Treat yourself to this moist and bouncy Japanese honey sponge cake called Castella. Prized for its delicate crumb and lightly sweet flavor, it’s a beloved tea snack and a great hostess gift, too. Bake a perfect Castella Cake at home with my techniques and tips!
One of my favorite sweets of all time is Japanese Castella Cake (カステラ). It’s a moist and bouncy sponge cake with a light honey sweetness. My family enjoys this refined confectionery with green tea or a cup of coffee for our three o’clock oyatsu (snack) time.
It’s one of the most popular cakes in Japan, too. You‘ll find it sold just about anywhere—at department stores, specialty sweet shops, kissaten (coffee shops), and even convenience stores. Don’t worry if you’re not in Japan to buy this delicious treat, though. Today, I’ll share my recipe with special tips and techniques so you can make this exquisite Castella Cake at home!
Table of Contents
What is Castella?
Castella, or Kasutera (カステラ), is a beloved Japanese honey sponge cake known for its sweet, light taste and airy texture. More delicate and bouncy than a regular sponge cake, castella is famous for its fine and moist crumb. It’s cherished nationwide as a tea snack, souvenir, and gift, making it one of Japan’s most popular confections.
This famous cake originated in 1543 in the port town of Nagasaki on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu. That’s when Portuguese merchants and missionaries arrived with a firm and simple bread called pão de Castela (“bread of Castile” referring to Spain’s Kingdom of Castile).
Since the 16th century, Japanese artisan bakers have transformed the recipe into a sweet cake thanks to Nagasaki’s abundance of imported sugar. They have also incorporated eggs, honey, and sugar to give it a more delicate and sponge-like texture. It’s a Western-style confectionery that is uniquely Japanese!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
You’ll be amazed that you can make this Nagasaki specialty in your own kitchen!
- Uses a standard loaf pan – Castella is traditionally baked over low heat in a wooden frame because metal pans transfer heat faster and can result in a dry cake. However, you can use a regular loaf pan with excellent results if you apply the techniques that I share here.
- Makes a very moist cake – I use a Japanese sweetener that helps yield a perfectly moist texture.
- Takes just 1 hour of active baking and prep time – Prep and bake this castella in just an hour. Relax while it chills overnight. The wait is worth it!
Ingredients for Castella Cake
Here’s what you’ll need to make Japanese castella:
- Bread flour – Adds an elastic, bouncy texture
- Large eggs – Use at room temperature so your ingredients blend more evenly and cohesively
- Water
- Sugar – Binds with the water to keep the crumb soft and tender
- Honey – Provides castella’s signature flavor; adds moisture and a rich color
- Mizuame (水飴, glutinous starch syrup) – Keeps the cake more moist (see below)
- White sparkling sugar (or zarame ザラメ, Japanese coarse sugar) – Adds a golden brown crunch to the bottom crust
Substitution Tips and Variations
- While my recipe calls for white sparkling sugar, authentic Japanese castella commonly uses zarame (ざらめ, ザラメ), a coarse sugar. Since it’s not easy to find outside of Japan, I decided to use sparkling sugar that you can find on Amazon. However, please use zarame if you can find it.
- Mizuame (literally “water candy” and also called millet jelly) is a traditional Japanese sweetener made of starch. It’s a clear, thick, and sticky syrup used to make wagashi. It may be hard to find outside of Japan, though. If you can’t find it, you can substitute ½ Tbsp Korean rice malt syrup, glucose syrup, or corn syrup.
How to Make the Best Castella
Follow my precise instructions and techniques and you’ll be rewarded with the most delicious homemade castella cake!
- Line the baking pan with parchment paper.
- Beat the sugar and eggs together in a mixer on high speed.
- Fold in the honey and mizuame, then add the flour.
- Pour the batter into the pan; remove the air bubbles.
- Place in a preheated oven. Mix the batter 4 times during the first 12 minutes of baking.
- Then, bake for another 28–30 minutes.
- It’s done baking when a toothpick pulls out moist crumbs (not wet batter) when inserted near the center of the cake.
- Invert the cake onto a nonstick mat and let it cool.
- Wrap in plastic and chill overnight.
- Trim the side crusts with a sharp bread knife. Slice and serve!
