Taiwanese Castella Cake
This Taiwanese castella cake is moist and cottony-soft. It’s delicate and subtly sweet, and makes for the perfect everyday cake.
What is castella cake?
Castella cake originated in Portugual and was popularized in Nagasaki, Japan. It’s a type of cake known for its slightly sweet custard flavor. It has a moist and soft crumb and is traditionally served plain in rectangular or square slices. Castella cake has become a beloved dessert in many Asian countries, including Japan and Taiwan, where variations like the Taiwanese castella cake have gained popularity, featuring unique regional twists on the traditional recipe.
Taiwanese vs. Japanese castella cake
Taiwanese castella cake uses cake flour and is light and fluffy, similar to a chiffon cake or souffle-style sponge cake. Japanese castella cake uses bread flour and has a more dense and chewy texture. It’s also sweeter than its Taiwanese counterpart.
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- Simple and not too sweet – This cake might be plain but it’s anything but boring. The taste is lightly sweet, rich, and custardy with a hint of vanilla.
- Incredible texture – Fluffy like a cloud, moist, and soft like cotton with a silky melt-in-your-mouth finish. This has the most amazing texture of any cake you’ll ever eat.
- Great for any occasion – This cake can be enjoyed as is anytime of day, everyday. You can also dress it up with buttercream frosting, jam, or whipped cream and fresh fruit for a special occasion.
Ingredients you’ll need:
- unsalted butter
- milk & eggs
- cake flour
- vanilla extract
- granulated sugar
How to make Taiwanese castella cake:
(the ingredient amounts are listed in the printable recipe card further below)
- Sift the flour into a large bowl and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, heat the butter and milk until the butter is just melted.
- Pour the butter mixture over flour and whisk together until smooth.
- Then whisk in the egg yolks and vanilla.
- In another large bowl, beat the egg whites with the sugar until medium peaks form.
- Fold in 1/3 of the meringue into the egg yolk batter to lighten the mixture.
- Pour the egg yolk batter into the meringue and gently fold until just combined.
- Pour the cake batter into a 8×8″ square pan lined with parchment paper. Bake in a hot water bath in a 300F preheated oven for 45-50 minutes.
Expert tips:
- Lining the pan – When lining your pan, have the parchment paper about 2″ taller than the height of your pan. This will help support the cake as it rises and make it easier to remove the cake from the pan.
- Beating the egg whites – Make sure to beat your egg whites to medium peaks (a peak that curls over like a hook at the tip), no more, no less. Over- or under-beating will affect the structure and stability of the cake.
Troubleshooting:
There could be various reasons, but cracks on top are most commonly caused by over-beating the egg whites or the oven temperature being too hot.
There will naturally be a slight deflation after removing the cake from the oven. To prevent the castella cake from collapsing significantly, make sure the meringue is whipped to medium peaks and that the cake is baked through.
FAQ:
The taste is lightly sweet, rich, and custardy with a hint of vanilla. It’s like vanilla sponge cake meets egg custard souffle.
No, it’s a type of sponge cake that relies on a high ratio of eggs to flour, resulting in a cloud-like fluffy cake with a subtle egg flavor.
Tightly wrap in saran wrap or place in an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to 3 days. For longer storage, store in the fridge for up to a week. Bring to room temperature before serving.
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Print
Taiwanese Castella Cake
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 45 min
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings
- Category: breakfast, dessert, snack
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: Asian
Description
This Taiwanese castella cake is moist and cottony-soft. It’s delicate and subtly sweet, and makes for the perfect everyday cake.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125g) cake flour
- 1/2 cup (114g) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (125ml) milk
- 7 large egg yolks, room temperature
- 1 tbsp (15ml) vanilla extract
- 7 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300F. Boil a large kettle of water for the water bath. Line an 8″ square pan with parchment paper with 2″ excess on the sides.
- Sift the flour into a large bowl and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, heat the butter and milk until the butter is just melted, not boiling.
- Pour the butter mixture over flour and whisk together until smooth. Then whisk in the egg yolks and vanilla.
- In another large bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Continue beating and gradually add in the sugar until medium peaks form.
- Fold in 1/3 of the meringue into the egg yolk batter to lighten the mixture.
- Pour the egg yolk batter into the meringue and gently fold until just combined and no yellow streaks remain.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan. Place the cake pan into a larger pan and fill the larger pan with 1″ of hot water.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Remove from water bath and let cool completely before serving.
Notes
Leftovers can be placed in an airtight container and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to a week.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 169
- Sugar: 9.2 g
- Sodium: 42.3 mg
- Fat: 10.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 13.9 g
- Protein: 4.6 g
- Cholesterol: 128.1 mg
Recipe slightly adapted from Home Cooking Adventure
I do not know how I messed it up this bad. I swear on my life, I followed the instructions. But when I took it out of the oven, the top half was light and airy, and the bottom half was literally just cooked egg. Was the water bath the culprit? Is there a distinct difference between hot and boiling? Am I stupid?? Please help.
Not stupid at all. I’ve done it myself. It’s because one of two reasons: the egg yolk batter and meringue wasn’t properly combined or the meringue was over-beaten. Both will cause the batter to separate in the oven creating two distinct layers. Next time, be careful not to over beat your egg whites (the meringue will appear lumpy and broken) and keep folding until no yellow streaks remain and make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl while gently folding.
This cake turned out perfectly; moist and light yet not too sweet. So easy, too, using ingredients that are usually on hand.
Lily, you’ve caught me off guard – and I’m quite pleased about that. I’m usually pretty knowledgeable about Taiwanese food and Taiwanese riffs on Japanese dishes, but I had not idea there even WAS a Taiwanese version of Castella! Not at all surprised that it’s less sweet, but it is interesting to me that the Japanese version is chewier, given the Taiwanese love for all things Q. Regardless, I’m excited to do some side-by-side comparison. Maybe even make a couple of batches before my next Taiwan trip to see how family and friends there like it! Cheers.
I’m glad I was able to catch you off guard on something you are so knowledgeable about, Sean. Let me know what you think when you try it!
The light fluffy texture of the cake is what impressed me. Fluffy cloud like texture and a silky melt in the mouth finish. Thanks for sharing Lily!
You’re very welcome, Fouzia!
I love cakes that are not too sweet! Such a yummy afternoon treat!
Glad you liked it!
OMG! Look at that fluff! It reminds me of this Japanese fluffy cheesecake we see all over the net. I’m definitely trying this castella cake! Yum!
Thanks and hope you like it!
Wow! Look at that texture… it’s so even and fine. I don’t think I could keep myself from snacking on it. I bet it is delicious with tea.
Thank Bernice! Enjoy with your cuppa tea:)
I haven’t been successful at making castella cakes but your recipe was so straightforward that I finally nailed it. I’m so happy ! Thanks
I’m so thrilled to hear that! You’re very welcome and enjoy:)