5-Minute Cantonese Porridge (Congee)

Forget cooking Cantonese porridge the traditional way. That takes way too long.

On the stove, simmering raw rice in lots of water or stock till it breaks down and forms a smooth, thick gruel takes 2-3 hours.

In a slow cooker, the process is an overnight job.

Some people mix the rice, after it's washed, with a bit of mashed century egg. The alkali in the egg is supposed to make the rice break down faster. Does it? Nah! This method still takes a few hours.

Cutting the cooking time from hours to a mere 5 minutes is quite easy.

In the time you take to read this post and watch my video, you could have made some Cantonese porridge. How?

By using cooked instead of raw rice.

And forget about century eggs. Use a blender instead.

Century egg vs blender is rather like pigeon vs WhatsApp. No one sends messages by bird any more. So why would anyone use alkalized eggs instead of a blender?

I blend cooked rice with boiling water, and then I cook it on the stove. When the mixture comes to a full boil, the job is more or less done. The total cooking time needed is about 5 minutes.

Why do I use boiling water? Because it shortens the cooking time.

What's the texture of my 5-minute porridge like? It's as silky smooth as the one that takes hours.

What about the taste? That depends on what I put in the porridge. Good stock gives the porridge great flavour. Unfortunately, it doesn't fall out of the sky.

When I don't have homemade stock, I use the seasoning powder that comes with instant noodles. If that's not available, I use Knorr chicken powder plus a good bit of sugar. To make up for the lack of homemade stock, I put lots of meat and century egg in the porridge.

Plain Cantonese porridge is quite nice too. What do I eat with it? Anything that needs minimal or no cooking, like canned braised peanuts, salted eggs, kimchi, ham, etc.

Just so we're clear, 5 minutes is the cooking time for plain porridge. It does not include prepping time for meat, etc; or the time for boiling water; or the "breathing time" for century eggs.

1 rice cup of raw rice makes enough cooked rice for 3 bowls of porridge. Cooked rice may be used hot. Or it may be chilled or frozen till needed.

If porridge is your kind of thing, you have to try my recipe. And then go make porridge for your loved ones first thing in the morning. Of course, don't tell them it takes only 5 minutes. Let them think you wake up at the crack of dawn to cook their breakfast. They will be deeply touched.

There's a Chinese edition for my Cantonese porridge video. Click here if that's what you prefer. The usual English version is here:

5-MINUTE CANTONESE PORRIDGE (五分钟港式广东粥) (Recipe for 1 bowl) 120 g cooked long-grain Jasmine rice (270 ml, fluffed) rice may be hot, cold or frozen 360 g boiling water (360 ml) ½ tsp sugar 1¼ tsp chicken powder 40 g pork shoulder butt slice thinly across the grain, mix with ½ tsp light soya sauce and pinch cornflour 40 g chicken breast steam till just cooked, leave till cool, shred ½ century egg, peeled and rinsed dice, set aside uncovered for at least 15 min 1 tbsp diced spring onions ½ tsp white sesame oil dash ground white pepper 1) Blend cooked rice with boiling water till just barely visible. Add sugar and chicken powder. Stir till chicken powder dissolves. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring to prevent sticking, till porridge boils. 2) Continue cooking till porridge has consistency and smoothness you like. Add pork. Reduce heat to low. Cook and stir till porridge bubbles again. Add chicken and century egg. Stir through, adding more boiling water if porridge is too thick. Turn off heat. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. 3) Transfer porridge into bowl. Sprinkle with spring onion, white sesame oil and ground white pepper. Serve immediately.

Mango Mille Crepe Cake (芒果千层可丽饼蛋糕)

Crepes may be tough and rubbery. Or they may be soft and delicate, that they fall apart in the pan when you flip them.

What makes good crepes good, and bad crepes bad?

Gluten.

Batter with too much gluten makes rubbery crepes. Batter with too little gluten makes overly delicate crepes that tear easily. Making good crepes is about getting the right amount of gluten. Once you nail that, you win 50% of the battle.

