This Matcha Steamed Cake (Mushi Pan) is light and fluffy with an aromatic green tea flavor. These individual Japanese cakes are so easy to steam in a frying pan for the perfect breakfast or snack. Less than 20 minutes to make!
Steamed Cake or we call it Mushi Pan (蒸しパン) is a light, fluffy, and soft cake. As the name suggests, it is steamed instead of baked, and it takes less than 20 minutes to prepare from the beginning to the end. I shared another version two years ago and that steamed cake recipe has been one of the most popular recipes, especially among readers from Asia.
Since then, I’ve kept experimenting with the ingredients and came up with this recipe that I enjoy and have been using for a while. To make the steamed cake moister, I added honey and used yogurt instead of milk. I love the changes I made and I hope you give this updated version a try if you tried other steam cake recipes before. Let me know what you think!
What Does Matcha Taste Like?
It’s a bit difficult to describe. It has a unique rich bitter taste as well as sweetness. When matcha is used in recipes, the flavor becomes subtler. If you are a matcha fan, you might be interested in my other matcha recipes like Green Tea Ice Cream, Green Tea Cookies, and Green Tea Crème Brûlée.
This simple and quick steamed cake recipe is perfect for an after-school snack or when you have sudden guests. Hope you enjoy “steaming” these little cakes! Itadakimasu!
Creative Matcha Steamed Cake
JOC reader Angel tried this recipe and made these absolutely gorgeous steamed cakes that I want to share with you.
When I asked her how she made them, she agreed to share her tutorial with us! Here’s her tutorial:
- Just before adding matcha powder, portion out 2 tsp. of plain batter for pink color and 1.5 tsp. of batter for brown color into two bowls.
- Add 1 tsp. of sifted flour into 2 tsp. batter and mix well and add in some pink food color.
- Add ¾ tsp of cocoa powder to 1.5 tsp. of plain batter and mix well.
- Transfer both batters into piping bags.
- Add matcha powder to the rest of the plain batter and mix well.
- Filled matcha batter into cupcake liners and drop the liners on the countertop a few times to remove air bubbles before pipe pattern on the cakes as desired.
Note:
- The batter should be slightly thicker yet able to pipe.
- Add in a little bit more batter if it’s too thick or flour if it’s too thin. It should be at the right consistency as pipe design may sink while steaming if the batter is too watery.
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Matcha Steamed Cake
Ingredients
- 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell)
- 1 Tbsp neutral oil
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 3 Tbsp plain yogurt
- 1½ Tbsp sugar
- ½ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp matcha (green tea powder)
For the Garnish (Optional)
- sweet red bean paste (anko) (you can make my homemade Anko recipe)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. I use 6 oz Pyrex glass ramekins (custard cups).
- Wrap a frying pan lid with a kitchen towel. This will prevent condensation from falling onto the cakes while steaming.
- Place 4 empty ramekins in a frying pan and pour enough water into the pan to go halfway up the exterior sides of the ramekins. Take out the ramekins, cover the pan with a lid, and bring the water to a boil.
- Meanwhile, place a cupcake liner inside each ramekin.
- In a medium bowl, add 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell) and 1 Tbsp neutral oil and whisk well.
- Add 1 Tbsp honey and 3 Tbsp plain yogurt. Mix well.
- Add 1½ Tbsp sugar and mix thoroughly.
- Sift ½ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour) and 1 tsp baking powder together. Then, add it to the egg mixture.
- Sift 1 tsp matcha (green tea powder) and fold until the matcha powder is well incorporated into the batter.
- Divide and pour the batter evenly into the lined ramekins.
- When the water starts to boil, place the filled ramekins inside the pan.
- Cover with the lid and steam over medium-low heat for 12–14 minutes.
- To test if the steamed cake is ready, insert a skewer in the center of the cake and see if it comes out clean (no wet batter). Do not overcook as the cakes will become hard. When done, remove the ramekins from the pan and serve with sweet red bean paste (anko).
