Brown Sugar Longan Cake

Prepare the materials for use.

First, separate the eggs, keeping the yolks and whites apart. Put the egg whites in the refrigerator to chill, which will make it easier to whip them later.

Cut the dried longan, making them a bit smaller.

Put the milk, dried longans, and unsalted butter into a pot, use the lowest heat, just melt the butter, do not boil it. You can heat it slightly and then remove it from the heat; the temperature of the pot will melt the butter.

After the butter melts, transfer it to a bowl.

Add the brown sugar. At this point, the liquid is warm, allowing the brown sugar to dissolve.

After the brown sugar melts, let the liquid cool to a warm temperature, about body temperature, then add the egg yolks and mix evenly.

Mix the baking powder with the flour, then sift it into the liquid and fold until evenly combined.

Stir the batter evenly until it becomes thick and viscous.

Take the refrigerated egg whites out, add the sugar in three batches, and whip until stiff peaks form. When you lift the whisk, there should be two very firm little peaks that don't bend down, which indicates stiff peaks. Method for whipping egg whites: Add 1/3 of the sugar to the egg whites and whip until large bubbles appear. At this point, add the next 1/3 of sugar and whip until a fine, dense foam forms. Then add the final 1/3 of sugar and whip until stiff peaks form.

Fold half of the whipped egg whites into the batter until well combined.

The mixed batter shows no visible white bubbles.

Pour the batter into the other half of the egg whites and gently fold until evenly mixed.

After mixing evenly, the cake batter is ready.

Friends, put the batter into a piping bag or plastic bag, and squeeze it into the molds until they are 70-80% full; this will make the amount more even. I was lazy and used a spoon to scoop, and poured in too much batter, so the last mold didn’t have any batter 😂. Actually, the amount of this recipe is just enough to fill 12 muffin molds.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, put it in, and bake at 180 degrees with top and bottom heat for 15 minutes. See, the consequence of unevenly filling the batter is that the baked cake comes out with highs and lows 😂 But it doesn't matter if it's just for your own home. If you're making it as a gift for someone, then don't be lazy—use a piping bag to fill it more evenly.

Take the cake out to cool, and it's all done.

Peel one open to see the texture inside the cake; it's sweet and soft, with large pieces of longan and a strong longan fragrance.

Pair it with your favorite tea or coffee, and afternoon tea time begins~