Soft and airy sponge cake is decorated with light airy whipped cream and fruit is a classic and popular Chinese bakery-style cake often seen during birthday celebrations and suitable for other events or celebrations too.
If you love airy and spongey cake, this Chinese bakery-style fruit sponge cake is up your alley then! It has that soft and airy texture of chiffon that we love so much.
What is Chinese bakery-style fruit sponge cake?
I grew up with cakes frosted with buttercream as birthday cakes and heavily coated with chocolate sprinkles and I have to be honest that I never was a big fan. The buttercream was so rich that I couldn’t take it. Then along come this light and airy sponge cake. Just lightly sweetened. Usually frosted in white color light and airy whipped cream and decorated with fresh fruit or canned or glazed fruit. They are popping out everywhere at Chinese/Asian bakery shops and it seemed like an instant hit with me (and many others). This was the only cake I requested since then. No more buttercream cake please! ever! LOL!
The recipe rundown
Taste: The cake has the right amount of sweetness (to me anyway). The whipped cream frosting doesn’t weigh you down either
Texture: Soft crumb, airy, and spongey
Level: Intermediate
Pros: It looks more complicated than it actually is. I’m no cake decorator, but this cake can be decorated any way you want. The fruits just make it looks pretty without much effort actually. NO baking powder is used either. You don’t need it if you properly whip your meringue
Cons: If you are used to rich-tasting cake, you may find this cake not sweet and/or rich enough for you
Tips for success
1. Plan on the size of the cake. Don’t make too big of a cake that will give you too much leftover. The longer you keep the cake in the fridge, the drier it gets. So keep that in mind
2. Plan on making the cake and whipped cream the day before
3. Allow about 2-3 hours for the cake to chill before you can serve it
4. Get the eggs and milk out from the fridge to let them come to room temperature 15-30 minutes (depending on how warm it is where you are) before you plan to start working on this cake
5. Chill the bowl and whisk attachment in the fridge for at least 15 minutes before you plan to whip the cream
6. Always preheat your oven to bake the cake before you start working on the recipe
7. Just breathe and you will be just fine. I can do it, you can definitely do it
How to make Chinese bakery-style fruit sponge cake
1. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). In a mixing bowl, add egg yolks, sugar, oil, milk, vanilla extract, and whisk to combine.
2. Sift in the cake flour and salt
3. Mix to combine. Set aside
4. Make sure your mixing bowl and other equipment are grease-free and clean. Use a whisk attachment to whip the egg white on medium speed until frothy, about 1 minute. Add the vinegar and whip again for another minute. Gradually add sugar in 4 batches
5. Continue to whip until you reach a stiff peak and stop. You can always stop halfway to check too. When you use a whisk to lift up the meringue, it should stay firm with just a slight bent on the tip and not moving. If you turn the bowl upside down, the meringue won’t flop down
6. Scoop 1/3 of the meringue into the cake batter. Use a whisk to gently swipe down and fold over to combine the meringue into the cake batter. Do this gently but quickly.
7. Continue with the next 1/3 and then the last 1/3. The final cake batter should be voluminous and airy. If it turns runny and not much volume, you have overmixed and lose most of the air, the cake will turn out dense and won’t rise
8. Pour half of the cake batter into a prepared pan and the other half onto another. Bang on the countertop about 2-3 times to pop large bubbles. I like to use a skewer to run through the cake batter just to pop any extra bubbles inside the cake (these bubbles will create ugly holes inside your cake later)
9. Place the cake pans side by side on the middle rack and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean. I use a conventional oven with bottom heat only
10. Remove from the oven and drop the cake pan from about 5-inch height on the countertop. This helps to minimize shrinkage. Let the cake cools down in the pan for about 5 minutes. The cake will pull away from the side of the pan. You can also run an offset spatula on the edge to help release the cake. Place a plate or something flat on top of the cake pan and flip over. Peel the parchment from the bottom of the cake off and flip back and let the cake cools down completely on a cooling rack
11. Make sure the heavy cream has been chilled in the fridge too. Pour the heavy cream, icing sugar, and cornstarch into a mixing bowl. Start whipping at medium speed for about 20-30 seconds. Whip until you get a medium firm. It holds its shape, glossy and smooth. If you whip further, the cream will break and turns grainy. You are on your way to making yourself some butter (trust me, it happened to me before!). You can use the whipped cream to decorate right away or cover and store them in the fridge until the next day
Whipped cream medium firm
13. Lay the first layer of the cake on a plate. Turn the brown side of the cake down so it becomes the bottom of the cake. Spread 1/4 of the whipped cream on the surface using an offset spatula as evenly as possible
14. Arrange the fruit slices on top of the cream
15. Cover with another 1/4 of the whipped cream as evenly and level as possible
16. Top with another layer of the cake. The brown side down (I actually forgot to do so ha..ha..but no big deal, no one noticed it because it’s covered by the cream psssttt!!!)