To Store
- I recommended enjoying it immediately or on the same day since the steamed cake gets harder. You can re-steam them before serving (I don‘t recommend microwaving).
Hi there, do you think there’s a reason why I couldn’t make these in a rice cooker with a steamer basket? I don’t have a fitting lid to a saucepan…
Hi Dora! Sure you can use a steamer (or rice cooker steam function) to steam these. It’ll take a little longer than this method but should work. 🙂
Hi Nami San,
I have tried to make the steam cake again and i have finally know the reason why my cake was not rise the 1st time. My friend told me that I must whisk the egg and oil till bubbles and it turned to pale yellow and I tried. It was so happy that this time the cake has successfully done. 🙂
Hi Stephanie! Ohhh! I’m so glad your friend figured that out! Thanks for letting me know.
Hi Nami San,
I have tried to make the green tea steam cake as per your recipe. I have followed exactly your ingredients and instructions but why my cake is not rised after steamed? Hope you can guide me.
Thanks!
Regards,
Stephanie
Hi Stephanie! I will need a little bit more information as I wasn’t in the kitchen with you, I can’t really pin point what went wrong… As you see in the comments above, many people tried this recipe successfully and I’ve used this recipe all the time so it should work. Please let me know more information. Thank you!
I’m making these for my food technology exam tomorrow, I tried the recipe out before and they were perfect but today I tested them twice and once finished cooking I removed the lid the cakes retracted back down and left a play-dough like texture with a wet and lumpy appearance? I don’t know what’s wrong but I’m stressed about if it happens tomorrow, can you identify the problem?
Hi Emma! I apologize for my late response (I always answer to twitter when it’s an emergency question as my comments and emails pile up quickly). From what you wrote, it seems like condensation got to the steamed cake. Did you cover the lid with towel very well? How did it go for the exam?
I’m wondering if you could post how many calories are in one steamed cake? Also, is it possible to substitute the regular wheat for rice flour or whole wheat flour? Maybe even coconut?
Hi Violetta! I haven’t tried testing this recipe with other types of flour…. if you end up trying, I’d love to know how it turns out. 🙂
Regarding the calories, sorry my blog doesn’t support the calorie information. Using unique Japanese ingredients, it’s really hard to get accurate info as many of ingredients are not recognized. I’d rather not to give any information than wrong information. Hope you understand….
If I use a steamer, do I also steam them between 12 – 14 minutes too? Thank you!
Hi Ann! Usually it takes a little longer than how I steamed in hot water in a frying pan. Insert a skewer to double check if it’s fully cooked. 🙂
Is there a way to bake these instead of steaming? I don’t have ramekins…
This recipe is meant for steaming… sorry but I have never tried baking this exact recipe in the oven.
hi..i have tried few times for the steam cupcake..but all come out with no fluffy and soft..whats wrong with my cupcake? I even tried steam for 10min..11min and 12min to 15min …anything goes wrong?
Hi Tracy! This is not a “cupcake” recipe, BUT…. I’m curious why yours didn’t become fluffy and soft. Could you describe a bit more so I could hopefully help? 🙂
hi…I follow exactly as your recepi ..I also don’t know what my cake was not soft and harden…The eggs i beat long? or the batter i over whisk?
Hi Tracy! You covered the lid with towel too right? I remember someone left a comment on this post or another steamed cake post saying that the steamed cakes were hard. Turned out that he/she (I forgot) didn’t cover the lid with towel and all the moisture from condensation made the cake hard. I don’t think it’s over-beating is the issue (although I wasn’t there to watch how long you did it).
hi…Yes..i had cover the lid with towel when steaming…I beat the egg with sugar than add on other ingredients..I just fold to mix….any going wrong?
hi…I used cake flour for this recepi..Have effect?
