Golden Sponge Cake (千叶黄金蛋糕)

This recipe is a keeper!  It was taken from  美食杰, a Chinese website featuring many wonderful recipes.  I have no idea how to translate 千叶黄金蛋糕 into English, so I had to make do with the name 'Golden Sponge Cake'.  This moist and tender cake is kind of a cross between a chiffon and a sponge cake. 

The recipe didn't state the size of the pan used so I used my 30 x 20 cm rectangular pan and my cake turned out quite short -  only  2cm high.  And I decided to cut the cake into two and sandwiched together with some whipped cream.  

Source:   千叶黄金蛋糕  (with some changes)
Ingredients:  

(A)
1 egg yolk 

(B)
55g butter
55g warm milk
50g plain flour
15g corn flour
4 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1/2 a vanilla bean pod

(C)
5 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
55g caster sugar 

• Line a 30 x 20 cm pan with baking paper.  Preheat oven to 160 deg C.
• Sift plain flour and corn flour together.  Set aside.
• Place 1 egg yolk into a small piping bag.  Set aside.

• Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat until small bubbles start to break on the surface. Meanwhile cut the vanilla pod into half, lengthwise and scrape out all the seeds and add into the melted butter.  Stir well.  Turn off heat.

• Immediately add in flour mixture all at once and quickly stir to combine.  At this stage the batter should be quite thick.   Pour in warm milk and mix well.  Then add in whole egg and egg yolks, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.  The batter will become smooth and quite runny.

• In a clean, dry mixing bowl, whisk egg whites with a handheld mixer until foamy, add in cream of tartar.  Then whisk until soft peaks form and add in sugar, in three additions and continue to whisk until it reaches firm peaks stage.

• Add one-third of the meringue into the egg yolk mixture and gently mix until it is well incorporated.  Next, pour the egg yolk mixture into the meringue and using a rubber spatula, gently fold to combine.  Pour batter into the prepared pan.

• Snip off the end of the piping bag filled with egg yolk.  Pipe diagonal lines across the surface of the batter, drag a skewer or toothpick through the lines in opposite directions across the cake to create a feathered effect.  (As you can see, I didn't do a good job on the pattern, that is why I covered it up with icing sugar when I took pictures of the cake)
• Bake for about 25 - 28 minutes or until golden brown.

• Cool the cake completely before spreading whipped cream on it.

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Bake for Happy Kids and My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Diana from the Domestic Goddess Wannabe