a hand whisk.

3. Mix cocoa powder with hot water into a paste.

4.  Beat egg whites in a clean and grease free mixing bowl at high speed using an electric mixer till frothy. This takes about 2 to 3 minutes.

5. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add in the sugar in three lots. When the sugar is well incorporated to the batter, adjust the mixer speed to high, and beat the egg white batter for about 3 ~ 5 minutes, or till stiff peaks formed.

6. Add in egg yolks, one at a time, to the egg white batter and mix well.

7. Start to boil a small pot of water, to be ready for steaming the cake later.

8. Add in the flour mixture, one tablespoon at a time, to the batter using the pair of whisks taken out from the mixer set. Stop mixing once no flour can be seen.

This is to prevent deflating the batter too much and too fast.

9. Pour milk, condensed milk, vegetable oil and vanilla essence into a bowl. Add the mixture, in three additions to the batter using the pair of mixer's whisks.

Similarly, try to mix the batter with minimum mixing time.

10. Pour about 1/4 of the batter into another bowl. Mix it with cocoa paste to form an even batter.

11. Pour half of the egg batter into the cake tin. Give the cake tin a few jolts to level the surface and to get rid of trapped air. Lower it into the pot of boiling water. Cover the pot with lid and heat for about 5 minutes or till the surface is cooked.

12. Pour the chocolate batter over the egg batter surface. Give the cake tin a few jolts before returning to the pot of boiling water.  Cover the pot with lid, and heat over medium high heat for 5 minutes, or till the surface has hardened.

12. Pour in the remaining egg batter over the chocolate batter. Cover with a lid and steamed at high heat for about 5 minutes. 

Reduce the temperature to medium low, and continue to steam for about 15 to 20 minutes.

13. To test whether the cake is ready, insert a thin bamboo stick into the centre of the cake, if the stick draws out dry, the cake is ready.

14. Remove the cake from the steamer  and cool down over a wire rack.

15. When the cake is cool, cut into serving portions. It's best serve warm :)