Steamed Honey Sponge Cake
Hope you all had a great Easter. I wanted to wish you Easter and was planning to post this recipe for Easter, but it didnt happen. I blame Jose for that. Recently whenever we go out, people are commenting that Jose has lost so much weight and then my turn comes and most people go like this ” you’re looking healthy now”!! What a polished way of saying you’ve put on :((. Since I was getting too much “healthy” comments, I thought I should do something about it and I even compalined to Jose that I dot want to look that healthy, but my wish happened literally :(.
It all started with a kich kich in throat just like the vicks ad. Then it became worse day by day and finally one day when I got up in the morning, I lost my voice :(. Still I havent got my voice, hopefully I will get it soon. Lesson learnt, be careful about what you wish for!
Anyways I dont want to miss out wishing you on Vishu also. I know cake & vishu is not a good combo …but something is better than nothing, right :) ?
Wish you all a happy Vishu and my parents are celebrating their wedding anniversary tomorrow, happy anniversary to them, may god bless them!! I hope I will get my voice back to wish them tomorrow!
Now coming to the the cake recipe, this is a simple cake. If you’re a regular visitor here, you should be knowing my love for plain cakes by now :). But that’s not the main reason why I made this. I get mails/comments from readers, especially those who dont have ovens, for microwave cake recipes or pressure cooker cake recipes etc; I did try a few microwave recipes, but I was not very happy with the texture. I know, I know… so many people have posted beautiful microwave cake recipes. I really dont know where I went wrong, but somehow I was not happy with it. Thats when I saw this cake recipe in a cookery show called “the chef and his better half” on NDTVgoodtimes. Though I was very skeptical about the outcome I decided to give it a try and it came out really well. I think I liked it more on the next day. It has very good texture, its moist and spongy! So all those people who are dying to bake a cake, but dont have a oven, please go ahead and try this.
Here is the recipe:
- All purpose flour (maida) – 150 gms
Custard powder – 1 tbsp
Bicarbonate of soda – 1 tsp
Baking powder – 1 tsp - Butter – 50gm, softened
- Light brown sugar – 150 gm
- Oil – 1/3 cup
- Honey – 1 tbsp
Vanilla essence – 1 tsp - Eggs – 3
Combine together the number 1 ingredients and sift it. Keep it aside. Add brown sugar to softened butter and combine well using a whisk. Add oil and whisk. Make sure its mixed well. Add honey and vanilla essence and whisk again. Add eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition. Make sure that you get a lump free batter.
Add the sifted flour mixture, little by little, to the egg mixture. Whisk well after each addition. Pour the prepared batter to a well greased steaming dish. Cover the dish with aluminium foil. Place the dish in a steamer/appachembu filled with water. Steam for 35 – 45 mins (refer notes). Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 – 15 mins and remove from pan. Serve with vanilla ice cream and drizzled honey.
Notes: I steamed it in low – medium flame. After the first 25 minutes, check the water level and add more water, if required. The cake should be done in 35 – 40 mins, ideally. So check it at around that time. I made the cake in a 6 inch round aluminium tin. You can store the cake at room temperature upto 3 days and can be stored in the refrigerator upto 5 days. If kept in refrigerator, microwave it for 10-15 seconds before serving.
Btw, if you are planning to make payasam for Vishu, please check out the following:
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Maria, i noticed your comment a bit late. I made the cake and it looked superb. Infact, no one could wait till it cool.. maybe cos of their ‘aakrantham’, the cake tasted sour at places. :-)
seriously, my conclusion is, sifting was not proper and maybe, baking soda added was on high side.
anyway, the cake looked superb and i feel confident that i can bake it better next time. thanks! :-)
Reply
Maria
Reply: on August 8th, 2009 at 6:49 amHi Aswathy
Thanks for trying it, hope you get it perfect next time :)
All the best!!
Cheers
Maria
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Hi Maria,
I just happened to take a glance at ur website a few weeks ago.
I liked the recipes especially Veg Stew.
Regarding this recipe I just wanted to ask whether with all these ingredients in this proportion ,is it possible to bake this cake in a normal oven?
My next trial after this cake is goin to be the omlette.I just loved that recipe…
Regards
sherin
Reply
Maria
Reply: on August 9th, 2009 at 9:39 pmHi Sherin
Thanks for dropping in :)
About baking this cake in the oven, I haven’t tried it yet. But I think it should be ok. May be you can try baking it at 180 C for around 20-30 mins. If you try it in oven, please let me know how it comes out.
Hope you will like the omelet too :)
Cheers
Maria
Reply
Hi Maria,
You recipes are amazing i have tried lot of your recipes and have come out really well.Just wanted to ask you for the custard powder you have mentioned can be of any flavour like (strawberry) or it has to be vanila.Instead of aluminium tin can i use nonstick cake tin for steaming.
Regards,
Nimmu
Reply
Maria
Reply: on November 2nd, 2009 at 4:59 pmHi Nimmu
Thanks dear :)
I used vanilla flavored custard powder for this cake but I think any flavor will do, the flavor of the cake will vary accordingly. If you prefer vanilla flavor, then its better to use vanilla custard powder itself.
Regarding using non stick pan, I think its ok to use it for steaming.
Please let me know how it comes out, if you try this cake.
Happy baking :)
Cheers
Maria
Reply
Dear Maria,
What is tis light brown sugar?And wer do you get it?
Reply
Maria
Reply: on November 16th, 2009 at 8:32 pmHi Reepna
Please check out the following link about brown sugar:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_sugar
Its available in all supermarkets. Even if you dont get brown sugar, you can make this cake with the normal white sugar, the colour of the cake might be a little different though.
Cheers
Maria
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hii maria..
i havent bakes any cakes before..:)..so my doubts may be stupid.please bear okay..:)
my husbands’ bday is coming up.would like to bake a cake.v dont have a cake mixer or whisk..which would be better to buy?
or i saw dis cake mixes in market,would that be good?in dat case i just need to add them?
also softened butter means?
thanks in advance
Reply
Maria
Reply: on November 24th, 2009 at 7:17 amHi Teenu,
Advance b’day wishes to your husband!! Hope you both have a great day!
Regarding baking the cake…I suggest you go for an electric mixer if you are planning to do baking regularly. Its very useful.
Also if you haven’t baked yet, you can try baking initially with a ready made cake mix. It will help you to get an idea about your oven temperature and time required & all. Once you get that correct, you can bake a cake from scratch :)
The cake mixes usually gives a moist cake. But a cake made by you from scratch is something different :)
Softened butter is the butter kept at room temp. If the recipe calls for softened butter, keep the required amount of butter @ room temp for half an hour – 1 hour before baking. It helps in creaming the butter easily.
Hope I haven’t confused you more and hey your doubts are not stupid dear :)
Happy baking…
Cheers
Maria
Reply
I tried this honey sponge cake. Total flop. the sides were brown, the cake still liquid even after 1 1/2 hours.
Dont know what could have gone wrong
Reply
Maria
Reply: on January 6th, 2010 at 5:34 pmHi Mariam,
Sorry, am not very sure why it went wrong :(. Did you steam it or baked?
Regards
Maria
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