chocolate matcha steamed egg cake



slices of chocolate matcha steamed egg cake


It's International Incident Party time again and for December, the focus is on colour. Yet again, Jeroxie encourages us to run wild with a great theme! My offering for this month isn't quite as creative as my previous ones, I think. Though considering my first idea was a flop, I'm just glad I managed to get something done in time!

I love steamed egg cake and I learnt how to make it from my mum, who also loves it.
As always, the simplicity of the recipe is big drawcard for me. The basic recipe for steamed egg cake is incredibly easy. All you need is (by volume) 1 part flour, 1 part sugar and 1 part eggs. So it would go something like this...

1 cup flour (regular or self-raising, see instructions below)
1 cup sugar
1 cup eggs
oil (for greasing, and optionally, for adding moistness to the cake)

- Beat eggs and sugar until thick, pale and frothy. Due to limited equipment at my apartment, I can't get the eggs done quite as well as I would like, so I use self-raising flour to make up for it.
- Add flour slowly into the egg mixture, then oil (if using), stirring clockwise until smooth.
- Grease any heat-safe receptacle (I used a stainless steel bowl), and pour in the mixture.
- Prepare whatever steaming device you're using. I opted for a rice cooker. Pour in some water, put a stand in it, and switch it to cook mode.
- Once the water starts boiling, put your cake bowl in and close the lid.
- Steaming times vary. I made a regular-sized cake and it took just over 15 minutes. I then made mini cakes and they were done in about 10 minutes. Test by sticking a fork in - if it comes out clean it's ready.

Notes:
1 part sugar is perfect for most people, but neither my mum nor I have a very sweet tooth, and we usually put in a little less than 1 part.
Oil is optional for keeping the cake moist. I actually don't mind a slightly dry touch to this cake and only added about 1/2 teaspoon oil for every egg used. You can add more if you like.

While I like steamed egg cake just as it is, its easy recipe lends itself quite happily to modifications, as long as you don't add too much extra liquid to it. I decided upon chocolate and green tea to add natural colours and flavours to my cake, using cocoa and matcha powder.

I actually made two styles of steamed egg cake that night - a big one with swirly colour effects, and a couple of small ones with block colour effects.

The swirly one was created by mixing the matcha and cocoa powder respectively with a little bit of water, first ladling one of them onto the middle of the cake mixture in the greased bowl, running a fork through it in circles, then adding the other one and doing the same. For this one, I also used some concentrated cherry juice boiled down from mashed fresh cherries, which accounts for the purplish streaks.

the first chocolate matcha steamed egg cake

For the mini cakes, I divided the mix into 3 parts, one plain, one with matcha powder and one with cocoa powder. The plain one goes right into the greased bowls. Then I spoon the other parts delicately on top of the unmodified mixture, green tea on one side, chocolate on the other.

second batch - a duo of mini chocolate matcha steamed egg cakes

Both of the cakes don't look so pretty when they come out, but once you slice them into portions they look much nicer.

a swirly slice of the first chocolate matcha steamed egg cake

cute little slices from the second batch of chocolate matcha steamed egg cakes

The first cake had more subtle flavours entwined together, whereas the second batch had solid, distinctive flavours in each bite. Really, it's a good day when you get to choose from two cakes - the only dilemma being which one to eat first!

more colour crazy folk!