Kam Hing Coffee Shop: Sponge Cakes
“Best sponge cake in town,” reads a sign right off the busy street corner of Canal and Baxter in Manhattan’s Chinatown. That’s quite a claim. A claim that many people seem to agree with when you search on social media. From fancy chefs to the regular Joe (or Jane), everybody seems to rave about the sponge cakes at Kam Hing Coffee Shop.
The shop isn’t too hard to find. The signage outside is loud and clear. Multiple signs protrude from the building, screaming in English characters that this is the place to find the famous cakes. In addition, large red Chinese characters adorn the gray walls to reassure you that this is indeed the famous Kam Hing Coffee Shop.
Exterior view of Kam Hing Coffee Shop, with signs advertising the best sponge cake in town.
As I walk through the doors, I am slightly taken aback. I’m in part of an office building with the listings of the businesses hugging the wall. But once I look past the directory, I see a second set of open doors that reveal the coffee shop inside. It’s a little bit messy inside. Boxes upon boxes stacked in every corner gave the feel of a storage room. But many businesses have this feel because we are still in a pandemic (in case you didn’t know). The important part is that there is a clear pathway to the counter of the best sponge cakes in Chinatown!
Multiple flavors are listed at the counter. There are so many flavors that I am paralyzed with joy. Flavors range from coconut to strawberry to green tea to even orangesicle and the exotic purple yam ube. How many should I order? How many can I actually eat? Hmmm… and how long can they last?
Interior shot of Kam Hing Coffee Shop, with menu at the counter and a customer ordering sponge cakes.
I order 3 sponge cakes: ube, pandan (an Asian vanilla described in my Ondeh Ondeh cookie post), and lychee rose. They are only 1 dollar each! And a dozen would only set you back 10 dollars. A great deal for anyone! Each sponge cake comes individually wrapped in a small plastic bag and each cake is baked in its own parchment paper wrapper like how a muffin would be.
I reach into my bag of goodies and pull out the ube sponge cake. The beautiful deep purple hue made from yams stands out from the other two. While each cake isn’t terribly large, it’s plenty for one person to enjoy but also easily shareable with a friend or two. The sponge cake is feather light, a good sign that this pastry will live up to its hype. I remove the paper from the palm sized sponge cake and attempt to tear it in half. It is so soft and elastic. As I apply pressure, the cake gently yields to my fingers, revealing a deep royal purple interior. The color is breathtaking and the fine air pockets inside the cake are even and widespread. When I separate the two halves and loosen my grip, the cake bounces back slowly but surely. The nutty smell of the ube quickly wafts into my nose, filling me with excitement and happiness.
ASMR video pulling apart the purple ube sponge cake from Kam Hing Coffee Shop.
I go in for a bite. So tender! The texture of the cake is so supple and soft. The taste and smell of the ube bounces around my tongue. The combination of sweet, starchy, rich nuttiness and a faint vanilla flavor coats my mouth. So aromatic! This sponge cake is so enjoyable and so pleasant on the palate that it is easy to keep eating. It is also so fluffy, airy and light that I can feel like I can eat multiple and not feel guilty!
Bright purple interior of ube sponge cake from Kam Hing Coffee Shop. Beautiful dessert with airy and light crumb. Looks like a butterfly!
So I reach in the bag and grab the pandan one. The bright green hue of the cake is also very beautiful and the grassy vanilla scent surrounds my senses as I remove the parchment from the cake. The flavor of this pandan sponge cake is pungent, one of the strongest pandan products I’ve ever tasted. The grassiness of the pandan is very apparent and forward on the palate, almost like the smell of freshly cut grass mixed with a few drops of coconut. As the grassiness subsides, more of the coconut and vanilla flavors come through. I thoroughly enjoyed the intense flavor and light fluffiness of this pandan sponge cake; if you’re new to pandan just prepare yourself!
Pandan, ube, and lychee sponge cakes from Kam Hing Coffee Shop. Colorful hues look like fruity pebbles.
One cake left. I’m so excited for the lychee rose. This cake immediately smells so delicately floral. I tear it open to reveal a soft pink cake and a texture just like the other two: amazingly airy and tremendously tender. The rose flavor blooms on the tongue, quickly overwhelming the senses. It’s strong, but not overly so. The sweet lychee flavor tempers the rose’s powerful punch. Lychee synergizes with rose so perfectly well that it is hard for my palate to tell when the lychee flavor begins or when the rose flavor ends. It is a wonderful whirlwind of tastes as the lychee flavor concludes with a mix of floral pear and apple.
Lychee rose sponge cake from Kam Hing Coffee Shop, pulled apart to see light and fluffy crumb on inside.
Kam Hing Coffee Shop really lives up to its hype. I loved each of the cakes I tried, with the lychee rose being my favorite. The flavors are tasty and the texture is absolutely incredible. I can see why so many people are in love with their airy baked goods. I can’t wait to try the rest of their flavors and I hear that they have rotating flavors like durian! I’m glad that I got to try them and the next time I’m in the area, I’ll definitely grab one (or three) of the “best sponge cakes in Chinatown.”
