Ma Lai Go Chinese Steamed Cake is a fluffy brown sugar sponge cake typically found on dim sum carts in Southern China and Hong Kong—the few places where you’ll find it done right, and where it’s quite popular.
What is Ma Lai Go?
But whether you call it ma lai go (Cantonese) or ma la gao (马拉糕, or sometimes 马来糕, Mandarin) the ma lai refers to “Malay,” as in Malaysia. The word Gao means cake so “Malaysia cake” is what we’re talking about here, even though it’s been adopted by Cantonese cooking. As the story goes, Ma Lai Go originated in Malaysia via British influence and made its way to Hong Kong where the recipe was modified into what it is today.
The real chefs in Hong Kong use a starter dough or levain to make Ma Lai Go. Making the fermented starter dough is a labor of love and quite the process, so most recipes—including this one—omit the starter dough and increase the baking powder and/or baking soda to get a similar leavening effect without the extra time for fermentation.
Ma Lai Go made with a starter dough has a streaky pattern of air pockets that’s caused by fermentation, so you can immediately tell if your cake was made with or without a fermented starter. The last time I was in Hong Kong, we enjoyed Ma Lai Go a few times at dim sum. All of the cakes were tasty and fluffy *but* without those air pockets. It would seem that it’s a reasonable tradeoff to forego the extra work for a tasty, easy-to-make version (albeit at the expense of a technically “authentic” Ma Lai Go, but what does authentic even mean these days, anyway?).
Maybe one of these days I will have the patience to make my own Ma Lai Go starter dough, but for now, a shortcut! And with the number of times I made this cake, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.
For this Ma Lai Go recipe, use an electric mixer to get as much air into the cake as possible. Then let the leavening agents like the baking powder do the work to get a spongy and fluffy cake. Resting time for the batter is minimal, unlike recipes that use the levain starter dough—bonus!
What do I need to make Ma Lai Go steamed cake?
One other note is on flavoring agents. I’ve tried making this recipe with only vanilla, which works fine, but adding vanilla pudding mix—we used Bird’s Custard Powder—definitely makes for a tastier cake! If you can find it, it really adds that extra layer of flavor you get in restaurants and Chinese Bakeries.
Hope you enjoy this easy-to-make Ma Lai Go recipe!
Ma Lai Go Recipe Instructions
Add 3 large eggs, ¼ cup vegetable oil, and ¾ cup lightly packed dark brown sugar to a mixing bowl. Use an electric mixer, and beat on high for 5 minutes until well-combined and fluffy.
Scrape the bottom of the bowl and add 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract, ⅓ cup evaporated milk, and 1½ tablespoons custard powder.
Beat for 1 minute.
Sift 1 cup cake flour, ⅛ teaspoon salt, and 3½ teaspoons baking powder.
Fold into the batter gently until incorporated. Try to break up any large lumps, but don’t overwork the batter––some smaller lumps are okay!
Let the batter sit for 30 minutes. The dry ingredients absorb, and the baking powder has a chance to do its thing.
How to Steam Ma Lai Go cake
While the batter is resting, line a bamboo steamer basket (9 inch) with parchment paper. For more information on bamboo steamers, wee our post on How to Use a Bamboo Steamer.
You can also use a 9 inch cake pan greased with vegetable shortening or butter and lightly coated with all-purpose flour. Lightly buttering and flouring the metal cake pan is important step, even if it is non-stick!
Gently stir the batter again in a folding motion—just enough to ensure the batter is mixed uniformly, but not too much since air pockets have already started to form in the batter. You will also see that the batter has thickened and most lumps have disappeared.
Pour the batter into a bamboo steamer basket lined with parchment paper…
Or your prepared cake pan.
Let the batter sit and settle for another 10 minutes while you heat up your steamer.
Place the Ma Lai Go into your steamer setup of choice, and steam on medium high heat—for 30 minutes if using a bamboo steamer…
And 35 minutes if using a metal cake pan.
See our post on how to set up a steamer if you’re not familiar with steaming foods in Chinese cooking.
To find out if the cake is done, insert a toothpick in the center of the cake. If it come out clean, then it’s done. Transfer to a baking rack and slice once cooled slightly.
Ma Lai Go is delicious when it’s warm and fresh from the steamer, but I think I may like it even better after it has completely cooled. The texture seems to be a little spongier the next day, which I like!
