Souffle Castella cake

• 15 minutes to prepare • 75 minutes to cook • Serves 12

カステラ 

 

Originating in Taiwan, Castella cakes are usually baked as large 1 meter slabs, sliced into large rectangles straight out of the oven, and placed in boxes to be picked up by customers waiting outside the stores.

Although souffle Castella was popularized in Taiwan, the original castella is a cake developed in Japan after being introduced by the Portuguese. A traditional Japanese sweet made from bread flour, eggs, sugar and mizuame, a type of sugar syrup which gives the cake a moist texture, Japanese Castella is a denser and slightly gooier in texture with a darker crust. It is baked in a wooden square and enjoyed the day after it is baked.

While both cakes may have the same name they have their own unique charms. I personally love the Taiwanese Castella cake because of its fluffy texture, but give this recipe a go and see what you think!

Here are ingredients for a 12-serving recipe (20-cm side squared baking pan):

130 g sugar
130 g milk
120 g flour 00
130 g butter
8 eggs
1 vanilla bean
salt

1. Preheat oven to 140°
2. To prepare the sponge cake, separate the egg whites from the yolks and beat egg whites with the sugar until soft peaks appear
3. Melt the butter in a small pan, together with the milk. Then, keep it aside
4. Sift the flour three times, then add the mixture of milk and butter into the bowl of a stand mixer, and mix well
5. Add egg yolks - one at the time -, then take the vanilla bean, cut it in half and remove the seeds with the blade of a smooth knife
6. Add them to the eggs yolks with a pinch of salt. Then turn the stand mixer on at medium speed and mix for about 15 minutes
7. In the meantime, carefully cover a 20-cm cake mold with parchment paper and, as soon as the mixture of yolks and flour has become clear, fluffed up and frothy, turn off the machine. Add 1/3 of the egg whites and mix again
8. At this point, add the rest of the whites, and mix everything with a spatula making movements from the bottom up. Do this step very gently so as not to deflate the mixture
9. As soon as the whites are completely incorporated, pour everything into the cake mold and use a spatula to level the surface
10. Place it in a larger baking tray filled with hot, but not boiling, water
11. Bake the souffle cake in a static oven preheated to 140°C for about 75 minutes. Avoid opening the oven during this time and before taking the cake out of the oven, check its readiness touching its surface: the cake must spring back
12. Once ready, let the cake partially cool in the pan before removing it. Then let it cool completely on a wire rack before serving or filling it

Nutrition Facts are detailed in the table below. Data is provided per serving.