Matcha Castella (抹茶蜂蜜蛋糕）

 

Castella (カステラ Kasutera) is a popular Japanese sponge cake that was introduced by Portuguese merchants in the 16th century. It is a deliciously moist and soft cake with a slight "bounce" and permeates with a subtle honey flavor. Growing up in Taiwan, where we love all things Japanese, we had our own version of the Japanese castella, literally call "honey cake" (蜂蜜蛋糕). The most accessible one was the one made by Yi-Mei (義美), which is still sold today. They are commercially sold everywhere and I was quite surprised to find that my local 99Ranch Market carries them. There days, there are chocolate flavored, taro flavored, and even cheese flavored ones! I think I must have eaten so many boxes of these honey cakes growing up that I never missed a piece since moving to the US about 15 years ago, until recently...

A friend brought back a box of these from a place in Taiwan near his house (not Yi-Mei). The cake was moist, soft, and full of honey flavor. One bite and I was sold. This was SO MUCH better than the mass produced Yi-Mei ones...delicious honey castella not made by Yi-Mei, where have you been all my life?! The next few days were spent day dreaming about this cake while obsessively experimenting with recipes.

The recipe is not difficult and the resulting cake is moist, soft with a slight "bounce" and has a nice honey fragrance and taste. 

Two things to be very careful when baking this cake: 

1). Do not overmix when incorporating the flour into the batter (will result in a tough, chewy cake)

2). Do not overbake. 

I've done both (overmix and overbake), and both times resulted in cake in trash, however they were good learning experiences!

Since I recently purchased a huge bag of matcha powder from Costco (SO glad the matcha craze is finally catching on), I decided to make a matcha version. Actually, ever since the Costco purchase, all my baked goods have become matcha flavored...haha.

Matcha Castella
INGREDIENTS
Makes one 8.5" x 4" loaf

• 4 large eggs (at room temperature)
• 2T Honey
• 2T Mirin
• 100g White Sugar
• 112g Bread Flour (Matcha Powder + Bread flour Totals 120g)
• 8g Matcha powder
• 40g Light Brown Sugar (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cut Parchment paper to fit baking pan. Trim off the excess. I used a 8.5"x4" loaf pan. Spray cooking oil on the sides of the baking pan and use a paper towel to spread the oil evenly. This helps the parchment paper to stick to the pan. Alternatively, brush a thin layer of oil (or apply with paper towel) on the sides of the pan. 
2. (optional) Add 40g brown sugar to the bottom of the pan and spread it into an even layer. This adds a little extra sweetness and crunch to the bottom of the cake, which I really like. However, I've actually never had a store-bought honey castella cake that has this extra sugar layer on the bottom, so it is completely up to you.
3. Mix 2T of Honey and 2T of Mirin together, and microwave for 30s to slightly warm up the mixture (this allows for easy pouring later on).
4. Sift matcha powder and bread flour together 4x to get rid of clumps.
5. Crack eggs in stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat on medium low (speed 3) until the eggs are just combined. Add all the sugar and slowly increase the mixing speed until it is at high (speed 10). The speed increase is done over the course of one minute. 
6. Continue beating eggs on high for 4 minutes. 
7. Decrease speed to medium (speed 5) and continue mixing for 2 minutes. 
8. Check the batter. When you lift the whisk and draw an "8" and the "8" stays on top of the batter (instead of sinking and disappearing into the batter), you are done. 
9. Pour the honey mirin mixture (step 2) into the egg-sugar mix and mix on low speed (the "stir" option) for 30 seconds.
10. Use a spoon to scoop about 1/3 of the sifted flour (step 3) into the batter and mix on low speed for 15 seconds.
11. Scoop another 1/3 of the sifted flour into the batter and mix on low for 15s.
12. Pour the remaining sifted flour into the batter and mix on low for 15s.
13. Remove mixing bowl from stand mixer and use a spatula to fold the remaining flour into the batter. Do this by keeping gently turning the spatula towards you in a clockwise direction while rotating the mixing bowl away from you in a counter-clockwise direction. Repeat several times until the flour is just incorporated into the batter. Do not overmix, as this will cause gluten formation, resulting in a dense, chewy texture that is unappetizing in cakes (yup, been there, done that).
14. Pour the batter into the lined baking pan. The batter will resemble a ribbon folding up over itself as you pour. Scoop the remaining batter on the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula into the baking pan. 
15. Use a skewer or chopstick to draw zigzag lines across the batter several times. This helps to remove some air bubbles.
16. Drop the pan from a height of 2-3" several times to remove more trapped air bubbles. You will see the bubbles appear on the top of the batter and then disappear as you do this.  
17. Place in oven and bake at 320F for 35-37 minutes. The actual time will depend on your oven. My oven needs about 35-36 minutes. I suggest setting a timer at 33 minutes and checking with a skewer/toothpick every 1-2 minute until the skewer has little cake crumbs stuck on it when removed. If the skewer comes out completely clean, the cake is over baked and will taste dry (yup, done that too).
18. Flip the pan over (use hot hands!) and gently remove the baking pan. The parchment paper will be still stuck to the cake.
19. Wrap the entire cake along with the parchment paper in cling wrap, being careful not to burn yourself as the cake will still be piping hot. Send the wrapped cake with the top side down to the fridge and allow to cool and rest there for 12 hours.
20. After 12 hours, unwrap the cling wrap and remove the parchment paper.
21. Cut off the browned sides of the castella, leaving the top portion. Cut the cake into 3/4" slices, washing the knife after ever cut to remove any sticky cake bits stuck to it. I found that wetting the knife (with water or rum) helps to make a clean cut each time.
22. Cake can be stored for 5 days in the fridge or up to 1 month in the freezer. Simply wrap each slice in cling wrap and place in a zip lock bag with all the air pushed out.

