We all know how Taiwan's Original Cake took Malaysia by storm when it first opened here to insanely long queues in Sunway Velocity. They have since added two more branches in Klang Valley, one in Johor, another three in Penang and recently in Singapore.
So, why did a simple egg sponge cake stir such a craze for them? It's not as if they're something new, after all the Japanese castella (sponge) cake has been around for some time already. I guess people love the appeal of the large cake being unmolded and cut right in front of you while the smell of egg aroma fills the air! ^_~
It has been 9 months since the first Original Cake opened shop (has it been that long already?)...and I have not eaten it...still. I guess I'm not one of those who would be willing to queue for 2 hours just to be among the first ones to try and then blog about it. I'll eat it when I want to eat it.
So, when I was at ICC Pudu to feast on my beloved curry laksa, I chanced upon this stall (right at the entrance) selling egg sponge cakes. I was into some egg sponge cake that day, so why not.
It was just a stall simply set up with just a table filled with some boxes of egg sponge cake. Taking a peek into the boxes, I could see that the sponge cakes on offer look similar to those Taiwan Original Cakes.
She gestured me and offered me a piece to try from her tray of small pieces of cake meant for sampling. I tried the original flavour and placed an order for one. The cakes are baked on-site (from a space inside Hailam Cafe on the left in ICC Pudu).
From the standing banner, I gather that this is Jim's Recipe of egg sponge cakes...and I could see that the original is priced at RM12 while the cheese-flavoured one is RM17.
My original flavour (for a Taste of Tradition) came packed in a paper box just like the other egg sponge cakes in the market.
The wonderful smell of the eggy cake aroma wafted through the car when I opened the box (enroute home)....hihihi! ;)
The top of the cake looks similar to that of Ah Mah Traditional Egg Sponge Cake (posted by phonghongbakes recently) as the lines are caused by the wire rack used to unmold the cake.
This was what it looked like when I reached home. First impression of Jim's Recipe Egg Sponge Cake is that it looks a bit deflated compared to Ah Mah's and not as well risen as Original Cake judging from the photos of the latter two I saw online. The lady seller told me that the cake's height is higher when first taken out from the oven but deflates a bit when it cools.
The lines on the surface of the cake made it easy for me to cut them into slices uniformly. I managed to cut them into 7 slices with each slice slightly more than one inch wide. That makes the cake about 8 - 9 inches in length.
Their facebook lists egg, milk, flour, sugar and canola oil as the ingredients (which is similar to Ah Mah's). The cake was pillow-soft and fluffy, texture wise. Taste wise, it wasn't sweet at all (and that's coming from someone who has a low tolerance for sweetness), so I think the sweet-toothed majority will find it not sweet enough and thereby tasting bland. I also thought it could do with a bit more egg flavour since that's the very soul of a good egg sponge cake.
For now, I think I prefer to stick to the egg sponge cake from Mon Kee @ RM2.50 for two slices with a bit of kaya in between! ^_~
I don't know how Jim's Recipe Egg Sponge Cake compares to Ah Mah Traditional Egg Sponge Cake or Original Cake until I've had a chance to try them both and compare it to Jim's Recipe but they're certainly the cheapest at RM12 compared with RM13 for Ah Mah and RM15 for Original Cake.
I wasn't aware that Jim's Recipe Egg Sponge Cake was that popular until after I bought one. From their Facebook, they started about the same time (in April 2017) as Ah Mah Traditional Egg Sponge Cake and now have more than 40 outlets (!) to Ah Mah's 35 and Original Cake's 7 (since February 2017).
My Personal Opinion
It's an ok egg sponge cake but I don't know if it tastes any different for different franchise outlets since there's an insane amount of outlets nationwide. Plus I can't say much until I've had the chance to try the other two and compare them.
From their Facebook, apart from the original and cheese flavoured ones, they also have chocolate and pandan flavours. I'm not sure if the one in ICC Pudu is there on a permanent basis coz, on a different Sunday, there was another egg sponge cake stall there (you can check out their Facebook page for an outlet nearest to you if you wish to try).
Jim's Recipe Egg Sponge Cake
ICC Pudu
Jalan Kijang
Pudu
55100 Kuala Lumpur
I love these cakes be it original or with cheese. They go well with my Gold Nescafe coffee in front of my telly. That's my happiest moments!
ReplyDeleteI could tell at once that RM12.00 is the cheapest so far and I wouldn't expect too much if deflated a bit. So long as it tastes good and yumyy.
The long queues and crowds have waned in most places. A good example is the one beside Popular Books at 1-U which used to have the longest queues. These days, I see the workers banging the cake tins and shouting out for customers to come!! Nobody bothered!
Yup, once the initial euphoria has died down, the queues will be gone...much like the Taiwan Original Cake (and that's the signal it's time for people like me, who hate to queue, to try). Hey, anything for telly-binging is good! ^_*
DeleteThere are so many different brands of eggy sponge cake in Klang Valley but the only one I've tried is the Original Cake.
ReplyDeletePS: I've tried the laksa that you raved about at ICC Pudu and it is really good, thank you for your recommendation.
Oh, I'm so happy to hear that you found the laksa to be really good. Comments like these make me feel that writing my food blog (and sharing the food I ate) is worth my time and effort. After having this curry laksa, you now know why I've not been able to find any others that can compare to it! ;)
DeleteBut I don't like the environment, too crowded and need to wait for table >_<
DeleteWhere there's good food...there's always a crowd. So far, I've been fortunate enough to get a table quite easily. The right hand side of ICC Pudu is even more crowded than this side.
DeleteOh, I see there is another brand of egg sponge cake! So far I have only tried Ah Mah (which I love). The last time I passed by Original Cake at 1-U, it was all quiet, no queue. I did not buy because my stomach was already very full hee..hee...
ReplyDeleteI guess this is the best time to try Original Cake then...with no queue! :P
Deletei haven't tried the taiwanese original cake either! :) i do see a number of similar businesses sprouting up recently, so i should try one of them, one of these days! :) but i assume in terms of cake, you prefer the burnt cheesecakes to the egg sponge cakes :)
ReplyDeleteI actually love simple egg sponge cakes. I don't like cheese, so burnt cheesecakes would not be a preference although it ended up to be one of those cheesecakes that I could eat and learn to like.
DeleteMy mum has very strict rules for making her sponge cake - no running in the kitchen, no opening the oven and so on. Apparently they're tricky to get just right.
ReplyDeleteSo I guess the best thing to do is to stay out of mom's way and don't go into the kitchen when she's baking. ^_*
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