What's the basic building block for gluten? Flour protein. Too much protein would create too
much gluten, and vice versa. The ratio of flour to other ingredients is crucial. And so is the type of
flour. Some flours have more protein; some have less.

The amount of oil and egg yolk in the batter is also important. Why? Because fat reduces gluten formation, so it has a big impact on how the crepes turn out.

How much should you stir the batter? Stirring increases gluten formation. When you're making the batter, mix just enough to make it smooth.

Frying crepes one by one takes time. As the batter sits, the flour in the mixture sinks to the bottom of the bowl. To keep it evenly mixed, remember to stir now and then. Otherwise, crepes made with
thinner batter will tear. And crepes made with thicker batter will be rubbery.

Most crepe recipes tell you to sieve the batter, and let it rest before frying. That's because there's a lot of flour in these recipes. Sieving reduces the amount of flour, because some of it sticks to the sieve. And resting relaxes the gluten. Without these two steps, the crepes would be rubbery.

My recipe is different from others. It has far less flour. The batter would have too little flour, and the gluten would be too weak if it's sieved and rested. That would make crepes that tear easily.

If you want crepes that have the right texture, flavour and look, getting the batter right isn't enough.
You must also get the heat right.

The pan must be hot enough. Why? Because heat turns the water in eggs and milk into steam, which
makes the crepes puff up. When crepes puff up more, they're softer.

Heat is also needed to turn crepes brown. The browning gives crepes a lacy look, and it enhances the fragrance of the crepes.

The frying pan mustn't be too hot either. If it is, the batter sets once it hits the pan, and the crepe
would be too thick. Thick crepes are tough. When the pan isn't too hot, there's time to swirl the batter into a thin layer before it sets. Good crepes are just thick enough to flip without breaking.

Turning a pile of crepes into mille crepe cake takes a lot of filling. If I fill my mille crepe cake with only whipped cream, that's way too rich for me.

I need to lighten whipped cream with something. Pastry cream? Too much work. Durian? The fridge will smell for days. Strawberries? Too hard. Mangoes? Hey, bingo!

Sweet and soft, mangoes go well with crepes and cream in both flavour and texture. The cheerful yellow doesn't hurt either. Who doesn't like colourful food?

Most people make about 20 crepes for their mille crepe cake. I do only 11. Why? Because I have a layer of mango between each crepe. That's adding 10 layers in total, so my cake isn't short at all.

Here's how I make my sunny, cheerful, and delicious mango mille crepe cake:

MANGO MILLE CREPE CAKE (芒果千层可丽饼蛋糕) (Recipe for one 16 cm cake) Crepes (makes 11 pieces using 18 cm frying pan) 30 g sugar 100 g eggs 15 g egg yolk 30 g corn oil 60 g plain flour 200 g full-fat milk 1/4 tsp pandan paste lard for greasing steel pan or corn oil if using non-stick Filling 200 g dairy cream with 35% fat, cold 30 g sugar 1/4 tsp vanilla extract 3 mangoes, each about 250 g To make crepes 1) Mix sugar with eggs, yolk and corn oil till dissolved. Sift plain flour into mixture. Mix till even and smooth. Add half of full-fat milk. Mix till even and smooth. Add remaining milk. Mix till even and smooth. 2) Heat 18 cm frying pan over medium-low heat till medium-hot (125-130ºC). Reduce heat to low. Grease pan lightly. 3) Measure 39 g batter into cup. Pour into middle of pan. Swirl quickly to form even layer. Measure another 39 g batter into cup. Set aside. When crepe turns slightly brown around edges (takes about 30 seconds), loosen and flip with flexible spatula. Fry till second side is slightly brown (about 20 seconds). Remove crepe to plate. Repeat frying as before, making 11 crepes in total. Whilst frying, mix batter gently once per batch of 3-4 crepes. 4) Leave crepes till cool. Refrigerate till thoroughly chilled. To make filling 5) Whip dairy cream with sugar till thick. Add vanilla extract. Whip till cream is just stiff enough to stick to whisk. Place cream in fridge. 6) Peel mangoes. Cut into 1 mm thick slices. Discard peel and seeds. To assemble cake 7) Place 1 crepe on serving plate. Spread with 23 g whipped cream. Top with mangoes. Place another crepe on mango layer and repeat layering as before, making sure cake isn't lopsided. 8) Gently press top of cake with bottom of cake pan. Cover cake with pan. Refrigerate for about 12 hours. Serve.

