Steamed Sponge Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup shift cake flour (Note: not 1 cup cake flour, shifted)

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

5 eggs

½ tsp cream of tartar

¾ cup fine sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp lemon extract

Directions:

1. Line an 8x8 inch cake pan with parchment paper.  Prepare a wok for steaming.
2. Place the flour in a medium bowl.   Sift in the baking powder & salt & set aside.
3. Separate the egg yolks & whites.   In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy.  Add the cream of tartar & beat briefly.   Add ¼ cup of sugar & beat for another minutes (don’t let the egg whites stiffen).
4. Add the egg yolks & the remaining ½ cup of sugar.  Add in the almond & vanilla extracts & beat for about 2 more minutes.
5. Gradually add the flour mixture to the egg mixture.  Stir thoroughly, do not beat.  Pour the batter into the cake pan.
6. Bring the water in the wok to a high boil, then turn down to medium.   Steam the cake, covered for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Remove the cake pan from the wok (take care when removing the wok lid to keep condensation from dripping onto the cake).   Cool the cake on a rack.   Invert onto a plate & remove the parchment paper.   Re-invert onto another plate so that the cake is right side up.