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.

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine Asian

Method Bake

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1 5

Servings servings

Calories 190

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.
1 cup (125g) cake flour
In a small saucepan, heat the butter and milk until the butter is just melted, not boiling.
1/2 cup (114g) unsalted butter, 1/2 cup (125ml) milk
Pour the butter mixture over flour and whisk together until smooth. Then whisk in the egg yolks and vanilla.
7 large egg yolks, 1 Tbsp (15ml) vanilla extract
In another large bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Continue beating and gradually add in the sugar until medium peaks form.
7 large egg whites, 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
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.

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.