Treat yourself to this super-moist, delicate, and bouncy Japanese sponge cake with a hint of honey! Made with only four ingredients, Castella Cake is a very popular tea-time confection in Japan that makes the perfect holiday or hostess gift, too.
Japanese Castella Cake, or Kasutera (カステラ) in Japanese, is a popular Japanese honey sponge cake that Portuguese merchants originally introduced to the Nagasaki area in the 16th century. The name derives from the Portuguese Pão de Castela, meaning “bread from Castile”. To make Castella, we use 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. 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.
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Japanese Castella Cake
Video
Ingredients
- 1⅔ cup bread flour (weigh your flour or use the “fluff and sprinkle“ method and level it off)
- 2½ Tbsp water (warm)
- ⅓ cup honey
- 6 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) (at room temperature—very important!)
- 1 cup sugar
For the Honey Syrup
- 1 Tbsp honey
- ½ Tbsp water (warm)
Instructions
- Before You Start: Please note that this recipe requires a resting time of 1 day.I highly encourage you to weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale for this recipe. Click on the “Metric“ button at the top of the recipe to convert the ingredient measurements to metric. If you‘re using a cup measurement, please follow the “fluff and sprinkle“ method: Fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle the flour into your measuring cup, and level it off. Otherwise, you may scoop more flour than you need.
- Gather all the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 320ºF (160ºC). For a convection oven, reduce the oven temperature by 25ºF (15ºC) to 295ºF (145ºC).
- Cut the parchment paper to fit the baking pans (see the video for this process). You will need two loaf pans (8½ x 4½ x 2¾ inches, or 22 x 11 x 7 cm). If your pans are smaller, add the excess batter to another smaller pan and use a shorter bake time.
To Make the Batter
- Sift 1⅔ cup bread flour twice with either a sifter or fine-meshed strainer. Holding the handle of the strainer with one hand and tapping it gently with the other, the flour will gradually sift through the strainer. Tip: Bread flour gives the cake an elastic, bouncy texture that you cannot achieve with all-purpose flour.
- Add 2½ Tbsp water to ⅓ cup honey (5 Tbsp + 1 tsp) and whisk well.
- Fit a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Crack 6 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) into the bowl of the mixer and vigorously whisk until combined.
- Add 1 cup sugar.
- Beat the eggs and sugar on high speed (Speed 10) for 5 minutes. If you beat the eggs with a handheld mixer, it will take more time. The beaten eggs will quadruple in volume. 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 in ribbons.
- Add the honey mixture into the egg mixture and whisk on low speed (Speed 2) until combined, about 30 seconds.
- Add the bread flour in three parts. Add one-third of the bread flour and whisk at low speed (Speed 2) for 15 seconds. Then, add another third and whisk for another 15 seconds. Finally, add the last remaining portion and whisk until just combined for about 1 minute. Do not overmix.
To Bake
- Spray the loaf pans with oil and distribute it evenly with a pastry brush.
- Put the parchment paper in the pans and make sure the paper sticks to the pans. If is does not, apply more oil to the pan, spread it evenly with a brush, and place the parchment paper again.
- Pour the batter into the pans about 80% full.
- Using a skewer, draw a zigzag line through the batter to remove the air bubbles in the batter.
- Level the batter by holding each pan 2 inches above the counter and dropping it flat onto the counter. Do this several times to release the air bubbles.
- Bake at 320ºF (160ºC) in the middle rack of the oven for 35 to 40 minutes (I bake my cakes for 35 minutes), or until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Turn off the oven, at which point I open and leave my oven door ajar for a few minutes. Then, I take out the cakes. When done, the cake sides will pull away from the pan slightly; the top will be flat and feel spongy when pressed with a finger.
To Apply the Syrup and Chill Overnight
- To make the honey syrup, mix 1 Tbsp honey and ½ Tbsp water in a bowl. Immediately apply the honey syrup over the tops of the hot cakes with a pastry brush.