17. Spread again with 1/2 of the whipped cream as level as possible. Now use the rest of the whipped cream to frost the sides of the cake. I didn’t frost it entirely white on the sides, giving it a more semi-naked look. I use the extra whipped cream to pipe some pattern on the edge of the cake. Arrange more fruit on top, covering all the surface
18. Chill the cake for at least 2-3 hours in the fridge to let the frosting set, before you plan to serve the cake. So plan accordingly when the cake needs to be served
Chinese Bakery-Style Fruit Sponge Cake
Not so bad right? It looks complicated at first glance, but really for someone with not much experience decorating a cake, this cake is quite forgiving! As long as you get the cake texture right, the rest is a no-brainer! The fruits really jazz up the cake without much effort on my end, which is great, because I’m horrible at decorating cake LOL!
How to store leftover
It is best to serve this cake on the same day, which is why I usually make a small cake unless I need to serve the cake to more people. Leftover happens, I get it! Here’s how to store the cake:
1. Chill the cake back in the fridge for about 15 minutes or so, since you probably have left it on the counter and the whipped cream has softened
2. The whipped cream will harden back. Cover with a plastic wrap and keep in the fridge for no more than 3 days if possible. The longer you keep, the drier it gets and it will also absorb other smells from your fridge. No good!
Did you make this Chinese bakery-style fruit sponge cake recipe?
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The recipe is updated to adjust pan size, baking time, and to include a short video tutorial on August 30,2021
Chinese Bakery Fruit Sponge Cake
Ingredients
This sponge cake recipe uses egg-separation method:
Cake batter:
- 4 egg yolks (room temperature) from 58-60 grams egg with a shell
- 20 gr granulated sugar
- 64 gr cooking oil
- 80 gr whole milk (room temperature)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 120 gr cake flour
- ¼ tsp salt
Meringue:
- 4 large egg whites (room temperature) from 58-60 grams egg with a shell
- 100 gr granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vinegar
Simple syrup - to brush on cakes to keep them moist (recommended):
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 2 Tbsp hot water
Stabilized whipped cream (option 1):
- 240 ml heavy cream
- 30 gr icing sugar
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Stabilized whipped cream (option 2)- my favorite:
- 240 ml heavy cream
- 30 gr icing sugar
- 2 tsp Jello Instant Pudding mix (vanilla) or any flavor you like
Decoration:
- a mixture of fresh fruit with different colors you can use fresh or canned fruit
Instructions
Suggestion: Make the cake the day before (less hectic for you)
- Preheat oven at 350 (180 C) for a conventional oven. For a convection oven, reduce the temperature by 20 degrees. There are two ways you can bake this cake. You can use 2 7-inch square cake pans or 8-inch round pans, with at least 2 inches height and divide the cake batter into two. You can also bake in one large sheet pan about 13 x 18 inch size, which will give you a square/rectangle cake, depending on how you trim the cake and how many layers you want. Line the bottom of the cake pans or sheet pan with parchment paper
Prepare the cake batter:
- Divide the egg yolks and the whites. In a mixing bowl, add egg yolks, sugar, oil, milk, vanilla extract and whisk to combine. Sift in the cake flour and salt. Mix to combine. The yolk batter will be thick but flowy. Set aside
Make the meringue:
- Make sure your mixing bowl and other equipment are grease-free and clean. Use a whisk attachment to whip the egg white on medium speed (speed 4) until frothy, about 1 minute. Add the vinegar and whip again for another minute. Increase speed to 6 (medium) and gradually add sugar in 4 batches and continue to whip until you reach a stiff peak and then lower speed to 4 and beat one more minute so the air bubbles will be smaller. You can always stop halfway to check too. When you use a whisk to lift up the meringue, it should stay firm with just a slight bent on a tip and not moving. If you turn the bowl upside down, the meringue won't flop down
Fold the meringue into the cake batter:
- Scoop 1/3 of the meringue into the cake batter. Use a whisk to gently swipe down and fold over to combine the meringue into the cake batter. Do this gently but quickly. Continue with the next 1/3 and then the last 1/3. The final cake batter should be voluminous and airy. If it turns runny and not much volume, you have overmixed and lose most of the air, the cake will turn out dense and won't rise