Macarons, French Meringue Method (法式马卡龙)

Here are 12 FAQ to help you make macarons:

1) Which almond flour?
I use Phoon Huat's superfine almond flour. PH sells three types of almond flour. Only the one labeled "SUPERFINE" is good for macarons.

Almond flour that's not "macaron grade" is too coarse. Can you grind it to make it superfine? If you have a super duper grinder that's leagues ahead of what most people have at home, yes.

2) How to make French meringue for macarons?
I whisk fresh egg white on speed #3 to start with (#24 is the fastest on my electric whisk). I then drop to #1 after sugar is added. Finally, I whisk by hand to finish off. The meringue, when it's done, is at stiff peak stage, i.e. the peak is straight, not hooked. It's smooth and glossy, not grainy and matt.

Whisking slowly helps make the meringue stable. A stiff, stable meringue is crucial to everything that's important in macarons: the foot, the height, the sleek crust, the inside. If you don't want flat, footless, rough macrons with a hollow inside, you must get the meringue right. Remember: whisk SLOWLY.

3) How to hit the "macaronage" sweet spot?
Mixing the meringue with almond flour and icing sugar correctly is very important. If the batter is under- or overmixed, the macarons will be flat, footless, rough, or hollow inside.

How to tell when the mixing, the so-called macaronage, hits the sweet spot? By testing. When the batter's texture is smooth, I stop folding every 10-15 folds to drop some batter from about 25 cm high. When the batter doesn't move at all after landing, it's not ready. When it moves ever so slightly, it's almost there. From this point, I stop every 3-5 folds to observe the batter. When it oozes a bit after I stop folding, it's done.

4) Why do macarons have feet?
Before the batter is baked, it needs to rest till the surface isn't tacky. The dry surface is crucial to the macarons forming feet. Why? Because it's a shield, which stops steam formed during baking from rising. Since the steam can't go up, it looks for an alternative exit. Where's that? Between the batter and baking tray. That's why macarons have frilly bottoms, aka feet.

5) Why don't your macarons have feet?
Cracked macarons are footless (or have poorly formed feet). Why? Because most of the steam escapes through the cracks, not the space between the batter and the baking tray. Refer to Q4.

Macarons that aren't cracked may still be footless. If the oven temperature is too high, the batter is overmixed, the batter has too little egg white, or the macarons are too small, you can wave good-bye to macaron feet. These mistakes make the batter set too quickly, so there's no time to form cracks or feet.

6) Why do your macarons crack?
If the oven temperature is too high, or there's too much egg white in the batter, macarons crack because too much steam is created. Air bubbles that are too big could lead to cracks too.

Batter that isn't dry enough when it's baked could also result in cracks. Macaron batter doesn't dry well if it has too much egg white, it is overmixed, or the resting time is too short. Poking the batter when it's dry or half-dry – maybe to remove air bubbles – creates wet spots. Touching the batter before it's dry – to check if it is – creates wet spots too.

7) Why are your macarons hollow inside?
When the meringue is overwhisked or whisked too quickly, it's grainy; or it turns grainy whilst the batter is waiting to be baked. Grainy meringue can't rise well, so the batter doesn't rise to fill the big air pockets created by heat. That results in a hollow under the crust.

9) Why do your macarons blister?
Because big bubbles in the batter expand when heated.

8) Why are the results from your single batch of batter uneven?
Only evenly mixed batter yields even results. When the batter is uneven, some macarons have feet and some don't; some are hollow inside and some aren't.

10) Why are your macarons rough?
Because the almond flour is coarse, the meringue is grainy, or the batter is undermixed. 

11) Why do your macarons stick to the parchment paper?
Because they are underbaked, removed from the paper whilst still warm, or piped on the batter used to glue the parchment paper to the baking tray.



