What is Steamed Cake?

Steamed cake is popular dessert, mainly produced in Asian countries such as Japan, China and South Korea. Steam cakes are usually served for tea time or breakfast. They are different than baked cakes in many aspects as followings:

Ingredients for steam cake are common including, all-purpose flour or cake flour, baking powder, egg, milk, sugar, oil, and flavors. Steamed cakes taste less fat and sweet vs. baked cakes. Thus, steamed cakes are considered a bit healthier.

Japanese steamed cakes

In Japan, traditional steamed cakes are made with plain, green tea, sweet potato flavor, etc. Nowadays, steamed cakes are made with many different flavors, such as banana, strawberry, apple, lemon, honey, etc. Tokyo Banana is one of the most popular steam cake brands in Japan, and has been evaluated as the number one Japanese Souvenir for two consecutive years. Well-known products are steam cakes and cream-filled steam cakes with different flavors, such as banana, lemon, honey, apple, strawberry, etc. The main ingredients used for making steamed cakes include:

• wheat flour
• vegetable oil
• sugar
• flavored cream
• emulsifier
• baking powder
• food coloring

Chinese steamed cakes

Chinese steamed cakes are usually cooked through steaming, rather than using a baking dish or pan that is placed in a pan containing water or oven baking. Steamed cake products are common in Chinese daily diets, such as Mantou, Fagao, and rice cake. Mantou and Fagao are usually made with wheat flour, or combined with other cereal grain flours. Rice cake is made with rice flour, either sticky rice flour or regular non-sticky rice flour.

Korea steamed cakes

Korean steamed cakes are mainly made with rice flour. Steamed rice cakes are traditional Korean pastry. The cooking method is similar to Chinese steamed rice cakes, mainly through steaming. And they are light, soft and fluffy.

Steamed donuts

Frying process is an important step in making donuts for the final flavor and texture. However, too much fat also generates health concerns. Thus, there is a demand for developing low- or reduced-fat donuts. Steamed donuts are good alternatives for fried donuts. Steamed donuts are made through steaming rather than frying process. There is a patent filed in 2014 regards to the steamed cake donut.¹

References:

Baisier, P., and Simko, J. (2014). U.S. Patent No. 8,889,202. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.