Good Eats – Chinese Sponge Cake (Kuih Bahulu)

When I was younger, I used to love to follow my grandmother to the fresh market super early in the morning. Why? Because that means I get to go to my favorite stall and get some of my favorite little snacks. I am not sure how many of you guys actually know about Kueh or Kuih? Kueh is actually a Hokkien term for little snacks in Malaysia, they can be sweet or savory. They are not confined to a certain meal, they can be eaten throughout the day. My favorite time for that is for breakfast, which is why I love to go to the fresh market with my grandmother early in the morning, those were good times.

Kuih Bahulu or Chinese sponge cake is one of my all time favorites. Today we are making the baked version instead of the steamed version. I love the steamed version too, but we will save that for next time. My mother used to make the steamed sponge cake while I was little, all these little snacks do bring me back to my childhood. Those were pretty awesome times compared to being an adult now.

Today is my first attempt of making Chinese sponge cake, I think they turned out pretty good. I figured why not try to make it since I can’t find any of these delicious snacks around here in the states. Why not try to learn how to make these little babies myself, so when I have cravings I can always make them. These are super easy to make with common ingredients that you probably already have at home.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of cake flour
• 4 eggs (room temperature)
• 6 tablespoons of sugar (prefereably fine of caster)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of vegetable oil

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350°F
2. In your mixing bowl add in the eggs and sugar. Whip the mixture until light and fluffy. This would help if you have an electric mixer, if you are like us, you could place the mixing bowl over a pot of warm water while whisking. The entire process takes about 20 mins. (If you are doing this step manually, it will take some time, just be patient. You could also have your partner help you with the whisking process.)
3. Add in the cake flour, and use a spatula to fold it in until the flour and egg mixture is well combined.
4. Add in the oil next until it’s well combined.
5. Grease the muffin pan and add in the batter.
6. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes, or until the top is slightly golden brown. (Make sure you fo not burn the sponge cake, if you did, the cake would be hard, it will not be light and fluffy.)

I hope you guys would give this recipe a try, its a great snack if you have some friends over, serve this with some coffee or tea, I guaranteed they will love this.

-Until next time-