Honey Castella by Angel Wan

Honey Castella  

Ingredients  (Castella wooden frame 24 x 14 x 8cm or 7" squares baking pan)

5 Medium size Eggs (Separated) - room temperature

Sugar 100g

Bread flour 100g (Sift twice)

Honey 50g

Milk 2 tbsp (Water is fine)

Method:

1.  Weigh honey directly into a saucepan, add in milk and cook on low till honey melt and set a side.

2.  Beat egg whites till foamy, add in sugar by third and continue to beat till stiff peak.  

3.  Add in egg yolks one at a time and mix well.

4.  Add in sifted flour bit by bit with the mixer running on medium-low speed and mix for a minute.

5.  Add in the honey mixture and mix for another minute.

6.  Stop mixer , give a few fold by hand using a rubber scraper to prevent any pockets of flour sinking at the bottom. U will notice abit of lumps at this point, its normal.

7. Sift the batter through a sieve with the help of the rubber scraper into another large bowl.

8. Pour batter slowly into lined castella wooden frame so as to burst the bubbles.  Slightly smooth surface.  Give a few bang on the countertop to remove any air bubbles.

9. Bake at 160degree for 50mins to an hour or till skewer comes out clean. (I bake for 50mins)

10. Once baked, drop your baking pan with a height on the countertop for 2 -3 times to prevent them from shrinking excessively.  Let cool for 5 mins.

11. Place a big piece of baking paper on top of the cake, Flip them upside down and remove the wooden frame or baking tin. Let it cool for another 5 mins.

12. Tear off baking paper from cake and wrap them up with baking paper followed by a layer of clingwrap then to a big and clean plastic bag and tie tight.  Send the wrap cake into the refrigerator immediately to preserve moisture.

13. Leave them in fridge overnight.

14. Trim the side of the cake with a sharp or serrated knife, slice and serve.

15. Any leftover cakes are advisable to wrap in clingwrap followed by a air-tight container and store in the fridge.

***Notes and tips

1. Do not overbeat the egg whites, just till stiff peak (abit glossy) but not chunky if not u have when too far.

2. Test the cake doneness when baking reach 45 - 50mins depends on individual  oven. Do not overbake if not cake will turn out to be dry.

3. Don't leave the cake till completely cool before u wrap and place them in the fridge if not it will result in dry cake.  Wrapping them and straight to the fridge when they are still warm is to lock the moisture of the cake.

4. For Matcha castella, mix 2 tbsp of matcha powder with flour and sift together.

5. For marble effect, dilute 1.5 tsp of matcha powder with 3 tsp hot water  to form a paste. Weigh 80g of sifted batter,  mix with the matcha paste. Pour white and green batter alternately base on your own creation and give a few  swirl with a chopstick.

6. You can create your own version of castella with diff flavours too. But advisable to bake the original for once before trying with other flavours.

7. If you don't have a castella wooden frame you can still bake this cake by wrapping a 7" square baking tin completely from inside-out with aluminum foil follow by baking paper. Refer to picture on how to lined the baking tin.

8. Picture 4 shows how i wrapped my cake.