Vanilla Xiang Si (Ogura) Cake

After seeing Jeannie's perfect Ogura cakes, I kept thinking of the Mocha Xiang Si (Ogura) cake that I have baked previously. Although my previous Mocha Ogura cake managed to survive from massive cracks and under-baking, I reckon it is still not as perfect as Jeannie's ones.

Oh no... I'm thinking too much and losing sleep because Xiang Si Cake AGAIN! - Silly me!

Early this year, Doreen from My little favourites DIY and I have been chatting a lot about Xiang Si cakes. She reckon that this recipe from corner cafe is always failure proof for her Xiang Si baking. I did a comparison on this recipe that find that this recipe contains 30g more flour (plus custard powder) than the one that I have used. Apart from the increase flour content and the addition of icing sugar, everything else seems to be the same.

Seeing Jeannie's Ogura cakes (at Baking Diary) gave me some improving ideas...
 
One is to use smaller eggs (60g) instead of larger ones (70g). I realise that my cake looks a little more moist than Jeannie's and Phong Hong's. I have weighed both small and large eggs and thought that mine (using the larger ones) might be a little too much for my Ogura baking.

Two is to beat egg white to near stiff peaks. Sonia from Nasi Lemak Lover has kindly pointed out me that I should beat egg white to near stiff peaks, not soft peaks. I must have misunderstood her instructions initially - Oopsie!

Three is to increase oven temperature to 150 or 160°C after baking it at 125°C fan forced for 40 minutes (as advised by Sonia, Nasi Lemak Lover) as the higher temperature will brown the top of the cake better.

Last is to use a round tin instead of a square one for even heat distribution after seeing Jeannie's perfect round Ogura cakes.

With more thoughts and a bit less sleep, I managed to bake another Xiang Si (Ogura) cake with these improvements... Presenting my better vanilla Xiang Si (Ogura) cake! Hoping to bake more of this beautiful cottony cake with more variations in the future.

Finally! This is my improved Xiang Si (Ogura) cake!

big vs small - size does matter with Xiang Si baking!

The nice vanilla beans paste that I used

Mixing part A of the ingredients

Beating egg whites to near stiff peaks

I should have tapped the cake tin more to remove large bubbles but lucky that my cake survived well this time.

Cooling the inverted cake

My miniature slices of vanilla Xiang Si cake

Nicer texture this time!

Here's the recipe mostly adapted from My little favourites DIY

Part A:
45g cake flour
5g corn flour
1/8 tsp salt
30ml canola oil
30ml milk
2 1/2 egg yolks from 60g egg
1/2 whole egg from 60g egg
10g icing sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
 
Part B:
2 1/2 egg whites from 60g egg 
35g caster sugar
1/8 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 150°C or 130°C fan force. Grease and line 16cm round cake tin. Prepare 2-3 cups of boiling water at this stage.

For A:
Whisk oil, milk, egg yolk and whole egg until frothy.
Sift in flour, salt and icing sugar. Mix well, put aside.

For B:
Using electric mixer, beat egg white with tartar powder and castor sugar until near stiff peak.

Using a spoon, fold mixture B into A by batches until well combined. Pour batter into the prepared cake tin. Tap pan lightly to remove air bubbles.

Bake at 130°C fan forced at the most bottom rack of the oven with a tray of boiling water placed under the cake tin. Bake for 55 mins and another 10 mins or longer at 150°C fan forced for the cake develop a nice browning top according to your preference.

Invert pan onto a cake rack and allow it to cool completely. Cut with a serrated knife and serve.

Happy Baking
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