Recipe Tips and Techniques
- Bring the eggs to room temperature. This is very important. I leave them on the counter for several hours. You can also fill a bowl with very warm (but not hot) tap water and submerge the cold eggs until they reach room temperature, for about 10 minutes.
- Weigh your ingredients. Precision is important in baking, and weighing your ingredients with a digital kitchen scale is the most accurate way to measure. I highly encourage you to weigh your flour and sugar instead of using measuring cups, as you may scoop more than you need.
- Use a light-colored pan. I recommend a light-colored loaf pan for this recipe. A dark-colored pan may have hot spots, overbake on the sides and bottom, and bake the cake too fast.
- Use stainless steel clips to hold the parchment paper. I’ve tried different ways to attach the paper to the cake pan, but nothing worked until I used the clips.
- Don’t microwave the honey mixture. I know it’s tempting to heat the mixture to facilitate dissolving, but we don’t want to increase the batter temperature with a warm honey mixture. Press down and mash the mizuame with the mini spatula to facilitate dissolving.
- Whisk the eggs and sugar for 5 minutes on Speed 10 (for this KitchenAid). This setting worked perfectly. The batter should quadruple in volume and fall in ribbons. If you double the recipe, you can still whisk for 5 minutes on Speed 10.
- Don’t overmix the batter after adding the honey mixture and flour. Just 30 seconds after each addition is enough. Overmixing could deflate the egg mixture and overdevelop the gluten in the flour.
- Mix the batter during baking with an offset spatula. The Japanese mixing technique called awakiri (泡切り, “bubble cut“) helps to even out the batter‘s temperature so the cake will rise without cracking.
- Use a serrated knife with small teeth. I’ve tried all kinds of knives to cut castella. The only one that worked well was the SUNCRAFT CUT brand bread knife, as per JOC baking assistant Haruka’s advice.
How to Store
To save for later, wrap the individual pieces with plastic wrap. Store for up to 3–4 days at room temperature, 5–7 days in the refrigerator, and 1 month in the freezer.
FAQs
Can I use all-purpose flour or cake flour?
For authentic Japanese castella, you need bread flour. It gives the cake an elastic, bouncy texture. All-purpose flour just cannot produce this texture. The high protein in bread flour also helps the castella achieve a chewier and denser crumb than a regular sponge cake made with cake flour, which has less gluten.
Why are there wrinkles on the top of my cake?
If your cake top starts to wrinkle, you may have overbaked it. If so, your cake will be drier inside and have hard, dry edges. Next time, start checking 10 minutes sooner to see if the cake is done. Also, I encourage you to check your oven’s temperature with an oven thermometer, as the actual temperature inside may differ from the display setting. Every oven is different; please adjust your setting to achieve the correct actual temperature.
What is the difference between Japanese castella cake and Taiwanese castella cake?
Taiwanese castella cake (or Taiwanese soufflé castella) is an adaptation of Japanese castella cake. It’s jiggly, eggy, and pillowy soft while the Japanese version is denser. Taiwanese castella is similar to a soufflé, where you separate the egg yolks and whites, then whip the egg whites to medium peaks. You fold this meringue into the egg yolk mixture, pour the batter into a cake pan, and bake it in a water bath inside a baking tray. Taiwanese castella also uses different ingredients like cake flour, oil or unsalted butter, vanilla extract, milk, and lemon juice or vinegar.
What to Serve with Castella
- Green Tea
- Japanese Iced Coffee
- Iced Matcha Latte
- Hojicha Latte
- In a Japanese Fruit Parfait
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Japanese Castella Cake
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp water
- 3 Tbsp honey
- 1 Tbsp mizuame syrup (glutinous starch syrup) (or substitute ½ Tbsp Korean rice malt syrup, glucose syrup, or corn syrup)
- 100 g bread flour (¾ cup + 1½ Tbsp; weigh your flour or use the “fluff and sprinkle“ method and level it off)
- 3 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) (at room temperature—very important!)
- 100 g sugar (½ cup)
- ½ Tbsp white sparkling sugar (you can buy it on Amazon; use zarame coarse sugar if you can find it)
Instructions
Before You Start…
- Please note that this recipe requires a chilling time of 12 hours or overnight.I highly encourage you to weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale. For weights, click the Metric button above. If you‘re using a cup measure, please follow the “fluff and sprinkle“ method: Fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and level it off. Otherwise, you may scoop more than you need.
