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Salted Egg Yolk Pound Cake
You can use salted egg yolks for more than just mooncakes or zongzi. Try using them to make this pound cake that you will be proud to serve for special occasions.
Most people buy salted egg yolks to prepare Chinese mooncakes, but if you have extra salted egg yolks and wonder what you can do with them, then I have a lovely pound cake recipe to share with you today. :)
This recipe should be easier to perfect than most pound cake recipes since it doesn’t require the step to cream butter and sugar, which is where most people stumble and end up with a not so perfect pound cake.
Plus, the addition of salted egg yolks gives the pound cake the umami magic, turning this cake into a delectable one that you can and should serve for special occasions.
Ingredients for salted egg yolk pound cake
We need eggs, sugar, unsalted butter, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and salted egg yolks.
Where can I buy salted egg yolks?
I usually buy these in an Asian grocery store near the egg sections.
There are raw salted duck eggs, cooked salted duck eggs, and cooked salted duck egg yolks. I use the cooked salted duck egg yolks for this recipe, so be sure to buy the right version.
Can I make homemade salted egg yolks?
Yes. You will need two cups of kosher salt and four egg yolks, preferably duck eggs, though you can also use large-size chicken eggs.
Line the bottom of a shallow airtight container with half of the salt. Make four indentations using the back of a measuring tablespoon, then carefully nestled in the four yolks. Gently cover the yolks with the remaining salt. Cover the container and rest in the fridge for 48 hours to cure.
After 48 hours, brush the salt from the yolks and discard the curing salt. The salted egg yolks can keep up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.
Since we need cooked salted egg yolks, you can steam the egg yolks for 10 minutes to cook them. They should be crumbly once cooked, just like regular egg yolks.
Step-by-step to bake a salted egg yolk pound cake
Preheat oven to 165 Celsius (325 Fahrenheit). Brush a 10-inch bundt pan with butter and dust with sugar.
In a mixing bowl, beat together eggs and sugar with medium speed until pale yellow and glossy, about 3 minutes.
Reduce the mixer speed to low, stream in melted butter, then turn the mixer speed to medium-high and beat for 2 minutes, or until the butter is fully incorporated.
Sift in all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Use the lowest speed to mix the dry ingredients to the batter. Stop once there is no longer any flour streak.
Add grated salted egg yolk and use a spatula to fold into the batter.
Pour the batter to the prepared cake pan and bake into the preheated oven for 60-70 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and cool it in the cake pan for 10 minutes. Gently remove the cake from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into serving slices and serve.
FAQs
1. Can I replace salted egg yolks with other ingredient?
Yes, you can try using 1/4 cup of grated parmesan. I find that this is the best substitute though I highly recommend sticking to salted egg yolks. ;)
2. Which bundt pan are you using?
I use a 10-inch Calphalon non-stick bundt pan simply because I got it off very cheaply during a big sale for less than $10. It holds about 10 cups of batter. Feel free to use another bundt pan with a more pretty design as long as it can accommodate the same amount of cake batter.
Salted Egg Yolk Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 400 gram (2 cup) sugar
- 450 gram (1 lb) unsalted butter, melted
- 300 gram all-purpose flour
- 40 gram cornstarch
- 1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cooked salted egg yolks, grated (Note 1)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 165 Celsius (325 Fahrenheit). Brush a 10-inch bundt pan with butter and dust with sugar.
- In a mixing bowl, beat together eggs and sugar with medium speed until pale yellow and glossy, about 3 minutes.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low, stream in melted butter, then turn the mixer speed to medium-high and beat for 2 minutes, or until the butter is fully incorporated.
- Sift in all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Use the lowest speed to mix the dry ingredients to the batter. Stop once there is no longer any flour streak.
- Add grated salted egg yolk and use a spatula to fold into the batter.
- Pour the batter to the prepared cake pan and bake into the preheated oven for 60-70 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and cool it in the cake pan for 10 minutes. Gently remove the cake from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into serving slices and serve.
Notes
- (1) Substitute with 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, or make homemade salted egg yolks as described in the post.
Comments
thanks for the recipe. Have not tasted salted egg cake before, I will try to make it for CNY.
his cake is marvelous! It is very light and looks just like the picture! What a wonderful recipe!
Hi, if i use 6" cake mould, how much ingredients in need to use? Thank you!
Hi Cassandra, my bundt pan is the standard size, meaning it can hold 10 cups in volume. A 6-inch round cake pan with a 2-inch height can only hold 4 cups in volume. Since the cake doesn't completely fill the entire bundt pan, I would say halving each of the ingredients should work to completely fill a 6-inch round pan.
As for baking time and temperature, I'm not too sure since I don't own a 6-inch pan. My best guess is it will take about 20-25 minutes at 350 Fahrenheit. But please use your judgement and make sure the cake is fully baked before removing from the oven.
Wow! This simple recipe is so yummy and delicious! It was fun to make too. And I am not saying about the cook egg yolk. :) Interesting ingredient to use in baking. Thanks!!!
What a delicious pound cake recipe! It was the perfect companion for my afternoon tea:)
How clever! I always thought salted egg yolks were only for savory recipes. I can't wait to try out this recipe.
Very original recipe and was spot on! We devoured it!
Was intrigued by the use of the salted egg yolks so had to try this cake. So good, reminds me a little bit of salted caramel but a kind of richer, yolky flavour. Unique and delicious!
We don’t have a Bundt pan. Can I use a loaf pan or regular rectangular pan? Is there a reason why you are using Bundt pan?
Hi Bong, you can use a 9x13-inch rectangular cake pan too and bake it for 45-55 minutes. If you only have an 8x8-inch square pan, you can bake just a half recipe so it can fit in that pan. Either you go with the full recipe using a 9x13 or a half recipe using an 8x8, the baking time should both be shorter (~ 45-55 minutes).
The recipe calls for 40 grams (16 teaspoons?) cornstarch, is this the correct measurement as 16 tsp. seems like an awful lot. Would love to try recipe as it sounds delicious but first need to know if measurements for corn starch is correct
Hi Lorraine, the cornstarch is indeed 40 grams. I always use a scale since I find it to be more accurate. Based on King Arthur website, 1/4 cup cornstarch = 28 grams; so 40 grams of cornstarch should be around 5.5 tablespoons. Happy baking!
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