12) How to make macarons less sweet?
Do not change the recipe for macaron shells. It will end in tears if you do. Instead, go for a filling that has a bitter ingredient, such as coffee, matcha or cocoa buttercream. Homemade yam paste, green/red bean paste or lotus paste would be good too. You can make these with as little sugar as you like, to balance the macaron shells' sweetness. Imagine macarons filled with thick yam paste that's made with coconut milk. These "orh nee" macarons would give the buttercream and ganache lot a run for their money.

MACARONS, FRENCH MERINGUE METHOD (法式马卡龙) (Recipe for 20 macaron shells) 40 g superfine almond flour 50 g icing sugar   35 g egg white 25 g castor sugar small pinch fine salt 5 drops liquid red food colouring click here for Swiss meringue buttercream recipe 1. Cut parchment paper to fit bottom of 13" x 10" baking tray. Draw twenty 3.3 cm circles on paper with pencil, evenly spread out. 2. Place piping tip #802 in piping bag. Cut tip of bag to fit piping tip. Tie bag with rubber band just above piping tip. 3. Place almond flour and icing sugar in food processor. Blitz till mixture looks lump free, scraping down as necessary, then blitz a bit more (to be doubly sure all lumps are obliterated). Alternatively, sift almond flour and icing sugar. 4. Whisk egg white on slow speed till thick foam forms. Gradually add castor sugar, still whisking. Reduce speed. Continue to whisk till firm peak stage, i.e. peak is hooked. Reduce to manual speed. Continue to whisk till just hitting stiff peak stage, i.e. peak is straight. (Meringue is now smooth, not grainy.) 5. Sprinkle half of almond mixture on meringue. Cut with spatula till almond mixture is wet. Sprinkle with remaining almond mixture. Cut as before. Fold till just evenly mixed. 6. Add food colouring and fine salt. 7. Fold batter till colour is even and texture is smooth, pausing now and then to scrape down spatula. 8. Continue folding, pausing every 10-15 folds to drop batter from about 25 cm high. When batter moves ever so slightly after landing, it's almost ready. 9. Keep folding, now pausing to observe every 3-5 folds. When batter oozes slightly after you stop folding, it's ready. 10. Transfer batter into piping bag. Remove rubber band. Twist top of piping bag tightly, squeezing batter downward. 11. Pipe small dollops of batter in corners of baking tray. Place parchment paper on tray, pencilled side facing down. Press paper against batter so that it sticks well. Pipe using drawn circles as guide, avoiding batter that's under parchment paper. 12. Rap baking tray against worktop – hard, 4-6 times – till tips of batter disappear or almost disappear. Prick visible air bubbles with skewer. Smooth holes and remaining tips. 13. Set tray aside till batter isn't sticky when touched lightly, about 30 minutes depending on the weather. (I put the tray in front of a table fan turned on low because Singapore is very humid.) 14. Whilst macaron batter is drying, preheat oven to 135°C. When batter is ready, bake on middle shelf of oven for 30 minutes. 15. Remove tray from oven. Drag parchment paper onto wire rack. Leave till macarons are cool. Carefully peel parchment paper from macarons. 16. Separate macaron shells into pairs that are same size. Pipe filling of choice on one shell and top with the other. 17. Place macarons in fridge, covered, for a few hours or up to a few days. Remove from fridge before serving and allow to come to desired level of softness.

Edith Chong Pei See: A Thief?

Some readers share my recipes on their blogs, such as here, here and here. The bloggers in these examples rewrite the instructions, in their own words. I am flattered and happy that they share my recipes with their readers.

Sadly, not all bloggers are honest. Some people just copy and paste from my blog.

Copying word for word, or almost word for word, is an infringement of copyright, even when the original author is credited. If it weren't, we can all upload best selling books and make loads of money, right?

When I find unscrupulous bloggers who steal my posts, I leave this message on their blog:

Dear Thief

Copying and pasting from my blog is an infringement of copyright. Delete the text you have stolen, you despicable, low-down thief!

When the thieves get the message, all of them delete not only the stolen text but their entire post. There is, however, one exception: Edith Chong Pei See.

