Recipe: Tasty Kasutera (Castella Cake)

Kasutera (Castella Cake). Castella (Kasutera カステラ) catches my attention when I realize that it is a cake made with bread flour. So is it a cake or bread? It is derived from a Portuguese recipe Pão de Ló.

You can eat Kasutera as is, and it is perfect for tea time with green tea. Castella, pronounced kasutera in Japanese, is a Japanese confectionary (wagashi in Japanese) that hails from Portugal. It's a simple sponge cake made with flour, eggs, sugar, and starch syrup, and baked in a rectangular mold. You can cook Kasutera (Castella Cake) using 5 ingredients and 5 steps. Here is how you cook it.

Ingredients of Kasutera (Castella Cake)

1. You need 4 of Large Eggs *yellower egg yolk recommended, room temperature.
2. You need 3/4 cup of Sugar.
3. It's 1 cup of Bread Flour *shifted.
4. It's 2 tablespoons of Honey.
5. You need 1 tablespoon of Raw Sugar.

Castella, or Kasutera, is a popular Japanese sponge cake that was introduced to Japan by the Portuguese so it is quite similar to Madeira cake or Pão-de-ló, which is also a Portuguese cake. In Japan, Castella (Kasutera) is now a specialty of Nagasaki city and is commonly sold in long boxes at festivals and street stalls. Castella or kasutera (カステラ) is an emblematic Japanese dessert originating from the city of Nagasaki but with older Portuguese origins. It is a sponge cake that is moist and very airy.

Kasutera (Castella Cake) step by step

1. Line the bottom and sides of the tin with baking paper. Sprinkle Raw Sugar on the base evenly..
2. Preheat the oven to 160C..
3. In a clean dry bowl, using an electric beater or a hand mixer, beat Egg Whites until soft peaks form. Add Egg Yolks, beating. Gradually add Sugar, softened Honey and shifted Bread Flour, beating until the mixture is well combined..
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 50 minutes or until cooked though and well browned..
5. When the cake is not hot, remove the baking paper and wrap it with plastic food wrap and rest for at least one day. The cake tastes nicer in that way..

Castella is prepared with simple ingredients: flour, eggs, and sugar, in equal quantities. Place the Kraft paper or bakery paper in the cardboard box wrapped with aluminum foil and distribute the coarse demerara sugar or coffee sugar crystals. Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl with a hand mixer at a low speed. Float the bowl in hot water and gradually heat the egg. Honey Kasutera (Honey Castella) - fine textured Japanese sponge cake raised solely by egg foam.