- For each cake, place a sheet of plastic wrap on the countertop. Take out the hot cakes from the pan and place them top down on the plastic wrap. Gently peel off the parchment paper.
- Immediately wrap the cakes with the plastic film to retain moisture. Bring the cake to room temperature. Then, put the wrapped cakes in the refrigerator and store them overnight (or at least 12 hours), keeping the top side facing down. This will help the cakes develop a fine and moist texture.
To Serve
- Remove the cake from the refrigerator. Bring the cake to room temperature. Slice off the four sides of the cake with a sharp bread knife. Then, cut the cake into ¾- to 1-inch-thick slices (you will get 7–8 slices total). Serve it with tea or coffee, if you‘d like.
To Store
- To save for later, wrap individual pieces with plastic wrap. You can store at room temperature for up to 3–4 days, 5–7 days in the refrigerator, and 1 month in the freezer.
I already tried to create authentic Matcha Castella Cake several times. Now first time with your recipe – thank you! Worked fantastic! I felt really like eating it in Japan! Spongy, soft texture and very good taste! Best Tip is the Honey-Water after baking! But with German honey you get little bit too strong taste of honey and loose the matcha flavor. Next time I’ll try less honey in the water-mix or I’ll try Anniina’s version with the sugar syrup.
But really: Thank you! Best Castella Recipe!
Hi, Kerstin! Aww. We are delighted to hear you like the results of this recipe!
Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and providing such great reviews.
Happy baking!
I tried this with brown sugar syrup (my honey was too solid) and it worked out really well. Of course I have no comparison with honey but the cake was super soft and fluffy and a little chewy. But I do wonder; what is the purpose of greasing the cake tin even if you place the parchment paper there? Can I do one or the other?
Hi Anniina! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this cake and brown sugar syrup worked well! Thanks for trying this recipe. The greasing helps stick the parchment paper so when you pour the batter, the paper stays in place. 🙂 You can skip it if the parchment paper stays in place well. I changed the brand of parchment paper and new one works better than this one (from Costco).
Hi! My egg mixture can’t reach to pale yellow stage and doesn’t fall in ribbons. I am using a handheld mixer and had beaten it for quite a while but still didn’t managed to reach that stage. Would you know the reason why? Is it due to this stage that my cake came out quite dense too.
The flavour is there tho! Thanks 🙂
Hello, Elina. Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe.
Reaching the ribbon stage is very important for this recipe. When using the handheld mixer, draw a circle to incorporate more air into the egg. Please keep in mind that a stand mixer is more powerful than a handheld mixer, so it may take longer to obtain the same result using another approach.
We hope your next try will succeed!
I made this cake twice as the first time was overly sweet although the texture was light, fluffy and moist. The second time I made this, I halved the sugar amount of the cake but kept everything the same. However, I noticed, the cake came out more dense / solid like a bread (it wasn’t springy and soft when I pressed down on the cake) and it didn’t shrink at all.
I suspect halving the sugar amount affected the cake texture but I would like to know if there’s any other way of reducing the sweetness without compromising texture or the honey flavour? And can we use cake flour instead of bread flour so that it is more soft and less bread like?
Thanks for your help.
Hello there, Kacey. Thank you for taking the time to try Nami’s recipe.
Sugar reductions of more than 10% will change the texture. We believe that 30% is the upper limit.
Because there are only a few simple ingredients in this cake, bread flour is required, and switching to cake flour transforms the cake into a traditional Western sponge cake.
We hope this helps!
Hi Naomi, thanks for the response. When I cut 50% sugar, it was the perfect balance of sweetness just dense so wondering if you have any tips on how I can reduce the sweetness without compromising the texture? Can I perhaps reduce some of the money without compromising the honey flavour?
Hello there, Kacey! The cake will lose its moist texture if the amount of honey is reduced.
To make this cake more fluffy with your preferred amount of sugar, you may need to use a different type of flour or add baking powder. But if you do, it will be more like another type of cake. What about leaving out the honey syrup at the end of this recipe? We hope this balances out the sweetness.🙂