Edith Chong Pei See has an old blog, Precious Moments, and a current blog, Rumbling Tummy. The latter has this message, in red, on its home page:



SO CALLED stolen recipes? So the recipes on Precious Moments aren't REALLY stolen?

I am the blogger Rumbling Tummy refers to. Let me set the record straight.

Here is what's published on my post for sambal udang:

Cut dried chillies, red chillies, shallots and buah keras into small pieces. Pound or grind till smooth. Fry in vegetable oil over medium-low to low heat till medium brown. Add belachan and stir through. Add sugar, salt and tamarind water. Simmer till thick and oil separates. Add prawns and heat till just cooked, stirring and turning as necessary to cook evenly . . . . Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

This is a screenshot of what's on Precious Moments on 6 May 2015, before it's edited:



Precious Moments' text is the same as mine, word for word. That's a flagrant violation of copyright.

Edith Chong Pei See copied another recipe, dry chicken curry, almost word for word. This is a screenshot of the recipe on Precious Moments as on 6 May 2015, before it's edited:




Using my writing without my permission is stealing. If a person steals, she's a thief. If she's a thief, she's pond scum. Don't you agree?

Have you also had stuff stolen from your blog? Are you also a victim of copyright violation? What do you do? Do you just grin and bear it?

Matcha Swiss Roll

Knock, knock!

Who's there?

Matcha!

Matcha who?

Much ado about Swiss rolls.

This is another Swiss roll post, the third on this blog. 

My matcha sheet cake is barely sweet, to keep it in character with green tea which is drunk without sugar. It has quite little oil because matcha doesn't absorb much oil. My vanilla sheet cake, in comparison, has twice as much. Green tea powder also helps "lighten" the cake. You know how tea makes food seem less rich? Matcha does that with cake.

If you don't know much about matcha, please read my post on matcha layer cake. You'll find information on what type of matcha to buy and how to store it. 

My matcha sheet cake uses the chiffon method. Making the batter is quite easy. Just do the usual stuff that applies to all cakes, e.g. measuring the ingredients correctly, not over- or underbeating, not over- or undermixing, etc.

The baking part is less straightforward. When I bake the cake, I block the oven's bottom heat around two-thirds of the way. Why? To keep the inside of the cake moist whilst allowing the crust to dry out sufficiently. Without blocking the bottom heat, the crust would be sticky when the inside is just right. And if the bottom heat is blocked too early, the bottom of the cake would stick to the parchment paper.

What makes the crust dry out slowly? Matcha. Some of the fine powder rises to the top of the cake when heated. Do wet leaves dry well in the oven? No, not as well as flour which has starch to help it set. That's why the crust needs the tray's help.

I like to fill my matcha roll with matcha whipped cream and red beans. You can, of course, make sweetened red beans from scratch. But chances are your homemade version won't be as fragrant as Japanese canned red beans unless your beans are from Hokkaido. Chinese red beans are far inferior.

I've tried two brands of red beans: Hashimoto and Imuraya. Both are fragrant but I prefer Hashimoto. It has more bite and is less sweet.

Imuraya beans are mushy and the syrup, because it's thickened with cornstarch, is very gloopy. The gloop clings to the beans, adding to the sweetness and mushiness. Unlike Imuraya, Hashimoto is thickened with sorbitol. The syrup isn't as thick at room temperature, so I can drain it.

One small can of Hashimoto, 190 g, yields 130 g after it's drained. Leftovers may be refrigerated for a few weeks or frozen for a few months.

I like my matcha roll "naked", i.e. it's rolled inside out and there's no icing. I think the green, spongy look is quite pretty. Is rolling the cake difficult? Not at all. The cake handles well (provided it's made right). If you don't know much about rolling Swiss rolls, please read my post on vanilla Swiss roll.

After you make the Swiss roll, have a small piece to see what it's like. Take note of the taste and remember it. Keep the rest of the roll in the fridge, covered, for two days. Your saintly patience will be rewarded with a matcha flavour that's more intense than two days prior, and melded with the red beans. After taking a bite, you'll never again eat matcha Swiss roll that's freshly made . . . or store-bought.

