Cotton Cake

CookBook Challenge Week 41: Celebration

Yeay!!! This is my number 100th post. I guess it really took me awhile to reach here. I started this account beginning of 2009 but never have time to post what I planned to post on. Then, finally this year I manage to encounter my time management issue and I begun to post as often as I could. Maybe I should say the fun of blogosphere manage to draw me to be more committed towards this page.

I have arrange for Cotton Cake to be on my number 100th post. Why? Cotton cake brings me back to a memory; my first love towards cake. I used to dislike cakes as a child. I was only in primary school when I first tasted this cake. Its soft, light, cottony with a pudding similar feel. It was serve in a dim sum restaurant in my hometown which later decided to relocated itself to another state. So there goes my first love. Well, I am sure it is available somewhere else but you seee, I was not a food fanatic when I was a kid. My parents and grandparents practically have to force me to finish my meal and my house helper have to beg me to eat. So that explains everything.

Fast forward to now, while I was busy browsing ever wonderful and informative blogs shared by fellow bloggers, I came across Japanese cheese cake recipe, which everyone was praising how soft, light and cottony the cake is. It just suddenly reminded me of the cotton cake that I had years back. Unfortunately, that are not many of that recipe. Little that I know this cake require very small amount of flour compare to the liquid ratio which means they are chances that it may collapse once it cool and egg white have to be whisk to meringue like and the steps is different from any other cake I made before. However, its not as difficult as it look once you start to put things together. So, after some reseaching, calculation and fingers crossing. I set out my journey to bake my 'first love'.

Ingredients:

• 50g butter
• 1/2 cup (75g) Self Raising flour
• 1 1/2 tbsp heaped (15g) cornflour
• 1/3 cup (80ml) milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 5 eggs, separate white and yolk
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup (115g) castor sugar

Method:

1. Preheat oven at 160 degree celcius. Grease and line cake tin (20cm) with baking paper.
2. Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Use bigger saucepan so that you don't have to transfer to larger mixing bowl later on. Once the butter is melted, turn off heat, add flour and cornflour at once. Whisk quickly to mix well. 
3. Add milk and whisk into smooth paste.
4. Add egg yolk,  vanilla extract and lemon juice. Whisk until smooth again. Make sure no lumps left. Set aside.
5. In a mixing bowl, beat egg white with salt under high speed until foamy. Gradually beat in castor sugar, divide into 3 batches, beat until firm and glossy or until soft peak form. 
6. Gently fold the egg white mixture into yolk mixture in 2 batches. Mix the egg white in gently but thoroughly, so that you can maintain the volume. 
7. Pour batter into prepared tin, smooth top, lightly tap tin on counter to bring out large bubbles.
8. Place tin into roasting tray and pour hot water to come halfway up the tray.
9. Bake in oven for 1 hour or until set and golden brown. 
10. Take it our from water bath straight away. Invert cook cake immediatedly on wire rack until its completely cool before remove cake from cake tin. 

emmm ... yummy.....

TIPS:

• Double boiler can beuse to substitute saucepan
• Egg: about 60g each with shell