- Gather all the ingredients. The eggs must be at room temperature. Why bread flour? Bread flour gives the cake an elastic, bouncy texture that you cannot achieve with all-purpose flour. Preheat the oven to 320ºF (160ºC). For a convection oven, reduce the oven temperature by 25ºF (15ºC) to 295ºF (145ºC). Prepare a spray bottle with water and an offset spatula to use during baking. Use a light-colored pan for the best outcome.
To Line the Baking Pan
- On your work surface, place a sheet of parchment paper that‘s 13 x 16 inches (30 x 40 cm). Set a loaf baking pan on top (I use a light-colored 1 lb loaf pan that‘s 8½ x 4½ x 2¾ inches or 22 x 11 x 7 cm). Mark the four corners of the loaf pan on the paper. Fold and crease the paper on all four sides following the corner marks.
- Unfold the paper so that the long side of the creased rectangle is in front of you. On the two crease lines pointing toward you, cut slits up to the rectangle‘s left and right corners. Rotate the paper and cut two slits on the opposite long side. You will have four slits total. Then, place the paper in the baking pan, folding and layering the flaps to fit.
- Cut a slit in each of the corner flaps down to the top edge of the pan. Then, fold down the paper over the pan‘s edges.
- Secure the folded paper onto the edges with stainless steel clips to keep the lining from moving when you mix the batter during baking.
To Prepare the Ingredients
- Combine 2 Tbsp water and 3 Tbsp honey in a small bowl. Then, add 1 Tbsp mizuame syrup (glutinous starch syrup). It‘s super sticky, so you may need a mini spatula to scrape it from the measuring spoon.
- Take your time to dissolve the mizuame. Press down and mash the mizuame with the mini spatula to facilitate dissolving. Do not microwave the mixture as we do not want to increase the temperature of the batter. Set aside.
- Sift 100 g bread flour with either a sifter or fine-meshed strainer. Hold the strainer‘s handle with one hand as you gently tap the strainer with the other, and the flour will gradually sift through.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, crack 3 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) that are at room temperature. Add 100 g sugar.
To Mix the Batter
- Fit a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and vigorously beat the eggs and sugar on high speed (Speed 10) for 5 minutes without stopping. If you beat the eggs with a handheld mixer, it will take more time.
- The beaten eggs will quadruple in volume and have a thick texture and pale yellow color.
- When you stop the mixer and lift the whisk attachment, the mixture should fall in ribbons.
- Gradually add the honey mixture to the batter while whisking on low speed (Speed 2) until combined, about 30 seconds.
- Gradually add the bread flour while whisking on low speed (Stir) until just combined, for about 30 seconds. Do not overmix.
- When the flour is just combined, stop whisking. When you lift the whisk, the batter should fall in ribbons.
- Using a silicone spatula, scrape the batter from the bowl‘s sides and bottom and gently fold the batter a few times. Next, sprinkle ½ Tbsp white sparkling sugar on the bottom of the lined pan. This sugar will add a crunchy texture to the cake‘s bottom and help retain moisture.
- Pour the batter into the cake pan in just one spot. This helps to minimize air pockets and smooth the top of the batter. Tip: If your pan is smaller than mine, you‘ll need to add the excess batter to another smaller pan and use a shorter bake time.
- To level the batter and help remove air pockets, hold the cake pan 2 inches above the counter and drop it flat onto the counter. Then, draw a zigzag line through the batter with a bamboo skewer to further eliminate air bubbles.
To Bake
- Place the cake pan on the middle rack of the preheated oven at 320ºF (160ºC). Close the oven door and set a timer for 2 minutes.
- After the 2-minute timer beeps, reset the timer to 1 minute and complete the following several steps over the next minute. First, open the oven and spray twice above the cake batter with the spray bottle.
- Next, use an offset spatula to mix and circulate the batter 15–20 times from the left side, without touching the sparkling sugar at the bottom of the pan. This mixing technique, called awakiri (泡切り, “bubble cut“) in Japanese, helps to remove air pockets and even out the batter‘s temperature so the cake rises evenly without cracking.
- Finally, mix and circulate the batter 15–20 times from the right side. Shake off the excess batter from the spatula and close the oven door. Reset the timer to 2 minutes.
