Desserts are usually sweet, but can we make them savory? Yes, we can!
Today, let’s explore a new and trendy Vietnamese dessert called Salted Egg Yolk Sponge Cake. In Vietnam as well as many other countries in Asia, people love salted egg yolk. If you are into savory dishes, you must definitely try salted egg yolk some days. Other than salted egg yolk, Asian people also love sponge cake. Usually, sponge cake dishes in Asia are sweet rather than savory. However, Asian pastry chefs have found a way to incorporate salted egg yolk into sponge cake to make a savory dessert.
What is salted egg yolk? It can either be chicken eggs or duck eggs, preferably duck eggs because they are bigger, creamier, and taste better. Raw chicken and duck eggs can be made into their salted version by soaking them in a salty brine. Once the eggs become salted, they are still raw so they need to be fully cooked before consuming. There are many ways you can cook salted eggs, and the easiest way is to boil just like normal eggs. A salted egg has two edible parts, the egg white, and the egg yolk. If you do everything correctly, both the egg white part and the egg yolk part must be salty. The egg white is often saltier since a lot of salt penetrates this layer before they reach the yolk. Salted eggs are often eaten with plain porridge or white rice. The salted egg yolks are often stuffed into Mooncakes. A mooncake can contain no egg yolk or multiple egg yolks.
About five years ago, Salted Egg Yolk Sponge Cake made a huge wave in the Asian dessert market. Just like many other Asian desserts, nobody really knows when and where Salted Egg Yolk Sponge Cake was first made. As soon as the Salted Egg Yolk Sponge Cake arrived at the market, it became an instant hit. Many Asian bakeries began to sell their own version of Salted Egg Yolk Sponge Cake. In Salted Egg Yolk Sponge Cake, the egg yolk is baked either before or at the same time as the sponge cake. Other than salted egg yolks and sponge cake, there are also a variety of ingredients combined to make this cake. In most recipes, you will find Chinese sausage, cream cheese or Laughing Cow cheese, pork floss, hot dog sausage, salted egg yolk sauce, and green onion. The Salted Egg Yolk Sponge Cake comes in three different forms, round or square block, rolled, or cupcake.
Since sponge cakes are often baked in round or square pans, the original shape of Salted Egg Yolk Sponge Cake is either round or square. If you are familiar with Asian cuisines, you will find that almost every East Asian country eats rolled sponge cake. As a result, when Asian people make Salted Egg Yolk Sponge Cake, they also make it in this form. Lastly, to make it easier to serve in cafes, people make Salted Egg Yolk Sponge Cake in cupcakes form. The forms can be different but the recipe remains the same or just slightly different. In my opinion, Salted Egg Yolk Sponge Cake is best enjoyed along with Black Sugar Boba Fresh Milk, an also trendy Asian drink.
If you have not already, try Salted Egg Yolk Sponge Cake when you have a chance. You can find it in Asian bakeries or cafes.
Once Upon A Treat 