Here's my video to walk you through the recipe:

MATCHA SWISS ROLL (抹茶瑞士蛋糕卷) (Recipe for one small roll) Cake 10 g very hot water  1/2 tbsp green tea powder 30 g egg yolks 10 g castor sugar 15 g corn oil 15 g cake flour 70 g egg whites 1/16 tsp cream of tartar 20 g castor sugar soft butter for greasing pan Filling 75 g fresh dairy cream, 35% fat 1/2 tsp green tea powder 40 g drained red beans, Hashimoto brand (beans need at least 30 min to drain well) If you double the recipe, use a 13" x 10" pan. 1. To make cake, preheat oven to 200°C. Grease 10" x 7" cake pan with butter. Line with 14" x 7" parchment paper, making sure paper has no air pockets or creases. Measure and prep ingredients as detailed above. 2. Add water to green tea powder. Stir till smooth. Cover. Set aside. 3. Whisk egg yolks with 10 g castor sugar till thick and pale. Add corn oil. Whisk till thick. Add green tea paste. Mix till even. Sift cake flour into mixture in 2 batches. Mix till just even after each batch. 4. Whisk egg whites on medium-low speed till very frothy. Add cream of tartar. Whisk till thick foam forms. Gradually add 20 g castor sugar whilst continuing to whisk. Reduce speed to low. Keep whisking till firm, hooked peak stage. 5. Loosen egg yolk mixture from bottom of bowl. Add egg whites in 2 batches. Mix with whisk till almost even after each batch. Scrape down and fold with spatula till just evenly mixed, banging bowl against worktop 2-3 times. 6. Scrape batter into cake pan, slowly and from 1' high. Spread as evenly as possible. Jiggle vigorously till batter is level, banging cake pan against worktop 2-3 times. 7. Bake cake on middle shelf of oven till risen, about 9 minutes (10 minutes if recipe is doubled). Place baking tray in bottom of oven. Continue baking till crust is lightly brown and middle of cake doesn't make squishing sound when pressed, 4-5 minutes (5-6 minutes if recipe is doubled), checking once every 30-45 seconds towards the end. 8. Remove pan from oven. Drop from 1' high 2-3 times. Loosen cake with knife. Drag onto wire rack. Leave till cold. Remove from wire rack. Place new parchment paper on cake. Flip cake upside down. Peel old parchment paper from cake, slowly. Flip again. 9. To make filling, whip cream till thick enough to hold its shape. Add green tea powder. Whisk till thick enough to stick to whisk. 10. To assemble Swiss roll, spread cake with whipped cream, then red beans. Roll. Refrigerate for 2 days, covered. Remove from fridge. Cut with serrated knife, wiping knife clean after each cut. Tuck in when cake is soft but filling is still firm.

Marble Butter Sponge Cake (Tang Mian Method)

Tàng, 烫: scald.

Miàn, 面: flour.

Tang mian is roux, made by cooking flour in bubbling hot butter.

Tang mian cake has the fluffiness of chiffon cake and the butteriness of butter cake. It has the best of two cake worlds but that's not all. It is smooth, smoother than chiffon or butter cake could ever be.

Some people call tang mian "cooked dough" instead of "roux". And the cake is sometimes called "黄金蛋糕" or "golden sponge cake". Hey, a rose by any other name . . . .

Mixing bubbling hot butter with flour intensifies the butter aroma significantly. If butter were just melted and added to the batter, or it's just beaten till fluffy, the cake would taste less buttery. Even beurre noisette isn't as good.

Cooking flour in hot butter makes the cake smooth. Why? Because when flour is coated with fat, it doesn't form gluten when it's mixed with non-fat liquids. No gluten is good news for cakes because gluten has a rough texture. In fact, pure gluten looks quite like sea sponge.

Once the roux is made, it's transferred into a bowl and mixed with cold milk. The milk is absorbed by the starch in the flour, creating a thick paste that's very hot. Unlike gluten which is rough, thickened starch has a smooth texture. That's why tang mian cake is smoother than other types of cake (when it's done right).

