lemon poppy seeds ogura cake 柠檬罂粟籽相思蛋糕 (*^。^*)

everytime i bake ogura cake, i never fail to ask myself the same questions i did per the previous time (i baked an ogura cake) ~ which rack to bake? should i line the pan? how many degrees, how many minutes again? /__ノωヽ__） i can find most of the answers in my own personal notes except if i should line the pan…. i know i need not grease and line the pan if i am baking in a springfoam pan… what about a normal black round cake tin (i.e. not springfoam)?..will i have problem removing it?… and so, i decided to try it out today…

Recipe adapted from Cooking Pleasure

Ingredients (makes an 8 inch square tin cake)

75 gm superfine flour – sifted
1/4 tsp salt
5 egg yolks
1 whole egg
60 ml corn oil
30 ml lemon juice
50 ml milk
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tsp poppy seeds

5 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
65 gm castor sugar

Directions

– Place the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl and make well in the centre. Add in egg yolk + 1 whole egg, corn oil, lemon juice, zest and milk.  Using a paddle hook, beat ingredients until creamy and well combined.   Set aside
– Pour 1 and 1/2 cups water into baking tray, place baking rack on the tray and  preheat oven at 160 degrees C for 10 minutes
– Using an electric mixer, whisk egg white until frothy, add in cream of tartar and whisk until  slightly foamy.  Add in sugar in 3 batches.  Whisk until soft to stiff peaks formed
– Using a spatula, fold in 1/2 of the meringue into egg yolk mixture.  Lift and fold until well combined, then add to rest of meringue.  Add in the poppy seeds.  Fold again until well mix
– Pour batter into a 8″ square tin [line base with baking paper at the bottom only] – Smooth the surface with a spatula or shake a little and the batter will spread out evenly
– Steam bake in oven at 160 degrees C for 40 minutes, lower heat to 140 degrees C and bake for a further 20 minutes.  [Note: for the water bath, use 1 to 1 and 1/2 cups water for the duration of baking.  This way the cake base will not be soggy after baking] – Remove cake and invert it after baking on a wire rack and let it cool slightly [about 5 minutes] before removing the pan and baking paper [there maybe some vapour on the baking paper] – Cool cake completely before slicing to serve or refrigerate before slicing to serve later

Personal notes:

– instead of baking an 8 inch cake, i baked mine in two 6 round inch pans: one being a spring foam (i wrapped the pan with 3 layers of aluminium foil to prevent water from seeping in), and the other a normal aluminium cake pan. both were UN-GREASED and UNLINED. i was pleasantly surprised the one in the normal aluminium cake pan unmoulded without problem! ◝( ＞⌣＜ ◜ ✿)
– i left my cake to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the cake pan
– my eggs are quite small but i did not use additional to make up for the loss in size. both my cakes were 3.5cm in height
– cake pans are placed into a roasting pan with 1.5 cups of hot water and baked based on the time per Kimmy’s recipe
– i omitted poppy seeds from the cake as this was a giveaway and the receiver (my little godson) may not be able to digest seeds at this time…

Pollution index: 48 (excellent)