Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Japanese Steamed Cake [Mushi Pan] 蒸しパン

I was attracted to this Japanese steamed cake posted by Agnes [here] then by Zoe [here].  The Mushi Pan looks so lovely and the recipe looks easy and simple.  Agnes and Zoe did mention that we can make these steamed cakes with various flavours such as pandan, matcha, corn, chocolate and with azuki/red-bean flavour.  Best point about this cake is, it can be reheated by steaming before serving - the cake is soft, moist and fluffy.
Mushipan in Japanese means steamed bread but it is more cake-like than bread-like.  
Since each recipe yields only 4 small cakes, I decided to try Agnes's recipe [plain Mushi Pan but modified to coffee flavour] and also Zoe's recipe [basic Mushi Pan and Chocolate Mushi Pan] at the same time.  With the recipes, I managed to make only 12 pieces.

I made 4 coffee flavour, 2 basic, 2 chocolate [forgotten to add chopped chocolate] and 4 marbled Mushi Pan.  For the coffee flavoured Mushi Pan recipe, I will be posting it in another post.
My Mushi Pan didn't crack at all.  Agnes's Mushi Pan cracks beautifully and I felt better when I saw Zoe's didn't crack much.  This means I may not have gone wrong.  Anyway, I will try again with different flavours [see if it can crack] as these Japanese steamed cakes tasted good, soft and moist.



Basic Mushi Pan Ingredients
[makes 4 small cakes]
1 large egg
25 gm castor sugar
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vegetable oil
75 gm cake flour
1 tsp double action baking powder

  1. Whisk egg and sugar lightly in a mixing bowl, add in milk and oil.  Mix till well combined.
  2. Sieve flour and baking powder into egg mixture and whisk with a hand whisk until batter is smooth [the batter is quite thick].
  3. Spoon batter into cupcake casings until 3/4 full and steam for 15 minutes to cook or until the skewer inserted comes out clean.  I used an electric steamer to steam these cakes.
  4. Turn off the heat and remove cakes to cool.  Serve warm or in room temperature.
Chocolate Mushi Pan Ingredients
[makes 4 small cakes]
1 large egg
25 gm castor sugar
3 tbsp milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil
75 gm cake flour
15 gm unsweetened cocoa powder 
1 tsp double action baking powder
30 gm chocolate - roughly chopped [intend to use choc-chips or mint flavoured chocolate but forgotten] - additional ingredients 



  1. Whisk egg and sugar lightly in a mixing bowl, add in milk and oil.  Mix till well combined.
  2. Sieve flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into egg mixture and whisk with a hand whisk until batter is smooth [the batter is quite thick].  Add additional ingredients if using.
  3. Spoon batter into cupcake casings until 3/4 full and steam for 15 minutes to cook or until the skewer inserted comes out clean.  I used an electric steamer to steam these cakes.
  4. Turn off the heat and remove cakes to cool.  Serve warm or in room temperature.


Marbled Mushi Pan [Japanese Steamed Cake]
For the Marbled Mushi Pan, scoop plain and cocoa batter alternately into cupcakes cases, use a skewer to swirl the batter to create the marble effect.




This post is linked to Little Thumbs Up May Event - Milk Theme 
organised by Bake For Happy Kids and My Little Favourite DIY,
Photobucket

17 comments:

  1. Hi Kimmy

    Such nice steamed cakes. Will on my to do list. Thanks.

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  2. looks delicious, I started to appreciated steamed cake after tried the best steamed chocolate cake heeheehee...

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  3. Kimmy, l like the marbled effect on your mushi pan! of course the nice smooth top too!

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  4. Those swirls look very pretty! Your mushipan bloomed so well. Is it suppose to crack? I like the smooth round top yours has though.

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  5. Hi Kimmy, nicely steamed mushi pan. Rather easy steps in making these yummy steamed cake, bookmarking this. Thanks for sharing.

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  6. Hi Kimmy,

    If you see Nami's mushipan at http://justonecookbook.com/recipes/steamed-cake/ She is the originator of this recipe and hers didn't have cracks too.

    So, no worries!!!

    Yours look very pretty with the chocolaty swirls.

    Zoe

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  7. I too love steamed cakes, I find them more moist than the baked ones....looks lovely!

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  8. Hi Betty, if you love steamed kuih/cakes, this one is a very easy one to do. Hope you like it.

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  9. Hi Victoria, I thought it was supposed to crack like the ones I saw in Agnes Bake. I was disappointed with mine.

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  10. Hi Jess, me too have changed my opinion. So now we can have steamed and baked cakes, hehehe!

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  11. Hi Tze, thanks. The top is smooth and the texture is fine too. It taste good too.

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  12. Hi Lite Home Bake, after steaming these cakes and writing this post, I looked up some blogs and found that most of the Mushi Pan didn't crack. All have smooth tops and you can use any kind of moulds [tall or short]. Now I'm happy.

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  13. Hi Karen, it is easy to make these but do increase the portion cos' this recipe only makes 4 small cakes. Happy trying.

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  14. Hi Karen, it is easy to make these but do increase the portion cos' this recipe only makes 4 small cakes. Happy trying.

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  15. Thanks Zoe, I referred to your post on this again and Nami's before I decided to post this. I was afraid mine was a failed attempt and didn't want to confuse readers about Mushi Pan. Confirmed Mushi Pan need not 'smile' or have cracked tops.

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  16. Hi Jeannie, now I'm getting to like steamed cakes. I supposed it can be reheated to serve warm.

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