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Wednesday, May 8, 2013

BLACK SESAME COTTONY CAKE [OGURA CAKE]

Like some blogger friends, I just loved to bake this kind of cakes popularly known to all as Ogura Cakes.    But, I prefer to call them Cottony cakes as they are really soft, moist and fine in texture.  These cakes can be baked either small or big, the smallest which I have baked uses 3 eggs and the biggest using 7 eggs.  Your choice will depend on your requirement and the size of the pans that you have.   Honestly, it is worthwhile to bake a bigger cake cos' it keeps well for long time in the refrigerator.  

Back to this black sesame flavour cake, it is aromatic, not bitter at all and the sweetness is just nice [original uses 100 gm castor sugar].   From the photos, you would noticed that the top part is greener cos' I added a little green colouring to create a dual colour.  This is optional, you can either omit or make the whole cake greenest black instead of the dual colour.    I added the green colour cos' I was 'haunted' by my MIL's remarks 'Don't make dark coloured cakes, they don't look nice'. Must overcome this phobia soon.....

Ingredients
[8 or 9 inch square baking tin]
[recipe from a food magazine with modifications]
5 egg yolks
1 egg
60 ml corn oil [I used 50 ml]
70 ml milk
65 gm cake flour  - sifted - set aside
50 gm black sesame powder [I grinded toasted black sesame seeds into paste]
1/4 tsp salt

5 egg whites
70-80 gm sugar [original uses 100 gm - too sweet]
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

  1. Line base of a 8" square tin with grease proof paper.   I greased the sides, too and sprinkle lightly with a little flour [this way, the cake can be easily removed from pan after cooling].
  2. Preheat oven to 160 degrees C.    Place a baking tray on the lowest rack, pour in enough water [about 1.5 cups] for steam baking, then place a baking rack over it.  
  3. Whisk egg yolks and 1 whole egg until creamy then gradually drizzle in the corn oil followed by milk.    Whisk until well combined.
  4. Fold in sifted flour and black sesame paste, stir until batter is smooth.  Set aside.
  5. Use a cake mixer, whisk egg whites until frothy, then add in cream of tartar.  Beat until soft peaks then gradually add in the sugar in 3 batches and whisk until stiff peaks formed.  Do not over beat egg whites otherwise it may be difficult to fold in to egg yolk mixture.
  6. Fold in 1/3 of the meringue into the egg yolk mixture until combined.   Then fold in the rest of the meringue lightly in two portions until well combined. 
  7. Remove 1/2 of the cake batter to another bowl.  Add in the a little green colouring, mix well [optional step].
  8. Pour the black sesame batter into prepared cake tin [smoothen with a spatula] then put the green portion over the black sesame batter.  Tap baking tray on work surface a few times to release trapped air bubbles before baking.  
  9. Place it over the baking rack to steam bake cake in a preheated oven at 160 degrees C for 70 minutes [by then the water bath would have dried up].  

  10. Remove cake and invert it to cool for about 5 minutes [otherwise the cake base may be moist because of vapour from steam-baking].   Remove baking tin and the paper linings immediately and leave cake to cool on a wire rack [base facing upwards].  The cake may shrink a little when cooled because of less flour used [low gluten cake].
  11. Turn the cake over when completely cooled.  Refrigerate before slicing if preferred.  

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi,,you are my all time favourite
food blog,,do u bake for sale,,or
how i wish i am jus your next door
neighbour,,,,haha,,,

PH said...

Kimmy, your MIL very pantang hor? This type of cake is now my favourite so much so I have to force myself to bake other types for variety. I must go and find the sesame powder. I saw it before in the organic shop.

kimmy said...

Hi Anonymous, I would definitely love to bake it for sale but I didn't promote it cos' not many people knows about this kind of cake unless they are home bakers. Lots of explaining to do. Usually ppl will ask for samples to try before they order. So I baked just for my family, relatives and friends or for gatherings [FOC lol]. The most disheartening is, not all who tried will give you the feedback. Personally, I prefer this cottony cakes to chiffon cakes.

kimmy said...

Hi Phong Hong, it's also my favourite. I don't know if it is 'pantang' but I remind myself not to baking anything black or dark brown for her since then.

Janine said...

i actually love dark coloured cakes and your layering definitely elevates it to a beautiful cake!

i love this type of cottony cake too!

Anonymous said...

