Special Mamon (mala-Goldilocks)

Well, at least that's my first thought when I tasted this milk sponge cake the first time I made one for the base cake of crema de fruta. And I was not the only one who had the same opinion. The latest comment I received for crema de fruta was from Joy Leaming, who said the cake itself tasted like mamon from Goldilocks.

I would have wanted to wait until I receive my recently ordered brioche molds, but munchkin mommy's mamon post just made me crave it earlier, so I made these using muffin pans mostly.

Usually, sponge cakes tend to be dry and "nakakasamid" (sorry if I could not grope for the equivalent English term), that only with frosting or filling will they be redeemed. My hubby is not particularly fond of sponge cakes for this reason. But when he tried this milk sponge cake that I made into mamon (just by using muffin cups and brioche molds instead of a cake pan) he liked it; he had to eat two pieces. He said it was like the Twinkies (yeah, he is such a junkie for junk foods). I love it with coffee. My kids loved this special mamon as well.

I added the word "special" to this not because it is a better recipe than other sponge cakes you will find on the net, but to distinguish it from the ordinary mamon one will find in the neighborhood bakeries in the Philippines, which is also called "kababayan." Kababayan is more like muffins. I liked kababayan only when freshly out of the oven, with a crunchy outside. When it had cooled down completely, it did not appeal to me at all. So there really is not much motivation for me to seek out the recipe for kababayan. Special mamon, on the other hand, is just so good, that even if I end up with leftovers, (which I doubt will ever happen) I can turn it into mamon tostado, which is another favorite of mine.

This recipe for milk sponge cake was lifted off the recipe for Boston Cream Pie from baking911.

Ingredients:
1 cup sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
3 tablespoons unflavored vegetable oil
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 egg yolk, room temperature (edited as of 4/21: you might want to save the egg white of this, whip until fluffy and firm, then fold in with the batter before placing in baking pan)
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla (plus optional few drops of lemon extract)

Instructions:

Adjust rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Grease/butter (softened butter is preferable) and flour your muffins pans or brioche mold (make sure the corners get a good brushing with grease/butter).

Sift flour, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl add the the milk and oil; do not be concerned that they do not blend together.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, yolk and sugar to combine. Using an electric mixer at medium speed, whip the egg mixture until it is light ivory in color and very fluffy, about 6 minutes. Add the vanilla [plus lemon extract, if using] toward the end of whipping. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour mixture in two additions. Pour the milk mixture down the side of the mixing bowl. (It will sink to the bottom of the bowl under the batter.) Gently fold until the milk mixture is thoroughly incorporated. [edited 4/21/09: If you whipped the egg white as mentioned above in the ingredients, fold it in at this point.) Pour the batter into the greased muffin pans/brioche molds. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until the cake is golden on top and it springs back when lightly pressed in the center. Remove from oven then tap against a wire rack so the mamon falls off from muffin pans (it is important to remove from molds right away; otherwise, if you cool these in the tin molds, they will sweat at the bottoms, soaking that part of the cake. It might then turn hard once cooled and taken of the tin molds.) . Place the mamon upright on the wire rack and let cool completely (about 5-10 minutes; check against your cheek). Place in plastic bags right away those that you will not consume. Keep on countertop instead of the refrigerator. Enjoy plainly or with frosting (buttercream suggested) or filling (custard or jams suggested) if you like.

UPDATE: This special mamon recipe was tried and posted about by Ebie of the Main Ingredient, complete with beautiful photos and a narrative in her native language Bisaya.