(Asian Bakery) Cake, Cake, Cake. Come and put your name on it.
Have you ever tried one of those Asian bakery cakes with all the fruit on top? Do you remember the soft fluffiness of the cake and how no matter how many slices you ate, you wouldn't feel tired of it? Do you like cakes that aren't very sweet, but taste very airy and light?
Well, I have come up with a recipe that will help you achieve this kind of product!! (I sound like one of those annoying telemarketers eh?)
To begin, this is what you need:
For the cake:
5 large eggs at room temperature (if they are too cold, it will be very hard to separate yolk from whites)
0.75 cups of cake flour
0.6 cups of sugar (adjust to taste)
1/2 tsp. baking powder (mix this into your cake flour!) We will be calling the bp + cake flour mixture = flour
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
0.5 tbsp. orange juice
1.2 tsp. vanilla extract (you can skip this if you don't have it!)
You will also need two 9" cake pans!
Rather than stuffing the middle with custard, I prefer to fill mine with a fruit medley or fruit + creme.
For the Creme:
1 pint heavy whipping creme
0.75 cups of powder sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract (optional)
You will need a large metal mixing bowl as well. I like to chill mine in the freezer beforehand. Also, you will get optimal results if you put your bowl in ice water while you are making the creme. This prevents the creme from melting too quickly and gives you a nice and firm creme as a result.
Now to actually make the cake:
Before you begin, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your pans with parchment paper.
1. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites in their own separate mixing bowls. I like to work with the yolks first.
2. Beat the egg yolks for 10 seconds on medium speed.
3. Add around 0.3 cups of sugar to your egg yolks and continue to beat until the mixture turns a pale yellow and thickens up a bit.
4. Add in the vanilla extract.
5. Beat the egg whites separately (I would use a much bigger bowl for this). Beat for around 30 seconds at medium speed and then switch to high speed until it starts to look foamy.
6. Add the rest of your sugar in 3 small portions and continue beating for 10 seconds.
7. Add in your cream of tartar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. You should notice that when you pull your beaters away, the foam will be stiff, rather than flimsy or runny.
At this point, you must work quickly so that the egg white doesn't resettle back into its original form.
8. Mix half of your flour into egg yolk mixture and mix thoroughly.
9. Add in your oil and orange juice and mix.
10. Fold in 1/4th of your meringue (or egg whites) into your egg yolk mixture. Be very careful that you fold, rather than stir or mix.
11. Add in the other half of your flour into this mix and continue folding until smooth.
12. Fold in the rest of your egg white meringue, adding in 1/4th at a time.
13. Be very careful and finish folding your mixture until it is smooth.
14. Now quickly pour them into your 2 9" pans, which should either be buttered or lined with parchment paper.
15. Drop each pan one or two times to release the air bubbles. DO NOT drop them from too high up!! Please do this lightly!
16. You must immediately bake this in the preheated oven for around 20 minutes, depending on the power of your oven. You can check by peaking through the window to see if the tops of your cake have changed colors to light brown. Please do not open the oven door!
17. Pull the cakes out once they are light brown and cool them on a wire rack!
Now for the cream:
1. Beat the whipping creme for 30 seconds on low speed. Remember to keep the bowl ice cold.
2. Increase to medium speed and beat for 1 minute.
3. Add in your sugar slowly in small portions and add in vanilla extract.
4. Continue to beat until it looks thick! This could take a few minutes!
Be very careful that you do not over beat. I have done this before and was left with butter!!!
Once you are done making the creme, chill it in the fridge for at least 2 hours!
Now that you have our cakes and creme, just put them together and decorate!! Feel free to add whatever you would like to it! Personally, I like taking some creme and mixing it with diced strawberries and a little bit of strawberry jelly to make a strawberry creme. I like to put this in between the cakes!
Here are some pictures of what the cakes should look like! (I'm no pastry chef/artist.. sorry for the sloppiness, but I assure you that it was dericious!)