PICTORIAL INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cut Parchment paper to fit baking pan. I used a 8.5"x4" loaf pan. 
2. Spray cooking oil on the sides of the baking pan and use a paper towel to spread the oil evenly. This helps the parchment paper to stick to the pan. Alternatively, brush a thin layer of oil (or apply with paper towel) on the sides of the pan.
3. Trim off excess parchment paper

4. (optional) Add 40g brown sugar to the bottom of the pan and spread it into an even layer.

5. Mix 2T of Honey and 2T of Mirin together, microwave for 30s to slightly warm up the mixture and mix with a whisk.

6. Sift matcha powder and bread flour together 4x to get rid of clumps.
7. Crack eggs in stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat on medium low (speed 3) until the eggs are just combined. 

8. Add all the sugar and slowly increase the mixing speed until it is at high (speed 10). The speed increase is done over the course of 1 minute. 
9. Continue beating eggs on high for 4 minutes. 
10. Decrease speed to medium (speed 5) and continue mixing for 2 minutes. 
11. Check the batter. When you lift the whisk, the batter that falls back into the bowl should sit on top of the batter in the bowl and not sink in and disappear. Another way to check is draw an "8" with the batter on the whisk. If the "8" stays on top of the batter (instead of sinking and disappearing into the batter), you are done. 

12. Pour the honey mirin mixture into the egg-sugar mix and mix on low speed (the "stir" option) for 30 seconds.
13. Use a spoon to scoop about 1/3 of the sifted flour (step 3) into the batter and mix on low speed for 15 seconds.
14. Scoop another 1/3 of the sifted flour into the batter and mix on low for 15s.
15. Pour the remaining sifted flour into the batter and mix on low for 15s.
16. Remove mixing bowl from stand mixer and use a spatula to fold the remaining flour into the batter. Do this by keeping gently turning the spatula towards you in a clockwise direction while rotating the mixing bowl away from you in a counter-clockwise direction. Repeat several times until the flour is just incorporated into the batter. Do not overmix, as this will cause gluten formation, resulting in a dense, chewy texture that is unappetizing in cake.

17. The batter when lifted will drop back into the bowl and appear to "sit" on the rest of the batter instead of disappearing, just like the beaten egg+sugar step. 

18. Place in oven and bake at 320F for 35-37 minutes. The actual time will depend on your oven. My oven needs about 35-36 minutes. I suggest setting a timer at 33 minutes and checking with a skewer/toothpick every 1-2 minute until the skewer has little cake crumbs stuck on it when removed. If the skewer comes out completely clean, the cake is over baked and will taste dry.
19. Flip the pan over (use hot hands!) so the top is facing down and gently remove the baking pan. Leave the parchment paper on the cake.
20. Wrap the entire cake along with the parchment paper in cling wrap, being careful not to burn yourself as the cake will still be piping hot. Send the wrapped cake with the top side down to the fridge and allow to cool and rest there for 12 hours.

21. After 12 hours, unwrap the cling wrap and remove the parchment paper.
22. Cut off the browned sides of the castella, leaving the top portion. Cut the cake into 3/4" slices, wiping the knife after ever cut to remove any sticky cake bits stuck to it. I found that wetting the knife slightly (with water or rum) helps to make a clean cut each time. 


Note: Cake can be stored for 5 days in the fridge or up to 1 month in the freezer. Simply wrap each slice in cling wrap and place in a zip lock bag with all the air pushed out.