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Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Ji Dan Gao / Old fashioned steamed egg sponge cake (开口笑@传统鸡蛋糕)

Last week I just re-visit to Ho Chi Minh Vietnam, this time I brought my kids and mother along. It was a short trip, our main purpose was to cari makan (explore their nice foods) and walk around this French influence's city (I will update a post about this trip later). Earlier I saw few bloggers having this type of old fashioned stamps ( a small wood piece crafted with Chinese prosperity word like 福 (Fu- blessing) and 喜 (Xi - happiness). I am glad that I managed to found these stamps from Ben Than market at Ho Chi Minh.  So I quickly made few traditional cakes so I can use this stamp to chop here and there ^_^.. One of them was this old fashioned steamed egg sponge cake, I was so glad to see this smiling cake, so perfect to chop with 福 (Fu- blessing) stamp.


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It was so joyful seeing this happily and smiling steamed cake when it came out from steamer, I immediately said " Huat AH !! ", LOL !! (Chinese peoples believe smiling cake will bring good luck ).
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I respect to our old grandmother's brilliant idea to use soda drink to replace baking powder which was not easy to obtain last time..
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Also you have to sprinkle sugar to make a cross as to get crack effect..
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Anyway, i feel this steamed cake has less egg aroma and the texture is compact if compare to the earlier Jane's Ah Mah Ji Dan Gao, i guess due to this recipe added more flour than the usual recipe..
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Ji Dan Gao / Old fashioned steamed egg sponge cake (开口笑@传统鸡蛋糕)
*makes a 8” round cake

5 eggs (large) ~ 282g, cold from fridge
jdg2 copy 270g caster sugar
370g cake flour, sifted
180g soda drink ( I use F&N ice cream soda)

1tbsp coarse sugar, for sprinkle

Method

1.     Beat eggs and sugar in a mixer over high speed for 2mins till fluffy, increase to medium high speed and continue beat till double in volume (take about 25mins) till batter turned thick and pale. Change to lower speed, beat for 3mins as to minimize the air bubbles.

2.     Mixer at low speed, add in sifted flour and soda drink alternately, do not over mix. Remove the mixing bowl, use a spatula and lightly stir to combine well.

3.     Pour the cake batter into prepared 8” lined bamboo tray, lightly tap on countertop to remove air bubbles.

4.     Sprinkle coarse sugar such that it forms a cross on the surface of cake batter (this is important to get a nice crack effect, and do this fast, otherwise the sugar tend to sink).

5.     Steam over high heat for about 40mins (start when water is boiled), serve after slightly cool down.


Recipe inspired by :  Sally , with minor changes..Thanks Sally !!

47 comments:

Little blue said...

the red stamp made this traditional cake look nice~

Small Kucing said...

Long time have not eat this. The red chinese word is a nice touch. Love how the "mouth" open so big

鲸鱼蓝蓝蓝 said...

啊,很怀念这个鸡蛋糕呢

对啊,从前的长辈都是用汽水的
超厉害的

Mel said...

Stamping red marks on cakes and biscuits sure lighten and decor it up. Else it look plain, isnt it!

Chef and Sommelier said...

Hey A-Chi! That's Ah-Mah's steamed cake!!! I used to help her beat the eggs with a copper beater with a wooden handle... so nostalgic!

Victoria Bakes said...

wow.. this brings back so much memories where i used to pinch off bit by bit of this steamed cake from the kitchen table... and that's the exact feeling i have towards your cake now.... kakaka.... care to share?

Victoria Bakes said...

wow.. this brings back so much memories where i used to pinch off bit by bit of this steamed cake from the kitchen table... and that's the exact feeling i have towards your cake now.... kakaka.... care to share?

Somewhere in Singapore said...

Loves the Ji Dan Gao u make, so nice...

Karen said...

huat ar.... :)
very nice kai kou xiao Ji Dao Gao..:)

Gloria Fernandes said...

your steamed sponge cake looks so good nice and soft sponge...loved the red stamp made...

ann low said...

I also heard that using soda drink to make this ji dan gao from an old aunty before but not sure about the ingredients used. Thanks for sharing the recipe :)

My Little Space said...

Yoooo....Sonia, your steamed cake looks simply awesome. Really really HUAT ah... haha....
Will try this on our next 'qing ming' festival.
Enjoy your week ahead & Happy school holiday as well. >o<
blessings, Kristy

Sally said...

哇。。你也发了哦。。哈哈
这个鸡蛋糕用的粉量比较高,所以我相信它才
会开口呵呵。。。
谢谢你的link回哦。。:))

Jessie-CookingMoments said...

