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Castella

A honey sponge with no butter and no raising agent, lowered in temperature as it bakes.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg, honey.

Ingredients

Method

  1. NO BUTTER, NO OIL AND NO RAISING AGENT. Six eggs do all of it. That is why the beating cannot be hurried and why the crumb is dense and moist rather than light.
  2. BREAD FLOUR, NOT PLAIN, which is the counter-intuitive part. The strong gluten gives the springy, slightly chewy crumb this cake is recognised by; plain flour makes a softer, more ordinary sponge.
  3. Zarame sugar scattered in the lined tin FIRST. It does not dissolve and stays as a crunchy layer on the base, which becomes the top when turned out.
  4. Beat the eggs and sugar over a bowl of warm water until just warm, then off the heat and beat 10 to 12 minutes until it trebles and a ribbon sits on the surface for a full five seconds.
  5. Honey dissolved in the warm water and beaten in.
  6. Flour sifted in in four additions and folded. It will deflate somewhat, which is expected.
  7. LOWER THE TEMPERATURE AS IT BAKES: 180C for 10 minutes to set the rise, then 160C for 40 to 45 minutes. Held at 180C the crust is dark before the middle is cooked.
  8. POP THE BUBBLES BEFORE IT GOES IN. Drop the tin onto the worktop three or four times, then run a skewer through the batter in a zigzag. Large bubbles leave holes in a cake with no other structure.
  9. Out of the oven, dropped once onto the worktop to stop it shrinking, then turned out and WRAPPED IN PLASTIC WHILE WARM, upside down.
  10. Rest it wrapped for a full day before cutting. The moisture redistributes and the crumb goes from dry to dense and damp. Cut on the day it is baked it is a different and worse cake.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Japan · All recipes