Although Castella cake was originally brought to Japan in the 1600s by Portuguese missionaries, it has since become one of Japan’s most popular desserts. There are many variations to the recipe, but the commonality seems to be that they all have just a few ingredients including; eggs, bread flour, sugar, water or milk and honey. The finished cake has a light but spongy texture, thanks to the bread flour, and a delicate honey flavor. This will become a part of our family’s frequently made dessert lineup!

Castella Cake Ingredients

• 7 eggs, separated
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/3 honey
• 1 1/2 cups bread flour
• Small quantity of vegetable oil for bottom of pan
• 2 – 1 pound loaf pans, straight sided if possible
• parchment paper

Honey Glaze Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 tablespoon water

Directions for Honey Castella Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare the loaf pans by tracing the bottom of the loaf pans on a piece of parchment paper. Cut them out.

Use just enough vegetable oil to “glue” the parchment to the bottom of the pans.

Separate the 7 eggs.

In mixer, beat egg whites until they reach the soft peak stage.

Continue beating and slowly add sugar until stiff peaks form.

Do the rest of the mixing by hand.

Break up the egg yolks and slowly add to the egg whites gently mixing between each addition.

Mix the honey and milk together.

Sift 1/3 of the floor into the eggs, mixing just enough to blend. Mix in a 1/3 of the honey/milk mixture. Go back and forth between the floor and the honey milk until it is all mixed together.

NOTE: You want to remove as many large bubbles from your batter as possible. While hand mixing ingredients together, do so gently so you do not incorporate more air into the batter. While adding the flour and honey milk, occasionally tap the bowl on the counter to bring air bubbles to the surface. When you are done mixing all the ingredients together, slowly drag a chop stick or skewer through the batter, tapping frequently.

Divide the dough into the 2 prepared loaf pans. Pour the batter slowly to break more air bubbles. Fill the loaf pans about 3/4. Again, drag a skewer through the batter several times, tapping after each pass being careful not to disturb the parchment paper on the bottom. You can even drop the pans on the counter to release more air.

Bake in the center rack of the preheated oven for 35 – 40 minutes or until the top is a deep golden brown and a skewer insert in the center comes out clean.

Note: I read somewhere to cover the tops of the cakes with foil in the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent over browning. BIG MISTAKE! Although the foil was tented, it touched my cakes and removed much of the beautiful top crust. Never, ever going to try that again! Since I didn’t have time to make additional cakes, I soldiered on and continued to photograph the cakes. When it came time to serve them, however, because the bottom was so flat and lovely, I flipped the cake upside to serve and no one was ever the wiser!

Drag a sharp knife around the outside edge of the cake to release it from the pan. Do this slowly so you do not tear the cake.

Mix the 1 tablespoon honey with the 1/2 tablespoon water. Apply the mixture to the tops of the cakes with a pastry brush. (Oops! No photo!)

Place a piece of plastic wrap on a cookie sheet or cutting board. Invert one of the hot cakes on the wrap and remove the pan. Remove the parchment paper, and finish wrapping the cake with the plastic wrap. Do the same for the other cake. Place the warm, wrapped cakes in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.

To serve, remove from fridge and unwrap. With the top up, cut off the “crusts” on the 4 sides of the cakes with a VERY sharp bread knife. (Do not cut out the top and bottom.) Hint: Hold the cake together while cutting to prevent it from ripping. Cut into 1 inch pieces to serve. Again, for photo sake, I rushed and cut the cakes after an hour. It caused some crumbling to occur. When I cut additional pieces for serving the next day, they cut nice and clean. However… the taste was still fantastic the first day, so if you don’t mind a few crumbs, bake and eat. Oh, and do make sure you eat the crusts you cut off. Yum!

Remember… the top was a mess so I simply flipped it over for serving and it looked great!