Thanks for sharing how to make a perfect crack for this cake. I always thought that cutting by knife. I'm so poor now, I want more huat lah.

Li Shuan said...

Pandai Jalan Jalan lo.... Finally you got those Chinese characters stamps hehe...
Very nice 鸡蛋糕。。。hociak

Jozelyn Ng said...

Love the stamp on the cake! Feel so blessed!

柠檬叶 said...

难怪有日子没见着你,原来去旅行了!
这么传统的鸡蛋糕还真没吃过,看起来好好吃呀~

Unknown said...

wow, i didnt know that they used soda drink in the making..and you have the red chop too! what a classic...

chow and chatter said...

would love to try this looks so soft

Aunty Young(安迪漾) said...

好传统的鸡蛋糕!古早味呢!
童年的美好回忆都随它给唤回来了!
谢谢:)

Anonymous said...

Never know that you have been to our country and my city. I hope you have a good time here and welcome back ^^ Anyway just wanna say thank you for all of the recipes.

Elaine said...

Good morning Ms Sonia,
Welcome back... miss your recipes!
Thanks for sharing .... our family favourite cake when we were small.!

Baby Sumo said...

Oooo no wonder I saw so many Vietnamese food on your IG feed.. hehe. Look fwd to those recipes on your blog.

Sokehah cheah said...

Wow, I can see that you really 'huat ah'... The stamp looks so cute on the cake. So kind of you to share this recipe!

Choi Yen said...

Simply enjoy the eggy flavor :)

Esther Lau said...

Welcome back Sonia. Your ji dan gao with 福 look very old fashioned and nice like my Ah Mah one, haha..

Unknown said...

Hi Sonia

Fantastic looking Huat Kueh!! May I know which shop/type of shop in Ben Thanh market sells this? Thanks and HUAT HUAT!

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

Von Lim, there are many stalls at this market, try to go to the section where they sell all dried foods, you can find this stamp at the stall selling those bakery ingredients. Hope this helps.

Lite Home Bake said...

Looking at this brings back a lot of memories, so precious they are

Ana Regalado said...

Sonia , the stamped Chinese word adds a nice touch to the cake :D

Yannie said...

Thank you , I like this recipe to bits. I will try soon.

PH said...

Hee..hee..I also like to chop chop like small kid. So long have not eaten this steamed egg cake, I like it a lot.

lena said...

hi sonia, i also have this 福 stamp that i got from hkg this year..havent used it yet :) seeing your ji dan gao reminds me of chinese new year!

Anonymous said...

Hi there, just wanted to confirm that on medium speed do we beat the eggs for 25 mins? That seems like a long time. Please clarify. Thank you. Cheers

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

Anonymous, yes, I beat about 20-25mins using a stand mixer..because I want to ensure the batter is fully beaten up and really thick and stable. I am not sure if reduce beating time still get the same result, maybe I will experiment it one day.

Anonymous said...

Hi, is It necessary to use a bamboo tray? Or I can replace with any baking tray?

Unknown said...

Hi Sonia, I tried your recipe but using a bigger bamboo tray (so I multiply the portion)...the outcome is that the cake is not so "huat" and the middle bottom portion seems harden. Please advise. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

hey my ji dan gao failed a couple of times. it isn't soft and fluffy.. its kind of hard like kueh. may i noe where the problem lies?

Anonymous said...

Finally found this recipe! Made 3 times with self-raising flour and there are brown spots on the cake. Eve of CNY I made one for my MIL and she liked it very much. No weighing scale so used cup to measure, 100ml of sugar, 250ml of plain flour and 3 eggs.

Anonymous said...

How do u sprinkle the sugar to make it smile? My sugar always sink?

Anonymous said...

I tried your recipe and it came out hard. Your recipe is not accurate. Flour need to cut down to 220gms for this 5 eggs. The less flour the lighter.

Unknown said...

Hi mdm ,
I used 60ml ice cream soda too for ur recipe but my cake turn out to be bronish. May i know why? D:
Thanks..

Sadding Louis

Anonymous said...

Hi
Should fizzy drink be cold or room temperature
Thanks

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

Use room temp fizzy drink

Unknown said...

Tried the recipe with smaller aluminium cup.. tasted really good though there was no crack. Will try again with the 8' pan!

Dreamer said...

Mine too!! I don't know why. I have attempted 3 times!

Dreamer said...

Mine too!! I don't know why. I have attempted 3 times!

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