Castella – Japanese Sponge Cake
I am sure many of your have eaten Castella as snacks during tea time in Japan. Or maybe if you haven’t been to Japan, I am sure many of you have eaten a sponge cake. It is essentially the same thing, a castella and a sponge cake. So, I am going to share with you a recipe on how to make sponge cake or, as the Japanese calls it, Castella, a beloved cake that came to the shores of Japan via the Portuguese. You will need to read up on the history of how castella became a favorite in Japan because I only know how to make it :P
Castella is a very light and fluffy cake, that is really delightful to eat. A true castella, do not use ANY baking powder or baking soda because it depends on the eggs as a leavening agent. You can use any flavoring to make your cake but I rather like the simple taste of vanilla and a nice strawberry filling in the middle.
Vanilla Sponge Cake:
8 eggs, separate the yolks and whites into two bowls
190gram/6.7 oz of sugar
95 grams/3.3 oz flour
55 grams/ 2 oz cornflour
45 grams/ 1.6 oz butter, melted
1 vanilla pod, beans scraped out
Method:
Preheat your oven to 350 F.
1. Beat your yolks with an electric beater for 1 minute and add 1/3 of the sugar and the vanilla beans in. Beat for another 4-5 minutes until the yolks double in size and looks a pale yellow. Set aside.
2. Wash your electric beater’s whisk properly. A drop of the yolk is all it takes to sabotage the whole cake because your egg whites would not be able to rise to stiff peaks, which is essential for your sponge cake. Once your whisks are washed, re-attach and start beating your egg whites for 30 seconds first to get them “warmed”up.
3. Add the remaining of the sugar bit by bit as you beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. It must be stiff peaks, as shown in the picture.
4. Now you can combine the yolks and the whites together. Pour the yolks into the egg whites and with a spatula, gently fold the mixture until well incorporated. Do not over mix, as soon as you see that both yolks and whites are combined, move on to the next step.
5. Add your corn flour and flour through a sift into the batter. Fold the mixture to combine again, very gently. Once that is done, add your melted butter in and combine again.
Pour the mixture into a 11 inch baking pan (I used a 9-inch spring form pan, so I filled it up 3/4 of the pan and pour the rest of the batter into little ramekins) and bake for 30 minutes. Test with skewers to check if the cake is done, if not, bake for another 5 minutes and check again.
Let the sponge cake cool before trying to get it out of the pan.
Meanwhile, make your strawberry jelly, which essentially strawberry jam. All you need is 250grams of fresh strawberries and 25 gram sugar. Put the two ingredients together in a pot and mash it up with your hands or with a potato masher. Cook for 30 minutes on medium heat until it becomes a thick red, gloopy jam. Wait for it to cool before using it to fill the cake.
To fill the cake, use a very sharp knife and cut the cake into halves horizontally. Spread the strawberry jelly on the bottom layer of the cake and place the top layer after. Chill for 30-45 minutes before serving with a sprinkle of icing sugar.
- 
