Double layer cotton sponge cake

Double layer cakes always seem so impressive. Some people may think, hey its just two cakes, one on top of another isn’t it? However, they are not easy to make, in a sense that you will need to trim off the tops and the edges very (very) evenly to ensure that they balance prettily. If they aren’t as perfect as you want them to be, there is always whipped cream (or buttercream) to the rescue. Slathering cream isn’t that easy either. I made a mess out of mine all the time.   This cake recipe is slightly different from the usual ones as it requires you to mix flour with the warm melted butter to form a dough. There is also the addition of condensed milk. The result is a very fluffy and cotton-like sponge cake. Absolutely lovely. Best of all, the cake stays soft the next day. The website I got the recipe from is in chinese, but there are pictures which shows the baking process, which is a very helpful guide. I doubled the recipe and baked the batter in 2 8-inch cake pans. Alternatively, you can follow the original recipe below.

Cotton sponge cake
(Adapted from 君之)

50g cake flour
35g butter
50g condensed milk
3 eggs, separated
30g egg, beaten (about half a large egg)
50g sugar

Jam of your choice

1. Place the rack in the centre of the oven and pre-heat to 175C. Grease and line an 8-inch square pan.

2. Melt butter in a saucepan. Turn off the heat and pour in the flour. Stir until a dough is formed. Add in condensed milk and mix until incorporated.

3. In a medium bowl, lightly beat together 3 egg yolks and the beaten egg mixture. Add in the dough and milk until a smooth batter forms.

4. With the stand mixer on whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy. Gradually add in sugar and continue to beat until firm peaks are formed. Mix ¼ of the egg white into the batter to lighten. Fold in the remaining egg whites.

5. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 25 – 35 minutes, or until the cake tester inserted comes out clean. Let it cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to cool completely on the wire rack.

6. To serve, slice cake into half. Slather jam over the cake and place them one on top of the other.

French Lemon-Poppy Pound Cake

Lemon and poppy seeds must be one of the most common pairing. This pound cake is slightly different from others as the eggs are beaten together with sugar until light before melted butter is added. This method would be similar to that of making a genoise sponge. Maybe that is why the cake is called a french style pound cake. Mine turned out slightly on the dry side as I over cooked it. I was worried that the middle wasn’t cooked through. The lemon taste was very subtle, so I would recommend an extra half teaspoon of lemon juice with half teaspoon of lemon extract. I also lowered the amount of sugar a wee bit  so that the lemon taste will shine through. In addition, I did not glaze the cake as I am not a fan of the sugary coating. Still, I will add in the glaze recipe below.

French Lemon-Poppy Pound Cake
(Adapted from Flour by Joanne Chang)

240g cake flour
¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
156g butter, melted and cooled
60g heavy cream, room temperature
3 tbsp of finely grated lemon zest
3 tbsp poppy seeds
4 eggs
230g sugar

1. Position rack in the center of the oven, and preheat oven to 175C. Butter and flour a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together butter, cream, lemon zest, lemon juice and poppy seeds. The mixture should have the consistency of a thick liquid.

3. Using a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat together the eggs and sugar on medium speed for 4 to 5 minutes until the mixture is light and double the volume.

4. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture until just combined. Fold about one-fourth of the egg mixture into the butter-cream mixture to lighten it. Next, fold in the remaining egg-flour mixture just until thoroughly combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

5. Bake for about 60 to 70 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean. The cake should be tall and golden brown. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before popping it out of the pan to cool on the wire rack. The cake can be stored tightly wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Lemon Glaze
70g confectioners’ sugar
1 to 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and enough of the lemon juice to make an easily spreadable, smooth glaze. Spread or spoon the glaze over the still warm cake, letting it trickle down the sides.

Apricot sour cream scones

Most of the scones I taste outside are hard and dense. Real scones should be light, fluffy and tall. Making scones are made a lot easier with a food processor, as they ensure that the butter is cut into the flour quickly, keeping the dough cold. The dough should be handled as little as possible, to ensure that gluten is not formed, so that the end product is delicate. Scones are wonderfully versatile, and can be either sweet or savory.

Apricot Sour Cream Scones
(Adapted from Epicurious)

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots

1 large egg, beaten to blend (for glaze)

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix first 5 ingredients in large bowl. Add butter; rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal.

2. Make well in center of mixture. Add sour cream and vanilla to well. Using fork, stir sour cream mixture into dry mixture until dough forms. Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Sprinkle apricots over. Knead dough until apricots are incorporated, about 10 turns. Flatten dough to about 1/2 inch thickness, with a small fluted cookie cutter, cut out the scones and place on baking sheet.

3. Brush with egg. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake until golden, about 10 – 15 minutes, depending on size of scones. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Chinese steamed cake

Chinese steamed egg cake

178g eggs (about 3 large eggs), beaten
178g sugar
152g cake flour, sifted twice
43g vegetable oil

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer attached to a whisk, on high speed, beat the eggs and sugar together. When ready, the mixture will be light and more than double its size, about 15 minutes. To test, drip the batter back into the bowl. It should be able to float for a couple of seconds before sinking.

2. Gently fold in the cake flour until just combined. (I used a whisk as I found it more effective.)

3. Pour 1/3 of the batter into a medium bowl. Add in the vegetable oil until just combined, then return the mixture back into the remaining batter. Gently mix until just combined.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared bamboo steamer. Steam on medium fire for 20 – 25 minutes, or until the cake tester inserted comes out clean. Remove from steamer and cool on a wire rack. Makes one 6-inch cake.