- If you use two pans, pour half of the batter into one of the prepared pan and the rest onto another prepared pan. If you use large sheet pan, pour all the batter in the pan and spread it out as evenly as possible so the surface is even. Shake the pan a bit to evenly distribute and use a rubber spatula to help you smooth the top. Bang the cake pans on the countertop about 2-3 times to pop large bubbles. I like to use a skewer to run through the cake batter just to pop any extra bubbles inside the cake (these bubbles will create ugly holes inside your cake later)
Baking:
- If you use two pans, put both pans side by side on the same rack on the middle rack. If you use one large sheet pan, do the same and put on the middle rack. My oven is conventional with bottom heat only. Place the cake pan/pans on the middle rack and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean and the top is springy and slightly golden brown
- Remove from the oven and drop the cake pan from about 5-inch height on the countertop. This helps to minimize shrinkage. Let the cake cools down in the pan for about 5 minutes. The cake will pull away from the side of the pan. Then run an offset spatula on the edge to help release the cake. Place a plate or something flat on top of the cake pan and flip over. Peel the parchment from the bottom of the cake off and flip back and let the cake cools down completely on cooling rack
- You can wrap the cake up with a cling wrap at this point if you don't plan to do the decoration on the same day. They can be kept at room temperature until the next day
Make the stabilized whipped cream :
- Chill your mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the fridge for 15 minutes. The cream whip better when everything is cold. Make sure the heavy cream has been chilled in the fridge too
- For option 1: Pour the heavy cream, icing sugar, vanilla extract if using, and corn starch into a mixing bowl. Start whipping at medium speed until it reaches a medium-stiff peak. It should be able to hold its shape with slight bent on the tip when you lift the whisk up. The texture will be smooth and glossy. If you whip too stiff, it will be grainy and not smooth. You know you have gone too far
- For option 2: I like whipped cream stabilized with Jello instant pudding because the whipped cream is extremely stable, have a nice spongy texture, and it won't "sweat" at all when you keep the frosted cake in the fridge or even if you leave the frosted cake out at room temperature for hours. Please note that you need to use the cream immediately or it will set if you make ahead and you won't be able to frost the cake smoothly
- Pour the heavy cream, icing sugar, and the Jello instant pudding mix into a mixing bowl. Start whipping at medium speed until it reaches a medium-stiff peak. It should be able to hold its shape with a slight bent on the tip when you lift the whisk up. The texture will be smooth and glossy. If you whip too stiff, it will be grainy and not smooth. You know you have gone too far
Decorate the cake:
- You can make 2-layer cake (thicker layer) or 4 layers (thinner layer). In the video, I made 4 layers instead of 2. It's up to you. Slice the cake accordingly. It helps if you have a cake leveler and slicer. Otherwise, just do your best to slice as evenly as possible
- If you bake one large sheet of cake, the cake should be pretty level. cut the cake into two, three or four portions (the shape of the cake (square or rectangle) depends on how many layers you decided to do and how you cut and trim the cake)
- Combine the sugar and water to make a simple syrup. The hot water will dissolve the sugar. Get the fresh fruit or canned fruit you want to use ready. You can also use the syrup from the canned fruit to brush on the cake and you don't need to make the simple syrup separately. Make sure you have enough to cover the surface of the cake and in between layers of the cake. Brush the cakes with simple syrup on all layers. This helps to keep the cake moist
- Lay the first layer of the cake on a plate. Turn the brown side of the cake down so it becomes the bottom of the cake , spread a layer of cream on the surface using an offset spatula as evenly as possible. Arrange the fruit slices on top of the cream. Cover with another layer of cream
- Top with another layer of the cake and continue until you are done with all the layer. Now use the rest of the whipped cream to frost the sides of the cake. I didn't frost it entirely white on the sides, giving it a more semi-naked look. I use the extra whipped cream to pipe some pattern on the edge of the cake. Arrange more fruit on top, covering all the surface
Chill the cake:
- Chill the cake for at least 2-3 hours in the fridge to let the frosting set, before you plan to serve the cake. So plan accordingly when the cake needs to be served
40 comments
Is this the same as a Chiffon cake? 🙂 The ingredients look similar but I was wondering why this one doesn’t require a tube pan and requires simple syrup. Thank you! Your recipes are the best.
