Mia Bakes: Marbled Butter Sponge Cake (Roux Method)

Well, because my mum loves butter cake to bits and kept asking me to bake one for her....

 However, my 1st try wasn't a very pretty one. T.T

Using a recipe with high butter & flour content, I got myself a loaf of extremely buttery, dense and soft butter sponge cake. 

But a quick calculation of the calorie content made me not want to eat anymore than just that tiny square I cut for myself as a taste-test. 

So I googled somemore and stumbled upon KitchenTigress's tang mian recipe. A few minor tweaks here and there and I'm good to go!

For 1 loaf (serves 10) of marbled butter sponge cake, you'll need:

60g salted butter

(if using unsalted, add a pinch of salt)

45g AP flour

30g skimmed milk (cold)

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs 

(yolks and white separated)

1 tsp unsweeten cocoa powder

First up, to prepare the roux dough, heat the butter in a pot over the hob until it starts to simmer. Off the hob and stir in your flour until until everything is well combined. Then, add in cold milk and stir well before transferring into a clean bowl (unless your pot is huge enough). Leave the mixture to cool down (to a temperature that wouldn't cook your eggs) before adding in 1 tablespoon of egg whites (from the 3 eggs) and vanilla extract. Mix well before adding in the yolks one at a time, beating well between each addition. Set the yolk mixture aside to prepare the meringue. 

In a clean bowl (no traces of oil), beat your egg whites using an electric mixer until it turns frothy. Then, add in your sugar in 3 additions, beating on high in between each addition until it turns glossy and about to achieve stiff peaks. 

It takes a lot more skills to mix the meringue and yolk mixture together well without deflating the meringue when you beat them to stiff peaks. So if you've been failing with your chiffon cakes or any recipes that calls for mixing meringue with another batter, you may want to try NOT beating till stiff peaks achieved. 

Add in 1/3 of the meringue into the yolk mixture and mix it in well using a balloon whisk. I personally find it easier to mix (fold) using a whisk as compared to a spatula, but if you'll prefer folding using a spatula, by all means go ahead. 

Add in the remaining 2/3 of the meringue and fold until just combined. DO NOT overmix your batter!

Scoop out 20g of the batter into a small bowl and mix in 1 tsp of unsweeten cocoa powder until well combined. 

My loaf tin is non-stick so I didn't need to line or oil my tin. But if yours do stick, you may lightly butter the tin and just line the bottom of your tin with some baking paper. 

Pour about 1/3 of the batter into the tin before dropping a few dollops of the cocoa batter onto the surface. Using a toothpick, make a few quick swirls around the tin to create some marble patterns. 

Repeat (2x) with the remaining batter before tapping it on the counter to release the trapped air bubbles within. 

Bake at 160 degree Celsius for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

TADAA~

As compared to my 1st bake, this loaf using the roux method (with less butter and flour) has given must softer and melt-in-your-mouth texture. Though the buttery fragrance is comparatively less strong, I felt a lot less guilty know that 1 serving of the cake will only set my daily limit back by about 110 kcals. 

Heh! :)

Till then,

Mia Foo