Taiwanese Brown sugar cake combines the best attributes of boba and sponge cake to become some satisfyingly chewy, tender, moist, and springy. You've likely never had a cake like this before, so you owe it to yourself to give this a try!
Taiwanese brown sugar cake has an amazing texture and mouth feel as well as a rich smokey brown sugar aroma. It's basically like boba pearls but in cake form. It originated from Penghu (澎湖) island during the time when Taiwan was occupied by Japanese. It has now became a popular regional delicacy that people love to get when they visit Penghu.
I've never been to Penghu, but I still remember how satisfying it was to bite into the brown sugar cake that my family brought back from Penghu. The QQ texture plus the aroma of brown sugar along with the nuttiness from sesame seeds are a winning combination.
With my recipe, you can also make Taiwanese brown sugar cake at home without flying to Penghu. Just grab a few simple ingredients from the grocery store and you can easily recreate this delicious treat no matter where you live!
Why You Should Try This Recipe
- The texture and mouthfeel are really special, you've likely never had a cake like this!
- It's a delicious and popular Taiwanese treat that you need to give it a try!
- It's hard to buy Taiwanese brown sugar cake outside of Penghu island, but this recipe is easy to make at home.
- Using baking powder and baking soda as leavening agents makes this recipe much easier and quicker.
Ingredients You'll Need
Here are the main ingredients you'll need for making this recipe. Check the recipe box below for the full ingredient list with actual measurement.
Notes
- Flour - I use the combination of cake flour and all purpose to reach the spongy and springy texture I like; however, you can also use cake flour only for a fluffier texture if you prefer.
- Taiwanese Brown Sugar (黑糖) - This is the key ingredient for making this recipe and it cannot be replaced by regular brown sugar. You can find it in your local Chinese grocery store or online. Alternatively, Japanese black/brown sugar (kokuto), will also work perfectly. Make sure you get the sugar in powder/grain form, not in blocks.
- Honey - This helps the cake maintain moist for longer.
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1 - Boil brown sugar with water to bring out the aroma.
In a small sauce pan, cook brown sugar with 2 tablespoons of water over medium heat until the sugar mixture starts bubbling. Lower the heat to medium low and continue to cook for another 30 seconds. Swirl the pan occasionally (but don't stir).
Add a bit of water into the sauce pan and swirl the pan a few more times before adding the rest of the water. Turn off the heat and let it cool down a little.
Meanwhile, line a 9" cake pan with parchment paper and set it aside.
Step 2 - Make cake batter.
When the brown sugar mixture cools down to near body temperature, stir in tapioca flour and mix well.
Add in flour, baking powder and baking soda. Mix well before mixing in honey, oil and salt. Let the batter sit for 10 minutes.
Step 3 - Steam the cake.
While the cake batter is resting, prepare the steamer pot by placing a steamer rack in a wok or a big pot, add 3 cups of water and bring it to a boil.
Place the cake pan on the steamer rack and pour the cake batter into the pan. Cover and steam over medium to medium high heat for 20 minutes. When it's done cooking, open the lid and quickly sprinkle toasted white sesame on the top of the cake. Cover, turn off the heat and let it sit for another 5 minutes.
Step 4 - Let the cake cool down for 15 minutes and enjoy!
Remove the cake from the cake pan, peel the parchment paper on the side and let it cool on a cooling rack. To serve, cut the cake into cubes and enjoy it with tea or milk.
Brown sugar cake tastes the best when it's fresh. Once it cools, store the leftovers in a ziploc bag and try your best to squeeze out the air, this will allow the cake to stay fresh until the next day.
The cake may become less chewy the next day. If so, steam it for 15 minutes to bring back the chewiness. To reheat, you can steam even in something like an Instant pot.
Tips and Tricks
- Boiling sugar helps bring out the smokey aroma of the brown sugar; however, if you are not comfortable doing it, simply mix all the water and brown sugar together in the sauce pan, heat up and stir until the brown sugar is dissolved.
- When boiling brown sugar and water, swirl the sauce pan instead of stirring the sugar mixture with spoon or spatula.
- When mixing in flour, mix in half of the flour first and stir well before mixing in the other half, this will prevent the flour mixture from sticking in your whisk.
- I use a 12" wok to steam my brown sugar cake, but if you don't have a pot/pan that's big enough, you can try making half of the amount of recipe and use a smaller tray that can fit in your pot/pan.
- During the steaming process, you should see a good amount of steam coming out from the the steamer, if not, adjust the heat. If the heat is not high enough, you will end up with a denser cake.
- Taiwanese brown sugar cake tastes the best when it's fresh, feel free to make the half amount of the recipe in a smaller tray if a 9" cake is too big for you.
Recipe FAQs
No, Taiwanese brown sugar is the key ingredient of making this recipe. However, Japanese brown/black sugar (kokuto) will work just as well.
I wouldn't recommend doing this, since you will need to bring the water to a boil first and continue to steam it over medium high heat. Instant pot doesn't have enough heat so you will get a denser cake if you steam with it. However, you can reheat the cake in your Instant pot using its steaming function.