Hi Russell, the method of making this cake is the same with chiffon cake. The simple syrup is to brush on the cake to keep it moist. You can skip that if you don’t want to.
Hi. In one instruction you say to bake for 15 mins. In the recipe you say for 25 mins?
Hi Andrea, it must be a typo error. It should be 15-20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the cake comes out clean.
I made it today and mmmm so light and yummy! Thank you once again for sharing foolproof recipe! 🥰
Hi Jules, I couldn’t be happier to know that you enjoyed it 🙂 Thank you for letting me know!
Well explained. Great recipe. This is the only cake I procure when I crave for a nice, blend, soft, creamy cake.
Thanks Anita! I’m glad you like it!
Everything I ever wanted in a cake. I made three six inch layers and it came out fantastic. Layered with stabilized whipped cream and homemade raspberry jam, topped with fresh raspberries.
I’m happy to know that the cake turned out great for you!! homemade raspberry jam and fresh raspberries made it even better!!!
I have made this twice and it’s come out excellent both times. Tastes exactly like an Asian style bakery cake. The only change I made was to use a stabilized whipped cream made with gelatin which held up and piped beautifully. Used fresh mango and raspberries to decorate.
That’s so great to know Jenna! I’m so glad you enjoyed the cake 🙂 I love using the stabilized whipped cream too, it holds up very well for few days!
I was initially very skeptical and wasn’t sure how to fold in the batter since the meringue was whipped so much it was sort of hard to incorporate. I thought it would turn out tough since I had to fold it so much but it’s actually perfect! So tender and squishy and not too sweet. I tend to not bake to exact measurements sometimes, I may have added 5g more milk or a bit more flour here and so on, so the recipe does have a bit of wiggle room. To make the cake flour I used potato starch instead of corn and it was still fine.
I did have 1 or 2 pockets of meringue that just tasted eggy in my cake, so if you’re worried about over mixing I would continue folding until there’s only streaks of meringue instead of clumps. It’s also worth dragging your spatula through the batter to break up the meringue if you’re having trouble with mixing. I gave a piece to my Chinese mum to try and she said “not bad at all” which means it’s pretty damn good.
I also baked for only 18 minutes since my pans were black (those cook faster) and are maybe smaller. I took them out as soon as the surface looked dry with some light browning. I would take care to not overbake these.
Hi Stella, I’m glad the recipe still worked out for you in the end. Try not to overbeat the meringue, it can be difficult to incorporate with the batter and you may end up with pockets of egg whites here and there. Just beat until stiff and still bent a bit at the tip is sufficient. Good call on cutting the baking time short with a darker pan!
Wow!! This cake is the most amazing cake I ever made. Everyone raved about it and couldn’t believe I made it. The texture is unlike any other, so soft and airy. I’m not an experienced baker but have made cakes before and this turned out wonderful! Thank you for sharing this very, very special recipe. The one person in our group that hates sweets, had two big pieces! And thank you for adding the US measurements, my calculations were wrong like I thought. Appreciate you!
Hi Olivia, I’m thrilled that it turned out wonderful for you and everyone enjoyed it 🙂 It’s one of our family’s favorites too! Thank you for letting me know! Made my day! 🙂