Soft, light, and spongy, my Japanese Steamed Cake (Mushi Pan) recipe is easy to make at home. Take my basic cake in a sweet or savory direction with my variations for chocolate or cheese-and-corn mushi pan. Enjoy them as a tasty breakfast or after-school snack.
These treats may look like muffins, but as you might have guessed – they’re not. We call these Steamed Cakes “Mushi-pan” (蒸しパン) in Japanese. The biggest difference between these cakes and muffins is that these delicious little treats are steamed instead of baked.
What is Steamed Cake (Mushi-pan)?
The Japanese cakes are made with very simple ingredients: flour (all-purpose flour or cake flour), baking powder, eggs, milk, sugar, and neutral-flavored oil (such as vegetable oil). While Chinese steamed bun called Mantou (饅頭) uses yeast as a leavening agent, Japanese steamed cakes use baking powder.
After WWII, when a massive amount of wheat flour was imported from the U.S., and the Japanese started to eat more bread. We call it “pan” (パン) in Japanese. Around the same time, steamed cakes started to appear in Japanese kitchens. As sugar was expensive back then, the Japanese included small chunks of Japanese sweet potatoes (Satsumaimo) to sweeten the steamed cakes. These Satsumaimo Steamed Cakes are still the most popular flavor today.
In the late 1980s, convenience stores in Japan started to sell Cheese Mushi-pan (チーズ蒸しパン) and Chocolate Mushi-pan (チョコ蒸しパン) that became really popular. I remember being addicted to the cheese version. The savory, cheesy flavor was really too hard to resist.
My homemade version is not the same as those Cheese ones. However, homemade steamed cakes are equally delicious and you can play around with various flavors. Unlike store-bought cakes, there are no preservatives and additives.
These healthy steamed cakes are soft and easy to digest, so they are perfect for small children!
3 Reasons To Make Mushi-Pan (Japanese Steamed Cakes)
1. Quick and easy to make
This recipe is so quick and easy to make! Even my children can make them as long as I help with the steaming. It only takes 20 minutes from start to finish. You can make them fresh whenever you want to eat them.
2. Versatile
The best part of steamed cakes is that they can be easily changed to either savory or sweet flavor. My Basic Steamed Cake recipe below is the standard where you can adapt to sweet or savory as you please.
For sweet steamed cakes, you can add vanilla extract. I didn’t add it so the recipe can be changed to a savory one. I recommend keeping the sugar for the savory version as a slight sweetness helps to enhance flavor.
3. Re-steam to make it fluffy
You can store it in the refrigerator or freezer for later and re-steam it when you want to eat for a quick snack. The steamed cakes will be soft and spongy again!
If you give my Mushi-Pan recipe a try, let me know. I’d love to hear about your variations and results in the comments!
Love Matcha (Green Tea)?
Check out my Green Tea Steamed Cake too!
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Steamed Cake
Ingredients
For the Basic Steamed Cake
- ½ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell)
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp neutral oil
For the Corn and Cheese Steamed Cake
- ½ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell)
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp neutral oil
- ¼ cup frozen or canned corn
- ¼ cup shredded cheese (I used sharp cheddar)
For the Double Chocolate Steamed Cake
- ½ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1½ Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell)
- 3 Tbsp milk
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 2 Tbsp neutral oil
- 2 Tbsp chocolate chips
Instructions
- Fill a large frying pan with water about ½ inch (1.3 cm) deep. Cover the lid with a kitchen towel to prevent condensation (very important). Cover the pan with the lid and slowly bring it to a boil. You can use a regular steamer, but the cooking time will be slightly longer. Please read how to store and reheat at the end of the recipe.
To Make the Basic Steamed Cake
- Gather all the ingredients. You will also need 4 6-oz ramekins and cupcake liners.
- In a medium bowl, combine ½ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour) and 1 tsp baking powder. Whisk well to combine (it‘s a shortcut for sifting).
- In a small bowl, whisk 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell), 2 Tbsp milk, 2 Tbsp sugar, and 1 Tbsp neutral oil together until combined and the sugar is dissolved.
- Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix until just combined and smooth. Do not overmix.
- Put a cupcake liner in each glass ramekin and divide the batter into the cupcake liners.
- Place the glass ramekins in the boiling water and cook, covered, on the lowest heat for 8 minutes.
- They‘re done when a skewer inserted comes out clean. Turn off the heat. Remove the ramekins from the pan and let them cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
To Make the Corn and Cheese Steamed Cake
- Gather all the ingredients.
