妈妈生日快乐之芋头蛋糕 (法式海绵蛋糕) Yam Layer Cake (French Sponge Cake)

Yesterday was my mum’s birthday. We had a mini celebration on Sunday as D was not in town yesterday.

Last year I made mum a mango cake and this year I made her a yam cake as mum likes to eat yam.

This cake is actually very similar to the popular pandan kaya cake but it’s with yam paste added. I can only get hold of Thailand yam here which is very fluffy (in Teochew/ Hokkien we call it “sang”) but lack of the yam fragrance. Therefore, I got to use some yam flavoring to enhance the taste. In case you are interested to get the flavoring, I bought my yam colour flavored paste from Phoon Huat, Redman brand (there is also another type without colour added).

For the cake base I choose French Sponge Cake this time which is using separated egg method. As compared to the Traditional Sponge Cake (whole egg method, see here), French Sponge Cake is softer and moister. It remains soft and moist even just out from the fridge. Therefore, I think it worth the effort to make French Sponge Cake although it involves more works and washing. The yam layer is very smooth and I find that the softness is just nice.

The step of making this cake seems long but with proper planning it is actually not difficult to make at all.

Original recipe is meant for 10” round tin with 9” sponge cake but I only have 8” round tin, so I made an 8” cake and trimmed it to about 7”. The excess cake and yam pudding were not wasted; I layered them in paper cups (like making tiramisu), made 3 cups.

Yam Layer Cake

French Sponge Cake
(Recipe adapted from Alex Goh’s Fruity Cakes)

Ingredients:
(A)
4 egg yolks
20g sugar
¼ tsp vanilla extract (I used yam flavoring)
(B)
4 egg white
(C)
100g sugar (I used 70g)
(D)
110g plain flour (I used cake flour)
(E)
70g melted butter

Method:
1) Whip (A) until light and fluffy.
2) Whip (B) till soft peak form. Add (C) and continue whipping until stiff.
3) Fold the meringue into (A) until well blended.
4) Sieve (D) and fold until well combined.
5) Fold in (E) and mix until well incorporated.
6) Pour the batter into a greased and lined 8” round tin. Bake in preheated oven at 180C for 25 mins. Remove cake from pan immediately when done. Slice into 3pcs horizontally after cooling down (you may make this in advance and keep in fridge).

Yam Layer
(Recipe adapted from Alex Goh’s Creative Making of Cakes)

Ingredients:
(A)
800ml water
200g sugar (I used 150g)
Pinch of salt
2tsp agar-agar powder
(B)
300ml coconut milk (I used the box type, Kara brand)
300g yam, steamed (mash it while it is still hot)
(C)
200ml coconut milk (I used 100ml Kara brand coconut milk + 100ml water)
85g cornflour
(D)
1 tsp yam colour flavored paste (optional)

Method:
1) Cook (A) till boiling.
2) Combine (B), mix well. Add it into (A), mix till well blended. Sieve to obtain a finer and smoother texture (optional).
3) Continue to cook the above mixture till boil, then add (C) and (D) to cook till thicken.
4) Place one layer of cake into an 8” springform pan or cake ring. Pour some yam pudding over and smooth it, then top with anther layer of cake. Repeat this step and finish the last layer with yam pudding on top.
5) Let it cool to room temperature and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
6) Unmould, decorate with desiccated coconut as desired.

Note:
1) I used medium low heat throughout while cooking the yam pudding except after adding (C), I switched to low heat.
2) After adding (B) and (C) need to stir constantly to avoid burning at the bottom.
3) In step 1 and 3, I only cooked till very gentle boil.
4) Prepare (B) and (C) in separate bowls before start cooking (A).