Orange Castella Cake
We’ve reached the end of the road. The end of 2020 and the end of what feels like an endless road trip across the country. After a west to east coast road trip, a few week in New Jersey, a few weeks in Ohio, many cookies and dumplings, and 4 more days on the road, we will finally be back in our little house in California. As I type this we’re spending the night in Salt Lake City and just paid way too much money for mediocre sushi (we should have known better). BUT! Our bed is just one sleep away… I can’t wait!
I miss tinkering away in my kitchen and knowing exactly where everything is. Whenever our house-sitters asked for something, I can normally give exact coordinates, down to the specific drawer or shelf position. I’m itching to get back in there and have a whole list of recipe ideas to test! My parent’s tomato egg dish (being home inspired a lot of dishes I want to recreate for the blog)! A new dumpling fold! Yuenyeung Tres Leches! Ramen Potato Chips! It’s all going to be so delicious. You’re going to love it : )
Before we move on to hopefully a brighter and better 2021, I’m going to leave the last recipe of 2020 here. It’s a delightful one! Orange Castella Cake! I know we all might be a little sugared out after the holidays, but I think a new year is something to celebrate and all celebrations need some kind of cake. I love the texture and delicate sweetness of castella cake. I guess you can consider it a snack cake because it doesn’t require frosting or labor intensive decoration. A light dusting of powdered sugar and slice oranges is a cheery and easy touch though! It is perfectly sweet on it’s own and pairs so beautifully with a warm mug of tea or coffee. Or a mimosa!
The cake tastes best after a day wrapped up in the fridge, so bake it today or on new year’s eve and enjoy a slice in the morning to ring in the new year!
What is castella cake?
I consider castella cake a cross between a pound cake and a sponge cake… leaning more towards sponge cake. It’s airy and depends on well whipped eggs for it’s lift. But it also has a distinctive chew and bounciness by way of bread flour. Bread flour might sound like a strange ingredient here. I typically use low protein cake flour for my sponge cakes, but the extra protein in bread flour gives the batter structure more integrity, the key to castella cake’s distinguishing texture.
On the cultural side, castella cake is a Japanese sweet with Portuguese roots. It is a type of wagashi or Japanese confection served with green tea. Other kinds of wagashi include artfully crafted bites of mochi, fruit jellies, and other similarly dainty cakes.
Orange zest in the batter gives the cake brightness and a few carefully sliced oranges make for the easiest decoration! It’s hard to just eat one slice! Each bite is so delightful with green tea or coffee! I think it would also taste excellent with mimosas if that’s your jam for New Years Day!
Castella Cake is best the next day
The texture of the cake really transforms after a day wrapped up in the fridge. A slice of castella cake still warm from the oven is wonderful and light as a cloud, but wrapping the cake while still warm traps in all that moisture and after a few hours chilling in the fridge the crumbs is a little denser and more moist. It is so hard to describe the subtle bounce in texture the cake possesses. You’ll have to try making the cake yourself to see!
Happy New Year! Goodbye, 2020…
Wishing you all a better 2021! This year has been incredibly hard, but this space has always brought me so much joy. I love seeing you make these recipes! I so appreciate all the support you’ve given me this last year as we all try our best to survive this very terrible year. You’ve rooted for me as I wrote my cookbook, as we bought our first house, as we got engaged, and all the small moments in between.
Sending lots of love and looking forward to making more great food together : )
Orange Castella Cake
makes 1 loaf
materials:
100g (3/4 cup) bread flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp orange zest
20g (2 tbsp) canola or other neutral-flavored oil
40g (2 tbsp) honey
30g (2 tbsp) hot water
4 eggs
140g (2/3 cup) sugar
1 tsp cream of tartar
2 tbsp powdered sugar, for decoration
thinly sliced oranges, for decoration
materials:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk to combine flour, salt, and orange zest. In a small bowl, whisk to combine oil, honey, and hot water.
Place eggs in the bowl of an electric standmixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on medium until frothy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add sugar and cream of tartar. Increase speed to medium-high and continue to mix until tripled in size (ribbon stage), 8 to 10 minutes. A good indicator that you’ve reached ribbon stage is if the batter falls off the whisk attachment and it takes about 8 seconds for the ribbons of batter to melt back into the rest of the batter.
Add the oil mixture and continue to mix on medium-high until incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the flour mixture and fold in by hand with a flexible spatula until incorporated and no streaks of flour are left behind. Take care to not deflate the egg mixture too much.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth out the surface with a small offset spatula. Bake until golden brown and the surface of the cake gently springs back, 30 to 33 minutes. Test center for doneness by sticking with a toothpick, if it comes out clean or with few crumbs it is ready to come out of the oven.
Set the loaf pan on a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes, the cake will naturally start to shrink a little (it’s natural!). Use the edges of the parchment paper to carefully lift out of the loaf pan. Remove the parchment paper and immediately wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap. Chill the wrapped cake in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight for the best texture. When ready to serve, trim off the edges with a serrated knife if you wish, dust with powdered sugar and top with sliced oranges.