- In a medium bowl, combine ½ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour) and 1 tsp baking powder. Whisk well to combine (shortcut for sifting).
- In a small bowl, whisk 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell), 2 Tbsp milk, 2 Tbsp sugar, and 1 Tbsp neutral oil together until combined and the sugar is dissolved.
- Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix until just combined and smooth. Do not overmix.
- Add ¼ cup frozen or canned corn and ¼ cup shredded cheese and mix until combined. Put a cupcake liner in each glass ramekin and divide the batter into the cupcake liners.
- Place the glass ramekins in the boiling water and cook, covered, on the lowest heat for 12–13 minutes. They‘re done when a skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Turn off the heat. Remove the ramekins from the pan and let them cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
To Make the Double Chocolate Steamed Cake
- Gather all the ingredients.
- In a medium bowl, combine ½ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour), 1 tsp baking powder, and 1½ Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder. Whisk well to combine (shortcut for sifting).
- In a small bowl, whisk 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell), 3 Tbsp milk, 2 Tbsp sugar, and 2 Tbsp neutral oil together until combined and the sugar is dissolved.
- Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix until just combined and smooth. Do not overmix.
- Add 2 Tbsp chocolate chips and mix until combined. Put a cupcake liner in each glass ramekin and divide the batter into the cupcake liners.
- Place the glass ramekins in the boiling water and cook covered on the lowest heat for 8 minutes. They‘re done when a skewer inserted comes out clean. Turn off the heat and remove the ramekins from the pan and let them cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
To Store and Reheat
- You can store the steamed cakes in an airtight container for 2–3 days or freeze them for up to 1 month. Reheat using one of two methods: 1) Cover with a damp paper towel and reheat in the microwave. Take care not to overheat it, as it will become very hard. For a frozen steamed cake, defrost before microwaving. 2) Steam using a frying pan, lid, and ramekin (as above) or a regular steamer to reheat the refrigerated or frozen cake until warm.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on May 4, 2011. The new images were added in April 2017. The post was edited and republished in May 2020.
What is the shelf life of this break?
Hi Kim! Just 2 days, but you will need to steam it again to make it fluffy. :0
happy to know that this some recipe will be very helpful to me thank you and more power
Hope you enjoy this recipe!
Nami, someone just shared this recipe with me, she thought I could do it together with my toddler grandson. I decided to experiment and instead of doing either one, I cut up an apple and added 1/4 c. Finely chopped apple and steamed it for the required 10 minutes. My frying pan with a cover was too small, I don’t have one that’s big enough to hold four! I also didn’t have ramekins, and a trip to TJ Maxx and Ross’ brought me home with Anchor Hockings 1 c. Glass containers with lids, which came in sets of 4! Perfect fit for the cupcake liners, hooray! My question is, can I steam the mushi-pan in my steamer? Btw, the Apple idea turned out really well, next time I think I’ll add a touch of cinnamon! Thank you for sharing such a great recipe!
Hi Mara! Apple steamed cake sounds excellent! Yes you can use a steamer, but it takes a longer time to cook than this method, but it works just fine. Just make sure to cover the lid with cloth so condensation water doesn’t drip onto the steamed cake. Thank you for trying this recipe! 🙂
The choc steam cakes were delicious! N so easy my 5 yr old made it herself ???? will try adding banana next!
Hi Joan! So happy to hear that you enjoyed the Chocolate Steamed Cake! Wow, your 5-year-old daughter made it? I’m very impressed! Thank you for sharing your story! It made my day!! Enjoy banana one! xo
Hi… my kids love the sweet potato steamed cake that I sometimes purchased from Japanese bakery. Is it the same as the basic one, just add cubes of sweet potatoes? Or the formula will be different? Thank you for your time.
Hi Shihpei! I’d suggest to use cubes of Japanese sweet potatoes (Satumaimo) in basic steamed cake, and see how it is. If you need more sweet potato flavor, you can steam small amount of sweet potatoes (microwave or boil) and mash it and add to the batter. If you use other varieties of sweet potatoes that are not as sweet as Japanese kind, then you can adjust the amount of sugar. 🙂 Hope that helps!
Do you have any suggestions on how to make this if I don’t have ramekins? Would it work in a loaf pan? I love mushi-pan and need to make this!
Hi Kay! You could use a heat-resistant bowl or something too… Does loaf pan will fit in the pan AND you can close the lid properly? If you can, sure! Increase the cooking time based on the size of your loaf pan. 🙂
Hi, I followed ur recipe but how come my steam cake is porous after removing it from the pan?
Thanks.
