Castella
Castella arrived in Nagasaki with Portuguese traders in the sixteenth century and made itself at home for good. It is a sponge with no butter and no oil — its moistness comes from the eggs, honey and sugar. It has a characteristic very fine crumb with no large holes, which calls for one unusual move: the tin is dropped onto the worktop to knock the big bubbles out before baking.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Whipping the eggs 15 min
- Combining 10 min
- Baking 55 min
- Maturing 720 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneDissolve the honey in warm milk
Stir the honey into the warm milk with the mirin and set aside. Honey dropped into the foam sinks and stays there as a dark, sticky layer — diluted, it disperses evenly.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · 200 g caster sugar · 160 g strong bread flour · 3 tbsp honey · 60 ml milk · 1 tbsp mirin · 1 pinch salt
Whip the eggs over warm water for 12 minutes
Whip the whole eggs with the sugar and salt over a water bath until they reach 40°C, then take them off and keep whipping, 12 minutes in total. The finished foam is very thick and a ribbon from the whisk sits on the surface for five seconds. The warmth loosens the eggs and the foam gains volume faster.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · 200 g caster sugar · 160 g strong bread flour · 3 tbsp honey · 60 ml milk · 1 tbsp mirin · 1 pinch salt
The ribbon sits for five seconds — now the flour.Add the flour in three additions
Sift the bread flour and fold it in in three additions, cutting from the bottom up. Bread flour, not cake flour — the high protein gives this sponge its characteristic springy, moist structure rather than tenderness.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · 200 g caster sugar · 160 g strong bread flour · 3 tbsp honey · 60 ml milk · 1 tbsp mirin · 1 pinch salt
Fold in the honey milk
Pour the honey mixture down the side of the bowl and fold with twenty strokes of the spatula, no more. The batter drops a little, as it should — further mixing would take the rest of the air.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · 200 g caster sugar · 160 g strong bread flour · 3 tbsp honey · 60 ml milk · 1 tbsp mirin · 1 pinch salt
Knock out the bubbles against the worktop
Pour into a large loaf tin (about 30×11 cm) lined with paper standing 3–4 cm above the rim and lift the tin 5 cm above the worktop and drop it, five times. Large bubbles rise and burst. Drag a skewer through the batter in a zigzag as well. This step decides whether the crumb is uniform.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · 200 g caster sugar · 160 g strong bread flour · 3 tbsp honey · 60 ml milk · 1 tbsp mirin · 1 pinch salt
Five drops onto the worktop — the big bubbles rise.Bake 55 minutes, starting hotter
Bake 10 minutes at 180°C, then 45 minutes at 150°C. The top should brown evenly to a deep brown; if it darkens too fast, cover it with foil — a burnt castella top is bitter and shows in every slice. A skewer pushed into the centre should come out dry.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · 200 g caster sugar · 160 g strong bread flour · 3 tbsp honey · 60 ml milk · 1 tbsp mirin · 1 pinch salt
Wrap the warm cake in film, top down
Take it out, drop the tin once on the worktop (this stops it shrinking), turn the cake out and wrap it tightly in cling film while still warm, top side down. The steam stays inside, and that steam is what gives castella its moisture.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · 200 g caster sugar · 160 g strong bread flour · 3 tbsp honey · 60 ml milk · 1 tbsp mirin · 1 pinch salt
Warm, wrapped tight, top side down.Leave overnight, wrapped
Leave it wrapped for 12 hours at room temperature in a cool spot — not in the fridge, where the crumb stales faster. Fresh castella is dry and floury; overnight the moisture redistributes and the crumb turns silky. Trim the brown sides before slicing and serve in thick slices.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · 200 g caster sugar · 160 g strong bread flour · 3 tbsp honey · 60 ml milk · 1 tbsp mirin · 1 pinch salt
Before you start
Maturing is not optional
It is an easy step to skip, yet it is what separates castella from an ordinary sponge. Cut an hour after baking, the cake is noticeably drier and more floury — it is worth the wait.
A narrow, deep tin
A large loaf tin of roughly 30×11 cm, lined with paper standing above the rim, gives the height this cake needs. In a wide, shallow tin it bakes unevenly, because the edges dry before the centre sets. A smaller loaf tin will not hold all the batter.
Instead of mirin
A tablespoon of water with half a teaspoon of sugar. Mirin adds shine and a faint caramel note but is not essential — the honey does most of the work here.
