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
Thank you for this recipe
You’re welcome EL – hope you enjoy it
I would like to try your recipe but before that can I use Hong Kong flour to substitute the cake flour?
Hi Joanne, I honestly don’t know what Hong Kong flour is, but cake flour is a bit lighter which helps the ma lai go to rise.
How long do you think I need to steam it using the instant pot steam function?
Hi Dorothy, I have not tried it in an instant pot, so I don’t have any advice for you.
Thank you for such an easy recipe for this classic dish. I would like to know what kind of dark brown sugar you used? I did purchase dark brown sugar, but it came out more like light brown color. The traditional dish always look darker. I wouder if they add coloring.
Hi Pamela, the coloring of dark brown sugar varies between brands. Feel free to add a little bit of molasses for a dark color. I did that with my Chinese nian gao recipe: https://thewoksoflife.com/nian-gao-recipe/.
I made this today and steamed it in a 9” pan for 40 minutes. It did not rise very much (only slightly over 1”) and there were still bits of white flour scattered all over. It’s also not fluffy. The flavour though is very good, while my hubby thinks it’s not sweet enough. Any suggestion on how to fix?
Hi Jo, if you had white bits of flour, it may be the answer to the lower rise. Here are some things to check for next time. Sift all the dry ingredients before adding them. Make sure your baking powder is fresh and not expired. Mix the batter gently and let it sit for 10 minutes, then mix/fold gently again to ensure the dry and wet ingredients have been properly incorporated.
Also, if you get a lopsided cake, it may be due to the fact that the batter was not all uniformly mixed. Over-mixing will also cause a lower rise, which is why you must mix gently. As for sweetness, add a couple tablespoons more sugar if you like it sweeter. Hope that helps.
I made this today and it came out perfect! Definitely tastes like the ones when I go out to eat dim sum 🤗
Hi Ai Thong, excellent to hear that – enjoy!
Hi, The ma lai go turned out really good – it is not too sweet just the way I like it. It is fluffy so maybe the vanilla pudding is perfect for this recipe. I used a 9 “ metal pan but next time would like to make it using a smaller container so that it steams up higher and looks like the ones at dim sum. Thanks.
Hi D, yes, using a slightly smaller pan should give you a bit more rise ;-)
👍 Thank you for sharing. This is my favourite.
I would like to make Chinese fatty go. Can I omit eggs using this recipe.
Hi Kon, the eggs are definitely needed in this recipe.