Half the Sugar Baker
This taiwanese castella cake is super soft and fluffy – like biting into a cloud! It’s layered with fresh strawberry whipped cream for a perfect dessert that is light and delicious. Don’t be scared by the sponge cake, it’s actually fairly easy to make once you try it. Even better, this cake is made with basic ingredients that you might already have. Try it and you’ll never look back!
What is castella cake?
In case you haven’t seen a castella cake before, it is a super fluffy and jiggly cake often made in Asian countries. There are two versions, the Japanese castella and the Taiwanese castella. The Japanese version is slightly denser and usually made with honey. This recipe is based off of a Taiwanese castella because it is lighter and fluffier, perfect for this strawberries and cream cake!
How is castella cake made?
Castella is leavened completely by separating eggs and whipping the egg whites into medium peaks. There is no baking soda or baking powder. The resulting cake is really light and fluffy, but you need to be careful not to deflate all of the air when you are mixing the batter. Since this cake relies completely on eggs for leavening, you’re going to need a lot. There are 8 eggs in this cake, but don’t worry, it doesn’t taste eggy at all. Just make sure you let the cake cool all the way to room temperature.
How to make strawberry whipped cream
This strawberry whipped cream is so delicious, you could serve it by itself! It’s made with fresh strawberries that are macerated with sugar for maximum flavor. Then the strawberries are mixed into a lightly sweetened whipped cream for a super fluffy and light strawberry cream. It pairs perfectly with the super fluffy castella cake, unlike buttercream which is much heavier.
Ingredient notes:
- Eggs: this recipe calls for 8 large eggs which may seem like a lot, but this cake relies solely on eggs for leavening.
- Cake flour: this cake is extra tender and fluffy when made with cake flour, but if you don’t have it, you can definitely substitute all purpose flour.
- Unsalted butter + oil: this cake uses a mix of butter and oil for maximum flavor and tenderness. I recommend using neutral oil like vegetable oil of canola oil, but you can also use olive oil with great results.
- Milk: you can use any fat content of milk you would like.
- Vinegar: the vinegar helps to stabilize the egg whites when you are beating them. You can use any acid you have like white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice. Don’t worry, you won’t taste it at all in the finished cake.
Technique notes:
- Eggs: The eggs have to be separated into egg yolks and whites for this cake. It’s really important that no egg yolks get mixed into the whites because they will prevent the whites from whipping up. It’s also important that you beat your egg whites in a very clean bowl with clean beaters for the same reason. Also, room temperature eggs whip up to a greater volume than cold eggs, but cold eggs are easier to separate. I like to separate the eggs straight out of the fridge, and then let them warm up to room temperature.
- Meringue: When beating the meringue, make sure to stop at medium stiff peaks. If the peaks are too soft, then they will deflate easily but if they are too stiff, the meringue will be very hard to incorporate. At medium peaks the meringue should form a peak with a tiny hook at the end when you lift up your beater.
- When you incorporate the meringue into the rest of the cake batter, be sure to fold gently to avoid deflating all of the air. I recommend using a spatula to scoop some batter from the bottom of the bowl and folding it up and over the batter.
- Baking: This castella cake is baked in a water bath, similar to a cheesecake. Make sure to have the hot water and water bath container ready when you put the cake in the oven. My favorite work flow is to place the water bath container in the oven, then put the cake pan inside, and then pour the hot water into the water bath container. This avoids having to transfer a pot of hot water into the oven.
- Let the cake cool! It may be tempting to take the cake out of the pan as soon as it’s done baking, but this could cause the cake to deflate. I recommend allowing the cake to cool to room temperature before releasing it from the cake pan and turning onto a wire rack. It’s also essential that the cake is cool before you frost it with the whipped cream, or else the cream will simply melt into a messy puddle!
If you liked this strawberries and cream castella cake, you might also like…
Strawberries and Cream Castella Cake
Ingredients
For the cake batter
- 1 cup (125g) cake flour or substitute all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter melted
- 1/4 cup (60mL) oil
- 1/2 cup (118mL) milk
- 8 large eggs, separated room temperature
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest from one lemon, optional
- 2 teaspoons (10mL) vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons (10mL) vinegar or substitute lemon juice
- 1/2 cup (125g) granulated sugar
For the strawberry whipped cream
- 2 cups (16oz) whipping cream
- 16 ounces fresh strawberries diced into very small pieces
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar divided
Instructions
Make the cake batter
- Preheat oven to 300ºF and set an oven rack in the lower half of the oven. Line the bottom of a 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper. Also prepare a larger oven safe dish to act as a water bath and a pot of hot, but not boiling water.
- In a large bowl, sift in the flour and add the butter, oil, and milk. Whisk until smooth, then add the egg yolks. Also add the lemon zest and vanilla extract. Whisk everything until just combined. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, add the egg whites and vinegar. Beat with an electric mixer until frothy, then add the 1/2 cup sugar a little bit at a time, beating on medium-high speed until completely incorporated. Continue beating until the meringue forms medium peaks.
- Add one third of the egg whites to the egg yolk mixture and gently fold until mostly incorporated. Then add another third of the egg whites and fold again until incorporated, making sure not to deflate the meringue. Then repeat one more time with the remaining third of meringue.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and tap the pan on the counter once to get rid of large air bubbles. Place the cake pan inside the larger dish and transfer into the oven. Pour the hot water into the larger dish around the cake pan until the water comes halfway up the cake pan.
- Bake the castella cake for 70 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let cool to room temperature before running a knife along the edge of the pan and removing the cake onto a wire rack.
Make the strawberry whipped cream
- While the cake cools, make the strawberry whipped cream. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the granulated sugar on top of the diced strawberries and let rest for at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, add the whipping cream and remaining sugar to a large bowl and beat on medium high speed until it reaches stiff peaks (be careful not to over whip).
- Once the strawberries have rested, add them and their juices to the whipped cream and gently fold until incorporated.
Frost the cake
- Once the cake has cooled completely, slice it into two even layers (or optionally just leave it as one layer). Add half of the whipped cream on top of the first layer and spread evenly. Then add the second cake layer on top and spread the rest of the whipped cream evenly over it. Slice and enjoy!
