My beloved oven will be fine as of next week with the aid of a few ordered parts and a bit of timely and skilled installation. It’s undoubtedly requisite that we celebrate with some lovely cakes in the interim. You know what’s about to happen so surely brace yourselves if you’re as oven dependent as I am. If you didn’t catch on before now, here’s a picture to put it all together for you.
That’s right! It’s steamed cake.
What? But, that’s crazy! I know.
But, the craziest part of all of this is that I don’t think I would have tried this recipe if it weren’t for my oven breaking down.
Don’t be me. Don’t be so set in your ways that you won’t try to steam cake unless your oven breaks down for seemingly endless weeks. That’s just not right.
You should steam cake not in an act of desperation after your oven dies pitifully. You should steam cake because it’s mind blowingly delicious.
Try this.
It’s fast (it took less than ten minutes from beginning to the awesomeness of cake eating), it’s a very simple, small batch recipe and makes two beautiful little spongecakes with a perfectly light yet delicious crumb that are effortlessly adaptable to your liking.
Steamed Vanilla Spongecakes
- ½ cup (75g) all purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 egg
- 2 Tbsp. milk
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Whisk together flour and baking powder in a small bowl. In a medium bowl whisk together remaining ingredients. In a large saute pan with a tight fitting lid over high heat, add water until two thirds filled. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer the water gently. Prepare small rice bowls or ramekins by spraying with cooking or baking spray.
Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Add batter evenly among prepared dishes. Place dishes into the simmering water and cover tightly. Cook until inserted toothpick comes out clean
Note: cooking time will vary depending on the size and material of the dishes used, but 1/4 of the batter takes about eight minutes to steam fully, according to the original recipe. I personally found the cooking time to be about the same (eight minutes), despite making only two cakes in coated stoneware rice bowls.
(Makes two larger cakes or four small cupcakes, as Nami did on her blog which is where I got this perfect little recipe. Thanks, Nami!)
- •½ cup (75g) all purpose flour
- •1 tsp. baking powder
- •1 egg
- •2 Tbsp. milk
- •2 Tbsp. sugar
- •1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
- •1½ teaspoons vanilla
- Whisk together flour and baking powder in a small bowl. In a medium bowl whisk together remaining ingredients.
- In a large saute pan with a tight fitting lid over high heat, add water until two thirds filled. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer the water gently.
- Prepare small rice bowls or ramekins by spraying with cooking or baking spray.
- Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Add batter evenly among prepared dishes.
- Place dishes into the simmering water and cover tightly. Cook until inserted toothpick comes out clean
gorgeous – reminds me of the sponge cakes i was obsessed w as a a kid at dim sum (still am, actually)
No oven??? Not so great for a food blogger, but it looks like you’ve made some pretty delicious treats without it! So simple, beautiful and delicious!!!
Steamed cakes and puddings are very popular in Ireland. I love this recipe. Thank you so much for the link to your site. I love cooking, so I will spend some time a little later exploring all your wonderful recipes.
Best wishes,
Mairead
Delightfully unique! Love the simplicity…a must try!
What an interesting way of cooking my friend, the method of steaming makes it so fluffy!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
I have never thought to steam cake – how creative!
Hi Kate! Oh no, your oven broke! But I’m so happy to hear you got to try my Steamed Cake!
This is my go to snack recipe for my kids. It’s done while my kids do homework…and nice and warm snack is done meanwhile. Thank you so much for your kind mention and for linking back. 
My pleasure, Nami! They are delicious. A definite silver lining to the oven situation, which actually, should be solved this afternoon. Win win!
I made this and it is delicious! I used similar bowls and the timeing was right on. Beautiful moist crumb and great flavor.
This is such a great idea, especially with berry season and warmer weather coming up. My favorite cake is sponge cake — never tried steaming it before, but I definitely will! (And my oven is working fine!) Glad to hear yours will be on the mend soon.
I love spongecake and ready in minutes?? Yes!
I’ve never tried steaming cake before, but I’m convinced and will definitely be trying this soon. It looks wonderful!
Wonderful simple recipe, very new technique for me, but very intriguing. Great idea!