It shouldn’t matter too much. I hope to make a video of this recipe one day, and hope that will help. A lot of people have made this recipe since it’s published, so it should work. 🙂
Hi…I think I should use thick towel to cover the lid..may my towel too thin..I said that because when I opened the lid my steaming cup there have abit water…Tonite I try make again and let you know the outcome.Thanks
hi…So happy…finally I cant get a fluffy and soft steam cake..But my cake a lot bubble at surface…eventhough I already make few time bang at the table to make the bubble clear..how to make the bubble clear off?
Hi Tracy! So happy to hear you got the fluffy result. Probably the air pockets. Try using a skewer or chopstick to make a circle a few times after pouring into the cupcake liners. Maybe that might help as well as dropping onto the counter a few times.
hi…make circle in cupcake cup or while the batter in the bowl ? before pour to cup?
Hi Nami! I have a question that I couldn’t google to figure it out: Is it possible to grease the bowls with butter and then steam the batter? Or are the liners absolutely a must?
As an aside, I love all the recipes and food you post here! Thank you for providing such wonderful recipes to try and make!
Hi Erica! The outcome of the steamed cake is very moist, and I think, it will stick. When we eat it, we “peel” off the liner, just like cupcakes. If you use butter, sure it’ll help, but butter gives additional flavor to the steamed cake, so you have to consider that. 🙂
Thank you so much for trying out my recipes! So happy you enjoy them. Thank you Erica!
Won’t the Pyrex break putting them into boiling water???????
Hi Geneen! No, Pyrex is okay. 🙂
Hi Nami,
Thanks for responding!
I think I followed the recipe to the letter. Or I think I did ????. I did use baking powder and I steamed it in a wok and the cover was lined with a kitchen towel as you have suggested.
I did however use yoghurt out of the fridge as it was not indicated otherwise. Could this be the problem? Should I have let it come to room temperature before use?
Anyway, I would probably try it again because I love the flavours of these cakes! Thanks again and lovely talking to you.
Best regards,
Carolyn
That’s a good question. I should pay attention to the temp of yogurt next time. When I make my own, usually I just take it out from the fridge and add into the batter. I never paid attention if the temp would affect. Let me know how it goes…
Hi Nami, love your site and recipes! This is the second time I am trying your recipes. I had great success with the matcha chiffon cake. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much luck with this steam matcha cupcake :(. The flavour was great but they were almost undercook even after 20 minutes of steaming. The texture was sticky and even though they rose after steaming, they collapsed sadly after they cooled down, Any tips how I can improve with the next batch.
TIA,
Carolyn
Hi Carolyn! Thank you so much for reading my blog! 🙂 Sorry to hear this recipe didn’t work for you. Hmm… So the issue was undercook (hence it’s sticky) and collapse.
Did you use all the ingredients including baking powder, without any substitute and correctly measured? What type of steamer basket did you use? Did you wrap the lid with cloth so the condensation didn’t fall onto the steamed cake (very important!)? I want to help, but I wasn’t there to observe so it’s hard to give you suggestion. So many people (including myself) have successfully made this recipe, so something must be off. I’ll be happy to assist you if you can give me more information. 🙂
This was perfect for my lactose intolerant hubby for a birthday treat! Thank you so much for making his birthday extra special!
Hi Emerald! Aww please send him happy birthday from me! So happy to hear you two enjoy the treat. Thank you for your kind feedback! xo
Just made these, but with gluten free flour and they came out wonderfully! So many thanks for the recipe!
I did find it a bit sweet, but in hindsight, you probably used American-sized tablespoons (15mL/15g), right? My measures are 20mL/20g (Australian)…
Hi Janneia! Thank you for trying this recipe with GF flour! I’m happy to find out it works too (a lot of people ask about gluten free version). Thank you for writing your feedback! 🙂
Yes, American size. Ohh Australian size is a bit bigger! Thank you for letting me know. 🙂
This recipe looks easy for me to try it out this weekend for next week’s breakfast! Can I replace honey with maple syrup ?
Hi Kee! Sure, the sweetness is slightly different, but both work as a great sweetener. 🙂