HI,,MAY I KNOW CAN I USED COCO POWDER INSTEAD OF SESAME POWDER,
AFRAID MY KIDS MAY NOT LIKE IT,,
THANKS FOR SHARING,,
NIGELA--SG

kimmy said...

Hi Janine, I think it is also a very healthy cake as I have always said cos' it's low in sugar, oil and gluten.

kimmy said...

Hi Anonymous, yes you can use cocoa powder. Please check it out on others which I have baked under 'Cottony Cakes' label.

*me* said...

Hi, I tried baking the cake but it failed miserably.

1. It shrinks badly.
2. The top wasn't brown. And it cracked.

I am not too sure what you mean by inverting the cake at the final 2 steps. My kitchen temperature is approximately 18-20 degrees as I'm currently in the UK. Do I take the cake out immediately after its done, put it in the pan with top side up for 5 min, then turn the cake in the pan on a rack. Immediately remove the tin and baking paper and leave it cool?

Can I please also ask how do I achieve the top with nice brown skin and no linings of the rack?

Thank you very much!

kimmy said...

Hi *me*, sorry about your 'failed' attempt. The cake shrinks badly could be caused by various reasons from batter preparation to baking it. BTW is the cake cooked? I don't know about your oven. Sometimes, I forgotten to turn on the top heat resulting in the cake top not browned. I suggest you try to bake a smaller cake [souffle cake] to see if the same happens.

Anonymous said...

Hi Kimmy,

Thank you for sharing this recipe, the cake texture is fluffy. May I know why the base of my cake sink?

Jessie

kimmy said...

Hi Jessie, so far I haven't face this problem. Did it sink quite a lot and the base is soggy? Hard to give the exact reasons cos' of different oven use. You may have to try again to detect the fault.

Anonymous said...

Hi Kimmy,

The base of the cake is not soggy nicely baked, will tried to bake again.

Thank you.


Jessie

kimmy said...

Hi Jessie, maybe you can try using 9" or 9 1/2" pan. Bake @ 160C for 10 minutes then lower to 150C and continue to bake for 55-60 minutes.

Mae said...

Hi great recipe for me to use up my sesame powder bought with intention to make "chi Ma woo" but fail tremendously...
Anyway,kimmy you mentioned chiffon and cottony... May I know what's the different between both? As the recipes are familiar to me... Very curious:) tq

Mae said...

How can I show u my cake? To ask the question...

It rises beautifully till I quickly invert and remove tin and paper ...

Shrunk tremendously...

Kimmy said...

Hi Mae Cheah, quite similar in ingredients except chiffon cake is not steam-baked and the cake is heavier. Cottony [Ogura] cake is lighter and the edges are not browned.

Kimmy said...

Hi Mae Cheah, mine also rose very high, then shrunk to about 5cm. Cool the cake a little longer before dislodging, could prevent much shrinkage.

Simonne said...

Kimmy, can i know the size of egg you use or the weight eg 55g? Large size egg ?
Thank you Simonne

Simonne said...

Kimmy,
Can I know the weight or size of egg you using ? Thank yous
Simonne

Kimmy said...

Hi Simmone, I used AA size eggs. Should be 55-60gm.

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing!

Kimmy said...

Thanks Carole for your feedback. I remembered this flavour is good.

Mae said...

Hi kimmy! I was reading your pumpkin cottony uses custard powder and replaceable with corn starch. BUT not in sesame cottony... May I know why is the difference..? Thank you. Btw I do agree one of the comment about you are master or cottony cakes:) coz when my friend mention about your blog instantly I recall you with cottony cakes:)

Kimmy said...

Hi Mae, paiseh, paiseh...I like baking cottony cakes cos' I think they are healthier and keeps well in the fridge for days. I heard a chef explaining that custard powder is actually cornstarch tinted with some yellow colouring. It is used in the pumpkin flavour cottony cake probably to get a nicer colour. Some recipes for cottony cakes do add cornstarch but I seldom add it in most of the cakes after all the flour quantity is really very small compared to other types of cakes.

Anonymous said...

1 and 1/2 cups of waer put in when preheating
or put in when place in the cake batter at the same time?

thanks

Kimmy said...

Hi Anonymous, pour in the water when you start heating up the oven. This is like steam-baking.

allets said...

Hi Kimmy, may I know if I can use a non stick springform pan for this?
Thanks!
-Stella

Kimmy said...

Hi Stella, I haven't tried baking this kind of cakes with springform pan. This cake is quite delicate and sometimes shrinks a lot.

allets said...

Thanks Kimmy!