The Ugly Taiwanese

Hah! See that up there? No no. That is not another one of my epic Japanese Cheesecakes. 

That wrinkly, shaggy looking thing is a........wait for it.......Taiwanese Sponge Cake. Huh? Taiwanese Sponge Cake?? Hello, Madam. Biar betul.

I don't bluff you. Here, this is the recipe.

I had to make modifications.

I found it in my recipe folder, ok? Where it came from, I forget.

I read somewhere that there is a craze over Taiwanese Sponge Cakes at a cake outlet at Sunway Velocity that had people queuing up for hours.

Anyway. There are no queues for this one.

In spite of my lack of finesse, the result was not too bad. It is spongy, soft, with a strong egg aroma. Something like our Terengganu kay nui kueh. Besides, my partner pronounced it "ho chiak!" upon first bite heh..heh...

Never fear. You know this madam won't give up so easily. Expect to see this sponge cake again, looking more presentable in a future post.

Taiwanese Sponge Cake
Recipe source : Adapted from Unknown (Try at your own risk)

Ingredients :

Egg Yolk Batter :
- 125g self-raising flour
- 1/2 tsp double action baking powder
- 5 egg yolks (plus 2 more just because I had extra)
- 70g castor sugar
- 1/4 cup milk and extra in case the batter is too thick
- 1/4 cup grapeseed oil (or any flavorless vegetable oil)

Egg White Batter :
- 5 egg whites
- 70g castor sugar

Method :
1. Line the bottom of an 8" round pan. I did not grease the pan.
2. Make the egg yolk batter first. Sift flour and baking powder and set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until thick and creamy.
4. Add milk and oil and whisk until emulsified.
5. Sift the flour in 3 additions and fold into the mixture. If it is too thick/dry, add some more milk to loosen the batter. It must be thick and flowy, not too thin. Set aside.
6. In another mixing bowl, using a mixer beat egg whites and sugar until stiff peaks.
7. Add 1/3 of the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk batter to loosen it.
8. Pour the egg yolk batter into the beaten egg white and gently fold until evenly mixed (I used my bare hand).
9. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake on the lowest rack at 160C for 50 minutes or until top is brown and skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
10. Remove from oven and drop the pan onto your work surface from a height, 3 times to minimize shrinkage.