How to Make Soft, Delicious Taiwanese Custard Cupcake Muffins

How to Make Taiwanese Custard Cupcake

• 1

  Make the custard filling

  Put 1 egg yolk and 15g of sugar into a pot, stirring well while gradually adding 6g of cornstarch and 100g of heated fresh milk.

  Add 1/8 teaspoon of vanilla bean powder into the pot, stirring continuously, and place the pot on the stove over low heat. Stir until the mixture thickens, then turn off the heat and transfer to a piping bag to cool.

  

  

  

  
• 2

  Heat the egg mixture

  Pour warm water into a pot, then place a large bowl on top of the pot. Next, add 75g of chicken eggs (about 2 eggs), 50g of sugar, 10g of honey, 2g of vanilla extract, and 5g of lemon juice into the bowl, then whisk until the mixture reaches about 40 degrees Celsius, then remove.

  Add 20g of unsalted butter and 15g of fresh milk into the bowl and keep warm at a temperature of 50 – 60 degrees Celsius.

  Tip:

  • Heating the eggs will help the sugar dissolve more easily and will stabilize the structure of the whipped eggs.
  • Do not heat the eggs too much as this will cook them and prevent them from whipping properly.
  • For the softest cake with minimal large air bubbles, you should use a whisk to mix the batter.

  
• 3

  Whip the egg mixture

  Use a hand mixer to beat at low speed until the eggs have large bubbles, then gradually increase the speed.

  When the egg mixture has no more large bubbles and has small bubbles, is thick and slightly fluffy, start beating the eggs at high speed until there are no more bubbles, the mixture is smooth, off-white, and when you lift the whisk, the mixture flows like a ribbon (Ribbon Stage) it is done.

  Tip:

  • Do not beat the eggs at high speed from the beginning as it will make it difficult for the eggs to fluff and may overheat the mixer.
  • The eggs used must be at room temperature for the best fluffiness.

  

  
• 4

  Mix the cake batter

  Sift 60g cake flour (type 8 flour) and 2g vanilla extract into the whipped egg mixture. Mix the mixture thoroughly and fold from the bottom up to avoid breaking the bubbles, helping the cake rise beautifully.

  

  
• 5

  Mix the cake batter with butter

  Add 1 portion of the cake to the warmed butter and mix well. Next, add the butter-mixed portion to the remaining cake batter and fold gently.

  

  
• 6

  Pour into molds and bake the cake

  Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius 15 minutes before baking to stabilize the temperature.

  Prepare the Muffin mold with paper cups, fill 60 – 70% of the cake batter into the mold and bake for 15 minutes at 170 degrees Celsius.

  Tip:

  • Filling 60 – 70% of the mold with cake batter will help the cake rise beautifully and not overflow.
  • You should check if after the first 5 – 7 minutes the top of your cake rises too high and cracks, you need to lower the temperature by 5 – 10 degrees and extend the baking time by 5 – 10 minutes as each oven has different temperature variations.

  

  
• 7

  Finishing the cake

  After taking the cake out of the oven, spread the prepared egg cream on top of the cake. Then continue to put the cake back in the oven for 3 minutes at 170 degrees Celsius and 8 – 10 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius.

  Tip:

  You can check the doneness of the cake by using a toothpick; if it comes out wet and sticky with batter, the cake is not done and you need to bake it longer for the cake to cook evenly.

  
• 8

  Final product

  Each Taiwanese cupcake is soft, rich, delicious, and melts in your mouth, served with a cup of tea is simply wonderful.

  Tip:

  You can store the cake in a sealed bag and keep it in the refrigerator for 3 – 4 days.