After the edge of the heat cools down, a small amount of egg white is added to the thick paste. When this is done is critical to the success of the cake. Why? Because the timing affects the consistency of the starch. If the starch is too thick/thin, the cake won't rise well. If the starch is just right, the cake will be very smooth. You know how good wine feels smooth in the mouth? Hey, cake can be smooth too!

After combining the roux with egg white, along with vanilla extract and salt, I add egg yolks. These are added one at a time so that they are mixed but not emulsified with the starch. The yolk batter mustn't stick to the whisk. Otherwise, it's too thick and the cake is doomed.

The bulk of the egg whites in the recipe are whisked, separately with sugar and cream of tartar, till firm peak stage.

If the batter is bubbly after whisked egg whites are added to the yolk mixture, it's too thin. Thin batter allows air bubbles to escape easily, so the cake won't rise well. It also allows air bubbles to expand easily when heated, so the cake will be pockmarked.

The batter is poured into the cake pan, slowly and from about 30 cm high. This releases big air bubbles in the batter, so the crumb will be fine and smooth.

If the batter falls in clumps when it's poured, it's too thick. Big air bubbles remain trapped in the batter, turning into unsightly holes in the cake when the baking is done. If the batter is too thick to rise well, the cake will be short and dense.

What makes the batter too thick? The roux is too hot when egg white is added, or the meringue is overwhisked. And vice versa would make the batter too thin.

After baking, the cake must be inverted whilst it's cooling down. If it's underbaked, it'll fall out of the pan and you can wave goodbye to its fluffiness. If the cake is overbaked, it'll be too dry. When the cake is baked just right, it's delightfully moist and fluffy . . . . Oh hang on . . . I think there's someone at the door.

Knock, knock! Who's there? Tang mian! Tang mian who? Timing is everything!

Want to get the timing right so that your cake is fluffy, moist, smooth and buttery? Here's how:

MARBLE BUTTER SPONGE CAKE (TANG MIAN METHOD) (Recipe for one 18 cm cake) 60 g unsalted butter 45 g cake flour 30 g full-fat milk, cold 20 g egg white 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/16 tsp salt 45 g egg yolks 105 g egg whites 1/16 tsp cream of tartar 50 g castor sugar 1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Measure and prep ingredients as detailed above. Line bottom of 18 x 6 cm round cake pan with 2 layers of parchment paper. 2. Cook butter over medium-low heat, stirring with whisk, till just bubbling thoroughly. Turn off heat. (If your stove is electric, remove pan from stove.) 3. Add cake flour to butter. Stir till smooth. Transfer into mixing bowl with scraper. Add milk. Mix vigorously with whisk till just combined. 4. Feel sides of bowl, which should be very hot. Wait till edge of heat eases, about 30 seconds. Add vanilla extract, salt and 20 g egg white. Whisk till combined. Add egg yolks in 3 batches. Whisk till combined after each addition. 5. Whisk 105 g egg whites on medium-low speed till frothy. Add cream of tartar. Whisk till thick foam forms. Gradually add castor sugar, still whisking. Continue to whisk till soft peak stage. Reduce speed to low. Whisk till firm peak stage (i.e. peak is hooked). 6. Yolk mixture is now slightly bubbly. Stir with whisk to remove bubbles. Add egg whites in 3 batches. Mix with whisk till almost even after each addition. Scrape down and fold with spatula till just even, banging mixing bowl against worktop 2-3 times. 7. Transfer 20 g batter into small bowl. Add 1 tsp cocoa powder. Mix thoroughly. 8. Pour remaining batter into cake pan in 3 batches, slowly and from 30 cm high. After each batch, dot with cocoa batter and drag sharp end of skewer through dots. Jiggle batter till level, tapping pan against worktop 3-4 times. 9. Bake cake in bottom of oven till batter doesn't jiggle when shaken, 22-23 minutes. Move pan to lower-middle shelf. Increase temperature to 180°C. Bake till middle of cake doesn't make squishing sound when pressed, about 10-12 minutes. 10. Remove cake from oven. Leave on wire rack, inverted, till cool. Knock sides of pan till cake is loosened. Invert and remove pan. Invert cake right way up. Cut and serve.