Chinese Sponge Cake

Chinese sponge cake is an amazing, pillowy cake/bread that would have already been a delight to consume purely for its texture. But then it has a delicious eggy aroma and taste that makes this seemingly plain confection that hardly deserves the name of "dessert" into a staple of every Chinese bakery I've ever walked into. It was just by chance that a friend posted this video describing how to make a version at home, and thankfully, because of the more precise method of measurement by weight, I was able to make both a full-sized and half-sized version with very little adaptation besides trying to guess how long the smaller versions cook.

• 9”x13” cake pan, lined with parchment paper
  
• larger pan for water bath
  
• 12 large eggs
  
• 130 mL milk
  
• 160 mL oil, corn preferred
  
• 190 g flour, low-gluten preferred
  
• 140 g sugar
  

Note: for a half portion, you can use five 2”x5” loaf pans

1. Set oven to 300 F. 
   
2. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites into two bowls. Using a whisk, mix the milk into the egg yolks.
   
3. Heat up the oil until it’s simmering. Pour half into the flour, mix until incorporated, then pour in the other half of the oil. Let cool.
   
4. Pour in half of the egg yolks and mix until incorporated. Then mix in the other half.
   
5. Add a spritz of lemon juice to the egg whites to help them whip up. Start whipping the egg whites until it is uniformly frothy (about one minute), add a third of the sugar. Continue beating for another 30 seconds, then add another third of the sugar. Continue until all the sugar is incorporated, and the egg whites are in the soft peak stage.
   
6. Using the whisk, fold a small amount of egg whites into the egg yolk mixture until fully incorporated, then fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites until uniform.
   
7. Pour batter into cake pan(s), then place into the larger pan. Pour water into the larger pan for the water bath (water does not need to be level with the cakes – just an inch or so deep is fine).
   
8. If using a 9”x13” pan, bake for 60-70 mins. If using smaller pans, start checking for doneness at about 35 mins. The top should be golden and the cake should be springy. While warm, slice into sections.
   

Note: I used all-purpose flour and olive oil as that was all I had on hand, and the cake still turned out lovely! I personally wouldn't go through the trouble of acquiring the specialized ingredients unless they happened to be already on-hand.