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Preparation
30 minutes
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Cooking
1 hour
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Difficulty
Medium
Ingredients for Castella Cake – Taiwanese Sponge Cake For 4 people
All-purpose flour 50 gr Cornstarch 5 gr Cocoa powder 8 gr Unsweetened fresh milk 35 ml Eggs 3 pieces Unsalted butter 35 gr Vanilla 1 teaspoon Lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon Salt 1/4 teaspoon Sugar 45 gr
How to choose fresh ingredients
Where to buy flour and cornstarch?
- Flour, cornstarch are common types of flour, so you can easily find them at markets, supermarkets, baking supply stores, or purchase online at various online stores.
- You can also easily buy flour and cornstarch at TasteVN stores nationwide.
How to choose quality cocoa powder
- Cocoa powder is usually very fine, with a color ranging from light brown to reddish brown depending on the level of alkalization.
- The smell of pure cocoa is strong and characteristic, with a bitter, slightly fatty taste due to the presence of cocoa butter, and if you taste it carefully, you will notice a very slight sourness.
- You can easily find pure cocoa powder at grocery stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, markets, baking supply stores, and reputable e-commerce sites in the market like TasteVN to ensure food safety.
- Do not buy cocoa powder that has a pale, dull color, uneven color, or mixed with small white spots as it may have been adulterated with impurities.
Tools needed
How to make Castella Cake – Taiwanese sponge cake
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Mixing the flour ingredients
First, separate the egg whites and yolks of 3 eggs into 2 different bowls (rice bowls).
Note:- The bowl for the egg whites must be clean and dry.
- Be careful when separating the eggs to avoid breaking the yolk and letting the shell fall into the bowl.
Use a sieve to sift 50g of flour, 5g of cornstarch, and 8g of cocoa powder together.
Next, pour 35ml of unsweetened fresh milk and 35g of unsalted butter that has been melted in a water bath into the bowl and heat the mixture in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Continue to slowly pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir well to combine. Then add each egg yolk in and mix well to blend.
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Whipping the egg whites
Add 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the bowl containing the egg whites. Use an electric mixer on the lowest speed.
Whip the egg whites until large bubbles form, then add 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice and continue whipping until the bubbles become smaller.
Divide 45g of sugar into 3 portions for 3 additions, gradually add the sugar to the egg mixture while mixing at medium speed.
Note:- Egg whites whip best when the eggs are fresh and at room temperature.
- If you use eggs from the refrigerator, after separating the egg whites, let them sit for about 15 – 20 minutes until they reach room temperature before you start whipping.
After adding all the sugar, increase the mixer speed to high and beat until the egg whites are thick, heavy, glossy, and sticky, with streaks forming as you mix, then reduce the speed to medium. You only need to whip the egg whites to a soft peak, not stiff peaks.
Tip:
- In the soft peak state, the number of bubbles is not maximized but stable. When baking in the oven, the cake will continue to rise and will not deflate.
- Depending on the power of the mixer, the whipping time will vary. Typically, it takes about 4 – 6 minutes.
Whip until the egg whites form soft peaks that droop slightly; when you tilt the bowl, the egg whites should not move, indicating they are ready.
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Mix the egg whites
In this step, first, you mix the two mixtures of egg whites and egg yolks together.
Add 1/3 of the egg white mixture into the flour bowl, using a whisk to gently fold it into the mixture, scooping from the bottom up using the fold technique, mixing until combined.
Continue to add more egg whites, mix until you see the mixture has a runny consistency, then pour it back into the flour bowl from the egg whites and fold the eggs.
Note: The mixing technique needs to be done carefully, gently, folding correctly from bottom to top so that the eggs do not break the air bubbles.Take the prepared cake mold, pour the batter about 2/3 of the mold, leaving extra space for the cake to rise.
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Baking the cake
First, you need to preheat the air fryer to 200 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes.
At this point, you need to pour boiling water into the mold to steam bake the cake. Then, cover the mold with aluminum foil, leaving some space for the cake to rise.
Bake the cake for the first time at 160 degrees Celsius for 50 minutes. After that, remove the aluminum foil and bake for the second time at 160 degrees Celsius for another 10 minutes to complete.
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Final Product
The Castella cake has a delicious rich flavor along with a beautiful golden-brown color. The cake is soft, moist, light and fluffy, combined with the flavor of cocoa, making it a unique taste, sweet but not cloying.
Tips for successful execution
- The eggs must be at room temperature; if they are taken out of the refrigerator, let them warm up before proceeding. Whisk the eggs in one direction and they must be whipped to a stiff peak; otherwise, when mixing with the flour, the air bubbles in the eggs will easily break and result in poor rising of the cake.
- The tool used to whip the eggs must be very clean and free of grease.
- If the cake base has absorbed moisture and becomes wet overnight, just wait for the cake to dry, then wrap it and place it in the freezer. When using, thaw it out and it will be fine.
- If you want to spread frosting on the cake, make sure the cake is completely cool before applying the frosting.
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So TasteVN has guided you on how to make Castella cake – Taiwanese sponge cake that is delicious and smooth. Using this cake to treat friends during gatherings is simply wonderful, isn’t it? Wishing you success!