Typically the cake will be cook though after 20 minutes unless the heat is not high enough or if your cake is thicker. You can insert a toothpick in the center, and if it comes out clean, then the cake is cooked through.
I found that storing in a ziploc bag with air squeezed out helps the cake stay fresh longer than storing in a container. You can also wrap the cake with plastic wrap before storing it in a container. It can be stored in room temperature for 2 days. The cake may become less chewy the next day. If so, steam it for 15 minutes to bring back the chewiness.
Yes, you can store it in a freezer bag as soon as the cake cools and freeze it for up to 2 months. Thaw and enjoy directly or steam for 15 minutes if it became less chewy.
More Taiwanese Treats for You to Try
Taiwanese Brown Sugar Cake
Equipment
- 1 9" cake pan or any similar-sized pan.
Ingredients
- 160 g Taiwanese brown sugar, or Japanese brown sugar (kokuto)
- 320 g cold water
- 100 g tapioca starch
- 120 g cake flour
- 100 g all purpose flour, can be replaced by cake flour
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon toasted white sesame seeds
Instructions
Boil brown sugar with water to bring out the aroma.
- Put brown sugar in a small sauce pan, measure 320g of water in a cup and scoop out 2 tablespoons of water from the cup to add into the sauce pan. Swirl the pan to mix and cook it over medium heat, swirling occasionally (don't stir) through the whole cooking process. Once the sugar mixture starts bubbling, lower the heat to medium low and continue to cook for another 30 seconds.
- Pour a bit of water into the sauce pan and swirl the pan a few more times before adding the rest of the water. Turn off the heat and let it cool down a little.
- Meanwhile, line a 9" cake pan with parchment paper and set it aside.
Make cake batter.
- When the brown sugar mixture cools down to near body temperature, stir in tapioca flour and mix well.
- In a mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder and baking soda, mix them all together with a clean whisk to eliminate the lumps.
- Add half of the flour mix into the wet bowl and mix well before adding the rest of the flour mixture. Stir in the motion of writing "Z" and "N" to eliminate the lumps.
- Add honey, oil and salt. mix well and let it sit for 10 minutes.
Steam the cake.
- While the cake batter is resting, prepare the steamer pot by placing a steamer rack in a wok or a big pot, add 3 cups of water and bring it to a boil.
- Place the cake pan on the steamer rack and pour the cake batter into the pan. Cover and steam over medium to medium high heat for 20 minutes. During the steaming process, you should see a good amount of steam coming out from the the steamer, if not, adjust the heat. If the heat is not high enough, you will end up with a denser cake.
- When it's done cooking, open the lid and quickly sprinkle toasted white sesame on the top of the cake. Cover, turn off the heat and let it sit for another 5 minutes.
Serve the cake.
- Remove the cake from the cake pan, peel the parchment paper on the side and let it cool on a cooling rack for 15 minutes.
- To serve, cut the cake into cubes and enjoy it with tea or milk.
Store and Reheat the Cake
- Brown sugar cake tastes the best when it's fresh. Once it cools, store the leftovers in a ziploc bag and try your best to squeeze out the air, this will allow the cake to stay fresh until the next day.
- The cake may become less chewy the next day. If so, steam it for 15 minutes to bring back the chewiness. To reheat, you can steam even in something like an Instant pot.
Notes
- Boiling sugar helps bring out the smokey aroma of the brown sugar; however, if you are not comfortable doing it, simply mix all the water and brown sugar together in the sauce pan, heat up and stir until the brown sugar is dissolved.
- When boiling brown sugar and water, swirl the sauce pan instead of stirring the sugar mixture with spoon or spatula.
- I use a 12" wok to steam my brown sugar cake, but if you don't have a pot/pan that's big enough, you can try making half of the amount of this recipe and use a smaller tray that can fit in your pot/pan.
- Taiwanese brown sugar cake tastes the best when it's fresh, feel free to make the half amount of the recipe in a smaller tray if a 9" cake is too big for you.
- You can store it in a freezer bag as soon as the cake cools and freeze it for up to 2 months. Thaw and enjoy directly or steam for 15 minutes if it became less chewy.
Thank you for the recipe! My mom's side is from Penghu, and I didn't realize this was a Penghu specific delicacy. It is one of my favorite snacks there! I made it, and it came out nicely, though of course a bit different from what I've had before. Think mine came out a bit too dense, but I'll have to try variations!
A tip for reheating that I tried and it worked out, was to put a wet paper towel on top, and microwave it. This is pretty common technique for reheating frozen dumplings, and I found that it works equally as well for this scenario! I typically don't want to pull out my steamer again so this hack did the job for me 🙂
Thank you for trying Jessica! You can try replacing all purpose flour with cake flour to make it a bit more fluffy, and remember don't overmix the batter and see if that would help. And thank you so much for sharing the reheating tips! 🙂
What’s the bad effect if you mix all the flour at the same time - tapioca, cake and all purpose flour
Hi Ger,
It makes the mixing process a bit easier when you add tapioca first, as you don't want to overmix the batter after adding flour, which will result a robbery texture.
Thank you !
Made this a couple of times already and we love it !!
My son has allergies and if we find something he can have and likes it’s more than what we can ask for
Thank you again !!