Japanese Castella Cake, or Kasutera (カステラ) in Japanese, is a popular Japanese honey sponge cake that was originally introduced by the Portuguese merchants to the Nagasaki area in the 16th century. The name is derived from Portuguese Pão de Castela, meaning “bread from Castile”. Castella is made of just 4 basic ingredients: bread flour, eggs, sugar, and honey. A dark brown top and bottom crusts with a creamy yellow center give a beautiful contrast to the sponge cake. This delicate cake is very moist, smooth, bouncy, and has just enough sweetness with a fragrance of honey. The difference between Japanese honey sponge cake and regular western sponge cake is that Japanese Castella is more delicate and bouncy in texture. It is raised solely by egg foam. There is no butter, oil, or any leavening agent like salt or baking powder. It also uses bread flour (higher gluten content) instead of regular flour to achieve the result. The flavor is very light with mild sweetness. Therefore the cake is delightful to enjoy green tea or iced coffee during summertime. You can tell by its popularity as Castella is being sold everywhere in Japan, from departmental stores, and specialty sweet stores to convenience stores. They often come in a slim rectangle box in simple plastic packaging for an everyday snack or fanciful packaging for gifting. Traditionally, Japanese Castella cake is baked slowly in a wooden frame to create a soft smooth texture for the sponge because a metal baking pan would transfer the heat too fast and it would become too dry. I assume most of you would not have a wooden frame readily available, so my Castella recipe uses a standard 1-lb loaf pan. I searched for Castella recipes in Japanese and found hundreds of recipes available online. The majority of them use just the same 4 ingredients with slightly different measurements for each recipe. I started to experiment with measurements for each ingredient for my 1-lb loaf pan. Then I increased to two pans as my family really loves this light and moist Japanese Castella Cake for oyatsu (snack). Before I move on to the recipe, I want to mention that it took me a very long time to finalize this recipe. Since then, I have been using this exact recipe many times and it worked each time. However, please understand that everyone’s oven works differently and you may need to adjust the recipe according to your oven.
Japanese Castella Cake Baking Notes:
The key to a successful Castella is in the beating of the eggs and baking time. Even after trying many times, I still wish to improve the slightly wrinkled top (Any tips, anyone?). Otherwise, the texture and flavor is just perfect! Before I realized that I needed to create my own recipe that works for my oven, I had tried many other Castella recipes I found online. However, I failed miserably despite the beautiful pictures shared in those recipes. Here are some of the tips I learned from my experience in achieving the perfect texture: Failure 1: A hard and dense layer formed at the bottom of the cake although the top layer turned out beautifully. Tips:
There needs to be enough air beaten into the batter for the cake to rise. Make sure to beat the eggs based on the time specified. The texture will be thick and the color will be pale yellow. When you stop the mixer and lift the whisk attachment, the mixture should fall into ribbons.Sift the flour two times to loosen.
Failure 2: The cake sank in the middle during the baking, or after I pulled it out from the oven. Tips:
Bake it longer until the cake is firm and fully cooked inside.Do not over-mix the batter when you add the flour mixture.Must use bread flour.
A lot of recipes suggested to bake at a higher temperature and covering the cake with aluminum foil to prevent the cake from browning further and finish baking. However, this made the cake start to sink immediately and it didn’t work for me… Therefore, I couldn’t bake at a higher temperature than 320 ºF (160 ºC). Some recipes suggest baking it at a higher temperature to brown the top first, then changing to a lower temperature to continue baking. But being unable to cover the top with aluminum foil, my only option was to bake at 320 ºF (160 ºC) and slowly brown the top without overcooking inside of the cake. You may need to tweak my recipe in order to get the perfect result. I have also seen some recipes that require extra steps and ingredients, but I made this recipe as simple as possible without losing authentic flavor. I hope my recipe works for you and you will get to enjoy Castella with your family and friends. I’ve also included a 3-minute Japanese Castella Cake recipe video above, so I hope you will check it out. Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
