Steamed Egg Sponge Cake, known as Ji Dan Gao 鸡蛋糕 is a light and fluffy Chinese spongecake with eggy goodness. This version of steamed cake is the simplest as it only consists of egg-sugar-flour. There’s even no leavening agent added as it has been replaced with soda water!
You can replace some of the chicken eggs with duck eggs. Due to higher protein content in the whites of duck eggs, when beaten duck eggs will whip up higher, resulting in a fluffier sponge cake. Duck eggs also make the cake taste richer.As the flavour of the cake comes from the eggs, use good quality or free range eggs if possible.Lightly tap filled bamboo basket on tabletop before steaming to remove air bubbles.If you run out of water during steaming, carefully add boiling water to steamer.Take care when removing lid from the steamer so as to prevent water from dripping on the sponge cake.Do make sure the wok used is large enough to fit the bamboo steamer and has ample space for the batter to rise and the steam to circulate.The cake is best when served warm. Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave or can be steamed for a couple of minutes on high heat.