The Best Mamon Recipe

Try this mamon recipe for the best, the fluffiest and the most delicious Filipino butter mamon. Perfect with coffee, in lunch boxes, and for all your celebrations.

(Love chiffon cakes? Try reader favorites vanilla Swiss roll cake and ube chiffon cake!)

Mamon are mini Filipino chiffon cakes, although some call them Filipino sponge cakes as well (see the difference in the FAQs below).

They’re baked in individual molds then topped with butter and sugar, and sometimes with grated cheese.

They’re available in local bakeries but the most popular ones come from Goldilocks and Red Ribbon bakeshops (check out this delicious collection of Filipino bread recipes and bakery favorites). 

We have neither here but happily, Goldilocks and Red Ribbon style mamon is easy to make at home. Way easier than you think!

Let’s get to it.

Why you’ll love this recipe

• Easy and straightforward. Chiffon cakes do have a lot of steps but each one is manageable and I break them down for you so they’re easy and straightforward to follow.

• Simple ingredients. Plus, you’ll only need pantry staples like eggs, oil and flour.

• Delicious! Most of all, they’re delicious, soft and wonderfully fluffy. We pick our butter mamon over bakeshop mamon every time.

How to make

Like all chiffon cakes, there are two components to this recipe: the egg yolk mixture and the egg white mixture (meringue).

The method is similar to how I make my other meringue-based cakes like taisan (pinoy chiffon cake) and pianono (Filipino jelly roll).

Ingredients

You’ll need pantry staples like eggs, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt. Some things to note:

• Cake flour — cake flour gives mamon that extra tender crumb. If you only have all purpose flour, you can use that but note that it’s not a 1:1 substitution. A simple formula I found is 1 cup all purpose flour – 2 tablespoon all purpose flour + 2 tablespoon cornstarch = 1 cup cake flour.

• Oil — we use vegetable oil but you can use any neutral-tasting oil you have on hand.

• Milk — I’ve used whole milk and full-fat evaporated milk in this recipe. Both works.

• Cream of tartar — this is what helps stabilize the egg whites and what helps us get those stiff peaks. I alway use cream of tartar but if you don’t have it, you can use 1 teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice for every ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar in the recipe.

Baking tools

I have mamon molds that my sister bought for me from Manila. You can buy similar ones in Amazon.

You can also use a muffin pan; you’ll end up with more, but smaller, mamon and you’ll need to adjust the baking time.

I also use mamon liners from the Philippines and again, you can use muffin liners or baking cups if using a muffin pan. 

Whatever you use, don’t grease your mold or pan because the cakes need something to hold on to for them to rise.

Step-by-step photos

Preheat oven to 350F. Line mamon molds with paper liners. 

Expert baking tips

Easy right? Here are more tips for perfect mini chiffon cakes every time.

• Use room temperature ingredients. They are easier to combine and using room temperature egg whites results to a more stable meringue.

• Separate eggs while cold. However, it’s easier to separate the egg whites from the egg yolks while they’re cold so do that then leave them on the counter for 30 minutes or until they’re room temperature.

• Don’t rush the meringue. When beating the egg whites, don’t go higher than medium speed (using my KitchenAid stand mixer, I stay on speed 3). It takes longer to get stiff peaks but this results to a more stable meringue that won’t deflate after baking.

• Fold gently. You want a homogenous batter with no streaks of egg whites but you’ll want to achieve that without deflating the meringue. You can do this by first lightening your egg yolk mixture with a dollop of meringue before adding all the meringue in. Also, fold gently.

• Bake at the correct temperature. And this is true for all baking. You’ll want to ensure you’re baking at the right temperature. I suggest getting an oven thermometer (you can get one for less than $10).

Troubleshooting guide

Problem	Likely Cause	Possible Solution
Deflated or collapsed significantly after baking	Egg whites not stable	This means air bubbles collapsed after baking. Stay on low speed and add sugar a little at a time for a more stable meringue.
Did not rise	Oven temperature too low	If your oven temperature is too low, your mamon will not rise properly. Use an oven thermometer to make sure you’re baking at the correct temperature.
Dry, dense and rubbery	Batter was over-mixed	Avoid over mixing the batter because doing so results to heavy and dense cakes.
	Mamon was over-baked	Over-baking causes cakes to lose moisture and become dry and rubbery. Check doneness as soon as the mamon turns a light golden brown on top.

Recipe FAQs

Best Filipino cake recipes

Looking to make more Filipino cakes? Check out these reader-favorites:

Happy baking!

Did you make this butter mamon recipe? I’d love to hear all about it! Leave a comment or a star rating below. You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook. I’d love to see your creations!

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