So one night while staying with Mom as she was rearranging furniture at 2 AM, I ended up watching a FULL HOUR YouTube video of a Korean bakery making a week's supply of this cake or a variation thereof. (If you need to fall asleep, watch disembodied hands crack 108 eggs in a bowl and then lift out the yolks. Go on...you'll be asleep by Egg Number 79).
Cook's Illustrated (May-June 2024) recently did a mash-up of these Korean and Japanese cream cakes (basically a genoise) and loaded the top/middle with fresh fruit. It was so darn pretty that I wanted to try it just for the appearance.
Then my stove died.
So the new one is finally here and last night I tried a mini-version of it. I didn't use my KA mixer...just hand whisked the egg/flour mixture and used a small handheld mixer for the egg whites. Half the recipe filled a 6"x 3" parchment-lined round cake pan...and it still rose a full inch over the top of that. (so be sure your oven racks are spaced far apart.
Here is what I used: (reminder: this is HALF of the CI recipe. Theirs fills a 9" cake pan).
Cake:
1/2 C (2 oz) cake flour
1/4 tsp table salt (not Kosher)
3 eggs, separated
1/4 C milk
8 tsp oil (you might be able to get away with 3 TBL)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
2 1/3 oz sugar (8 tsp)
Cream and fruit
1 1/4 C heavy cream
2.5 tsp instant vanilla pudding (you can get away with 3 tsp = 1 TBL)
1.5 tsp sugar
sliced fruit (I used 1/2 gold mango, 1/2 Kiwi, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries)
Whisk salt & flour
Whisk egg yolks, milk, and vanilla until well combined. Add flour and whisk to blend.
Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy, then slowly add sugar and beat until "just-stiff peaks." Fold into batter in three phases.
Use 6"x 3" pan (you need the height. Don't think you can get away with shorter pan)
Prepare pan by greasing it and lining bottom and sides with parchment.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Make sure oven racks are sufficiently apart (at least 5")
Prepare water bath (bain marie) to fit 6" pan. Fill 1/2" with hot water.
Add batter to pan, add pan to bain marie and bake for 50-60 minutes. Mine was golden brown and had a slight resistance when touched at the top at 50 minutes.
Line cooling rack with parchment and invert cake pan so top is resting on the parchment. Peel off cake parchment and let rest for 2 hours.
Slice in half to prepare for filling.
Beat heavy cream & pudding with mixer balloon whisk. Add sugar and beat until almost stiff.
Add some cream to middle of cake, add fruit, add more cream to seal.
Put second layer on, ice sides, pipe border around edge and add fruit.
Chill for 2 hours before serving.
NOTE: According to CI, you can make the cake ahead and keep it in the refrigerator for 3 days. Just omit the fresh fruit on the top until ready to serve. Then add the fruit on top.
Here is their 9" version: how pretty is that!
Here is my 6" version...I forgot to ice the sides because I wanted to get this to 80-year old neighbor who is losing weight at a dangerous rate. After viewing the images, I should have used the top of the cake as the base layer and put the bottom on top. The cake exceeded the 6" diameter at the top which is why it looks wonky when sliced.
Still very tasty. It seems to have more flavor than a generic genoise/sponge cake.
I'll definitely use this recipe again, but probably with better fruit. Mine were almost all bitter (except for the mango).
Cook's Illustrated (May-June 2024) recently did a mash-up of these Korean and Japanese cream cakes (basically a genoise) and loaded the top/middle with fresh fruit. It was so darn pretty that I wanted to try it just for the appearance.
Then my stove died.
So the new one is finally here and last night I tried a mini-version of it. I didn't use my KA mixer...just hand whisked the egg/flour mixture and used a small handheld mixer for the egg whites. Half the recipe filled a 6"x 3" parchment-lined round cake pan...and it still rose a full inch over the top of that. (so be sure your oven racks are spaced far apart.
Here is what I used: (reminder: this is HALF of the CI recipe. Theirs fills a 9" cake pan).
Cake:
1/2 C (2 oz) cake flour
1/4 tsp table salt (not Kosher)
3 eggs, separated
1/4 C milk
8 tsp oil (you might be able to get away with 3 TBL)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
2 1/3 oz sugar (8 tsp)
Cream and fruit
1 1/4 C heavy cream
2.5 tsp instant vanilla pudding (you can get away with 3 tsp = 1 TBL)
1.5 tsp sugar
sliced fruit (I used 1/2 gold mango, 1/2 Kiwi, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries)
Whisk salt & flour
Whisk egg yolks, milk, and vanilla until well combined. Add flour and whisk to blend.
Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy, then slowly add sugar and beat until "just-stiff peaks." Fold into batter in three phases.
Use 6"x 3" pan (you need the height. Don't think you can get away with shorter pan)
Prepare pan by greasing it and lining bottom and sides with parchment.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Make sure oven racks are sufficiently apart (at least 5")
Prepare water bath (bain marie) to fit 6" pan. Fill 1/2" with hot water.
Add batter to pan, add pan to bain marie and bake for 50-60 minutes. Mine was golden brown and had a slight resistance when touched at the top at 50 minutes.
Line cooling rack with parchment and invert cake pan so top is resting on the parchment. Peel off cake parchment and let rest for 2 hours.
Slice in half to prepare for filling.
Beat heavy cream & pudding with mixer balloon whisk. Add sugar and beat until almost stiff.
Add some cream to middle of cake, add fruit, add more cream to seal.
Put second layer on, ice sides, pipe border around edge and add fruit.
Chill for 2 hours before serving.
NOTE: According to CI, you can make the cake ahead and keep it in the refrigerator for 3 days. Just omit the fresh fruit on the top until ready to serve. Then add the fruit on top.
Here is their 9" version: how pretty is that!
Here is my 6" version...I forgot to ice the sides because I wanted to get this to 80-year old neighbor who is losing weight at a dangerous rate. After viewing the images, I should have used the top of the cake as the base layer and put the bottom on top. The cake exceeded the 6" diameter at the top which is why it looks wonky when sliced.
Still very tasty. It seems to have more flavor than a generic genoise/sponge cake.
I'll definitely use this recipe again, but probably with better fruit. Mine were almost all bitter (except for the mango).
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