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.
Is there a fruit version? Specifically Lemon flavor. Thank you for your time!
Hi CultureClash03! How about adding zest or juice? I haven’t tried it before but maybe give it a try and let us know! 🙂
You. mentioned that it’ll take slightly longer in a steamer. At what temperature and how much longer?
Hi Wynne! When you put food in a steamer, it means that the water underneath the rack (or bamboo steamer) should be boiling rapidly over high heat. Readers’ responses on steaming time seem to vary, but 3-5 minutes extra seems necessary. Insert a wooden skewer to see if it comes out clean before you remove the steamed cake from the steamer. 🙂
Hi. Just want to ask, if I forgot to check for my steam cake doneness and have taken it out from the steamer, can I resteam it again to cook it as the middle is still wet?
Hi Lou! You should bring up the steamer to be hot and steamy before you put it back. It will take a while for the whole steamed cake to be hot, and then slowly cook inside… hope it will be okay. 🙂
Hello. I just made the double chocolate version, following your recipe completely. I put the batter directly into ramekin as I don’t have cupcake liner. I baked it around 14 minutes and the cake texture was awesome. It was moist inside and spongy. However, it has a bitter after taste so I ended up not consuming it. I suspect the bitterness came from too much cocoa powder or too much baking powder. What do you think? Secondly, in the recipe you told us to: “Add chocolate chips and mix until combined”. Did you mean to mix it until the chips melt into the batter? Fyi, I used Bensdorp cocoa powder, canola oil, Callebaut Dark Couverture No.811, and Japanese kotobuki flour from Nippon flour mills.
Hi Albert! Thank you so much for trying my recipe! I think it’s the baking powder (good cocoa powder should give you amazing taste!) you use have aluminum in it. It has a bitter, “tinny” flavor when biting into the food. Try using aluminum-free baking powder.
And no, the chocolate chip won’t melt. Just combine so chocolate chips are incorporated in the batter. 🙂
Thank you for your reply and clarifying about the chocolate chips !
Are you sure about the cocoa powder? I tried eating 1/4 teaspoon of it and it taste super duper bitter in my mouth.
Hi Albert! I use good dutch cocoa powder and it is bitter but that’s how it should be and mix with sugar to balance out in baked recipes.
Also, what will happen if I don’t use baking soda at all? Will it still taste good?
I don’t recommend, and here’s some good article from a fellow blogger: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/baking-powder-vs-baking-soda/
Another question, does it matter if I use double acting baking powder instead of normal one? Sorry if I asked too many question. I hope I don’t do any mistake on my next try 🙂
Hi Albert! Most BP these days is double acting. 🙂
Arigato Nami-san. I will retry it and let you know how it goes. Have a nice day and thank you for sharing your recipe 🙂
Good luck, Albert!
Hello, Thank you for the recipe. I love the idea of a small batch of muffins for a quick, warm snack for the kiddos. Because of gluten sensitivity I tried rice, rice/potatoe starch, rice/tapioca and we liked the rice/potatoe and rice/tapioca flours to sub for the 1/2 cup of flour. All chocolate because the girls like chocolate. my girls really liked it. I have a steam oven and cooked it for 20 min and it worked great. I will continue to make these for a quick dessert or snack especially once school starts up again in the fall.
Hi Holly! Aww I’m so happy to hear your daughters enjoyed this recipe! I also heard GF flour worked too from some readers. You have a fantastic steam oven! Perfect! Thank you for your kind feedback. xoxo
Hello – i have been following you for several years now and have created a Db of your recipes and links to the ones i am interested in….. i went to my Db yesterday and none of the links works any more !! What happened ? Did you change your site ? This is so disappointing … is there a way to re connect so the hundred + recipes i have in my Db??
Hi Nadine! Thank you so much for trying my recipes for all these years! What does Db mean? I’m always justonecookbook.com. 😀
Hi Nami🙂I tried the basic recipe this morning for breakfast. It was very quick and easy! Because I only have coconut oil and olive oil in my pantry, I used coconut oil – it’s good too. One thing though – I find it quite a dry cake, but it’s still more moist than a piece of bread 😆 I spread butter and kaya (egg jam) on it and it tasted wonderful. I saw your matcha version, and you used honey and yogurt- would it work for this basic recipe too?
Hi Eefong! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! Sure you can use it. I had never tried Kaya before but heard of it many times. I hope I can try that one day… thank you for your kind feedback! xo
How do you make a sweet potato version of the steamed cakes? Do you cube the sweet potato or mash?
Hi Gail! We usually put small cubes of sweet potato in the plain version. 🙂
Hello do you have instructions for using the instant pot for this recipe?
Hi Diem! I haven’t tested using Instant Pot yet. You can use a steam function, but when you think about the steaming time, please take 1) pressurizing time and 2) natural release or quick release time into consideration. You probably need to play with it a few times to get it right… Instant Pot uses pressure to steam, so you can’t just open the lid to take out like how we can do over the stove… which to me is more work so I haven’t used the IP for this recipe.
What is your recommendation if you do not have glass ramekins? I don’t have glass or ceramic due to have little-little ones. I have silicon cupcake lines but was unsure what else to use. Thanks!
Hi Laili! You can steam it instead of the water bath method like I did. But it takes a bit longer to cook. 🙂
I made the chocolate steamed cakes today, but the batter was very sticky. Is it supposed to be sticky? Because it was sticky, otit was difficult to spoon onto the cupcake liners and they turned out pretty rough looking.
Hi Rachel! If you look at my step by step image for chocolate… hmm I don’t know if you would call my texture sticky? It wasn’t too thick but not too lose either. Did you measure your ingredients by scale or cup? Maybe your dry ingredients were more?
Tried this today, turned out great! Though I did tweak it a bit. I put the cake mixture in a square dish measuring 5″x5″ and added choc chips, cranberries & walnut. I cooked it for about 10 minutes. Turned out soft and not too sweet; it tasted like pancake! Definitely a fuss-free recipe, will make this again next time. Thank you for this recipe 🙂
P/s I’m an amateur at cake-making and this recipe was easy to follow
Hi Hikmah! Thank you for trying my recipe! I’m so glad to hear yours came out well! Thank you for your kind feedback. I like that you added chocolate chip, cranberries, and walnut – it sounds really good!!
Dear Nami,
If i put raisins in the basic steamed cake recipe, do i need to reduce the sugar to one tbsp?
Hi Karen! It’s really up to you, but sugar gives the steamed cake moisture and soft so I don’t recommend omitting it completely. 🙂
Hi, can I put them in a steamer – like a chinese wok steamer without using the glass ramekins?
Might have to make my daughter a steamed chocolate cake for her birthday as shops are now closed! ☹️ Thank you!
Hi Cheryl! Yes, you can use a regular steamer, but I think it’ll take a bit longer to cook. 🙂
I just tried this recipe but the steamed cakes didn’t come out as fluffy as I wanted them to be ): could it be because I didn’t beat the mixture long enough?
Hi Kayla! Without being there to see how you mix, it’s a bit hard to say that’s the reason. 🙁 Possible you overcooked it? Maybe too much flour?
Hi
I don’t have ramekins. Can i use electric steamer or will it break down?
Thank you
Hi Martyna! Hmm I am not sure about the electric steamer as I don’t own one. Where are you going to put the batter? Is the electric steamer comes with it? Sorry I wish I know the answer but I’m not sure about this appliance.