Hi Hailey! That’s interesting. You mean on the surface/top right? Did you put the cloth on the lid, making sure the condensation won’t drop onto the steamed cake? Maybe whisk too much that air is incorporated into batter and came up to surface? I wish I know… I had never had that issue (or heard from readers who made this and left comment here). Hard to know what went wrong without seeing how it’s made. 🙁 Sorry….
Hi Nami, I love your mushipan recipe, in fact I’ve made the green tea one with my daughter, she loves it. I’m so so new in baking, don’t have any oven or a lot of baking stuff. So your steam recipe is wonderful, even I can make it haha..
I wonder why you use ramekin instead of non stick muffin/cupcake pan?will it give different result? have you tried make mushipan using muffin pan? And the cupcake liner..what is the diameter of it? Sorry if my questions is silly.
Last time I only use two aluminum bowl to steam the cake:P
Hi Lydia! Haha I’m so happy to hear that you enjoy these steamed cake recipe! Yeah, no oven necessary!
About the ramekins, first, I have those glass ramekins to make Japanese (steamed) purin (pudding). And I like paper cupcake liners since I can pack them in kids’ snack box and easy for them to peel and eat etc.
Does your cupcake pan fit in your frying pan? My liner is 2″ diameter at the bottom. Feel free to ask me any questions. 🙂
Hi again Nami, a few weeks ago I made another batch of mushipan using your recipe (2nd time), Compared to your pictures, I came to realize that my mushipan is a bit dense, although my daughter love them still, but I wonder why? how to make them more fluffy? Should I whisk egg white separately and fold them to the batter?
Other question, if I want to make 6 mushipan, it means 1.5 recipe, can I use 2 eggs? Will the extra egg give any significant end result? It would be troublesome to use half egg, right?
Hi Lydia! I think, from your description, it sounds like you mixed too much. When you over-mix, it won’t become fluffy and end up with dense texture. You could do egg white and egg yolk separately but it’ll be a new recipe. 🙂 . I’d increase to 2 eggs and make bigger steamed cakes (and steam for a little longer). Yeah I don’t like 1.5 recipe too.
Thank you so much for your reply, yeah maybe because of to much mixing, my daughter helped me while making them, she loves to mix, keep on doing it even when I already told her it’s enough mixing haha
Hi Lydia! Aww so cute. That “might” be the reason. 🙂
I made the double chocolate Mushi Pan and my whole family loved it! Tomorrow I’ll be making the cheese version. Thanks Nami for another great recipe.
Hi Vanessa! So happy to hear your family enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback! xo
After being a silent reader of your blog for years, I’ve now decided to comment after trying the mushi pan recipe. Was incredibly simple and delicious! Will be a regular recipe for a quick snack now in the household. Thank you so much for sharing and keep up the beautiful work!
Hi GL! Thank you so much for reading my blog for such a long time and leaving your comment for the first time. It means so much to me! 🙂 So happy you liked this recipe. Thank you for your support. xoxo
Thank you for the recipe! I have two questions.
Can you suggest a substitute for egg? My son is allergic to egg. Secondly, have you tried steaming in the instant pot? If so how many minutes and NPR would you suggest. Thanks so much. Love your recipes!
Hi Ai! I apologize for my late response. I’m sorry but I’m not familiar with egg substitute. I don’t suggest IP for this particular recipe as you can’t put the cloth around the lid and it’s important to do so for steamed cake. All the condensation will drop and damage steamed cake… Thank you for reading my blog! 🙂
I just made these and they were absolutely delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you Charlotte! So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
These look yummy. If you wanted to add vanilla how much should we add.
Hi Erin! 1/4 tsp or just a drip from the bottle is more than enough as this is a small portion recipe. 🙂
Hello Nami! I can’t wait to try these. Can I add macha powder to the basic steam cake recipe (if so how much) ? I do notice u have a green tea steam cake recipe, but my family don’t eat yogurt (on its own) and its hard to find a small container of yogurt where I live. I just don’t want the rest of yogurt to go to waste.
Hi Helene! I just wanted to make variation so I made that recipe with yogurt instead of milk. You can use 1 tsp matcha powder for this recipe. 🙂
May I know if I can steam them in a muffin tray? if yes, do I use a 6-hole or 12-hole muffin tray? is the timing the same as indicated in the recipe? Thanks!
Hi Teo! Are you planning to use a steamer and a muffin tray? Does 12 hole muffin tray fit in your steamer? Steamer takes longer time to cook these than my water bath method. Could be double amount of time. 🙂