Ma Lai Go Chinese Steamed Cake
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (60 ml)
- ¾ cup lightly packed dark brown sugar (120 g)
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract (8 ml)
- ⅓ cup evaporated milk (80 ml, at room temp)
- 1½ tablespoons vanilla pudding mix / custard powder (18 g - we used Bird’s Custard Powder)
- 1 cup cake flour (120 g)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt (1 g)
- 3½ teaspoons baking powder (14 g)
- 1 teaspoon softened butter or vegetable shortening for greasing cake pan, if using (5 g)
- A dusting of all purpose flour for cake pan if using
Instructions
- Add 3 large eggs, ¼ cup vegetable oil, and ¾ cup lightly packed dark brown sugar to a mixing bowl. Use an electric mixer, and beat on high for 5 minutes until well-combined and fluffy.
- Scrape the bottom of the bowl and add 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract, ⅓ cup evaporated milk, and 1½ tablespoons custard powder. Beat for 1 minute.
- Sift 1 cup cake flour, ⅛ teaspoon salt, and 3½ teaspoons baking powder. Fold into the batter gently until incorporated. Try to break up any large lumps, but don’t overwork the batter––some smaller lumps are okay!
- Let the batter sit for 30 minutes. The dry ingredients absorb, and the baking powder has a chance to do its thing. While the batter is resting, line a 9 inch bamboo steamer basket with parchment paper. You can also use a 9 inch cake pan greased with vegetable shortening or butter and lightly coated with all-purpose flour. Lightly buttering and flouring the metal cake pan is important step, even if it is non-stick!
- Gently stir the batter again in a folding motion—just enough to ensure the batter is mixed uniformly, but not too much since air pockets have already started to form in the batter. You will also see that the batter has thickened and most lumps have disappeared.
- Pour the batter into the bamboo steamer basket lined with parchment paper or your prepared cake pan. Let the batter sit and settle for another 10 minutes while you heat up your steamer.
- Place the Ma Lai Go into your steamer setup of choice, and steam on medium high heat—for 30 minutes if using a bamboo steamer, and 35 minutes if using a metal cake pan. To find out if the cake is done, insert a toothpick in the center of the cake. If it come out clean, then it’s done. Transfer to a baking rack and slice once cooled slightly.
nutrition facts
I’ve been stuck at home and trying to find something to make instead of baking western cakes that my family isn’t that interested in… I can’t wait to make this and surprise them!! I’m wondering if 3.5 tsp of baking powder is too much for 1 cup of cake flour. Will the end product have that baking powder taste? And have you tried using whole milk in the recipe? I don’t have evaporated milk at home so wondering if I can use that as a substitute. Thanks!
Hi Katie, I have not tried substituting milk for the evaporated milk, so I’m not sure. You can try reducing the baking powder, but the amount used in the recipe seemed to work best. The vanilla and custard flavor is the dominant taste.
Hi Bill, thanks for your recipe! Using the ingredients that I already have on hand, I’m wondering if I can substitute evaporated milk with sweetened condensed milk, and then just reduce the sugar? What do you think/suggest?
Hi Tiffany, evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk are totally different so that definitely will NOT work. This was a bit of a temperamental cake so I suggest following the directions closely
This recipe is the best MaLaiGo cake we have ever made even my 12-year-old daughter can follow the instructions by herself. Thank you so much for sharing your talent and this recipe!
Hi Cathy, you’re welcome and happy to hear your daughter has started her cooking life skills training with you! :)
Hi Bill, thanks for this amazing recipe! I just made it and it came out great! I omitted the pudding since I had none and followed your recipe to the tee and it still taste great. Not sure how it would taste with the pudding but I’ll be sure to try it next time. I substituted cake flour with the AP and corn starch method and it came out fluffy and sponge-like. Now I’m curious how the texture would be with the cake flour. I also blended the AP flour, corn starch, and salt with a fork to ensure it was blended evenly before folding it into the batter – maybe that might help people with uneven rising? I can also confirm that you can definitely use an 8 inch round pan instead of the 9 inch round pan, steam med-high heat for 35 minutes and it still comes out fluffy!
Can you tell me how long I can store it in the fridge for before it goes bad (not that it would take that long to be eaten but I do wonder)?
Thanks Bill!!! I will be checking out your other recipes as well!!
Hi Dana, thanks for your thoughtful comment – mixing all fo the dry ingredients is indeed important for an even rise. As far as storing the ma lai go in the fridge, a couple of days should be fine, but any longer than that and it will gradually degrade in taste and texture like most cakes.
Thank you for sharing this recipe! It tastes just like the ones I grew up eating!
Excellent Charlotte, enjoy!
what is cake flour? There is no cake flour in the UK.
cake flour is just a lower protein flour! here’s a page that does a pretty good job explaining it and also offers substitutes.
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/cake-flour-substitute/
Hi Christine, cake flour has less gluten than all-purpose flour, so it is often used in cakes to make them lighter. A common substitute for cake flour: for every cup of all purpose flour, replace 2 tablespoons of the flour with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.