- Repeat this process (Step 2 to Step 4) 3 more times. To recap, when the 2-minute timer beats, mist twice with water.
- Mix the batter from the left side, then mix from the right side. Reset the time to 2 minutes. Repeat this process 2 more times.
- On the 4th and final time, remove the stainless steel clips. Run the bamboo skewer through the batter. If any of the clips were submerged in the batter, fill in the clip marks in the batter with the skewer.
- Spray water into the oven, then bake at 320ºF (160ºC) for another 28–30 minutes.
- It‘s done baking when a toothpick pulls out moist crumbs (not wet batter) when inserted near the center of the cake. Tip: If your cake top looks wrinkled, you may have overbaked it. Next time, check earlier to see if it‘s done. I highly encourage you to check your actual oven temperature with an oven thermometer to see if it‘s running hotter than the display setting and adjust accordingly.
- Remove the castella from the oven. Drop the pan twice onto the countertop to release the steam vapors from the cake. This helps prevent shrinkage. Invert the cake from the pan onto a nonstick silicone mat (I use Silpat). Leave the parchment paper on the cake. Let cool, upside down, to room temperature for 45–60 minutes. Note: I found that a nonstick silicone mat works perfectly here, as parchment paper may stick to the top of the cake.
To Chill Overnight
- Once cooled, immediately wrap the cake with its parchment paper in plastic wrap to retain moisture. Then, put the wrapped cake in the refrigerator and store overnight (or at least 12 hours). This will help the cake develop a fine and moist texture.
To Trim the Castella
- Remove the cake from the refrigerator. Discard the plastic and carefully peel off the parchment paper.
- Now, we‘ll trim the sides of the castella to expose the yellow body of the cake. First, slice off the crust from the two long sides of the cake with a sharp bread knife (I highly recommend using a Suncraft bread knife). Use a damp towel to wipe off the crumbs from the blade after every cut. Tip: These castella crusts are moist and delicious to snack on!
- Then, slice off the crust from the two short sides of the cake. Do not trim the top and bottom of the cake. Cut the cake crosswise into slices about ¾ inch (2 cm) thick. You will get 8–9 slices total.
To Serve
- Serve it with tea or coffee, if you‘d like. Enjoy!
To Store
- To save for later, wrap individual pieces with plastic wrap. Store for up to 3–4 days at room temperature, 5–7 days in the refrigerator, and 1 month in the freezer.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on September 14, 2013. It was updated with a slightly revised recipe, more helpful tips and techniques, and new images on May 2, 2024.
Thanks for the recipe! I tried it out yesterday and it worked perfectly. I was wondering if they taste the same when baked as cupcakes? My normal sponge cake recipe for some reason tastes way better when baked in a tube pan than as cupcakes.
Hi JCP! So happy to hear your Castella came out well! I have never tried with a cupcake pan so I can’t tell for sure but if you try let us know! 🙂
Hi Nami! I made the Castella which was so successful! Thanks for your recipe! I also shared the cake with my Japanese friend who likes it so much! Thanks!
Hi Agnes! I’m so happy to hear you and your friend enjoyed this Castella recipe!
Where could I purchase a wooden frame pan like you would use traditionally?
Hi Lee! I’m not sure where you’re located, but I tried to look for it in the US and couldn’t find it. If you know someone in Japan, maybe you can ask him/her to order this wooden box online (Japanese only) as they don’t ship internationally. Currently it’s sold out, but here’s the link.
http://item.rakuten.co.jp/asai-tool/yk-0421/
I finally found a wooden castella frame on ebay. It’s expensive with shipping to the US, but on the first try I finally got a castella cake with no dome or cracking! The cake is in the fridge tonight so I haven’t tasted it yet, but it was beautiful coming out of the oven. Whenever I used my stoneware loaf pans before, the cake rose up too high in the middle and cracked.
Search eBay for “frame for kasutera” if this seller is sold out: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wooden-Frame-for-Kasutera-Cake-with-ENG-Recipe-Japan-/272232521523?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292
Hi Mike!
Wow!🤩 You found it!
Thank you very much for sharing the information and story with us! We are glad to hear it worked out well for baking Castella!!
Hi Nami-san~ I’ve had the same problems with baking Castella — until recently. Finding the right ingredient proportions is important. I now use a recipe similar to yours, but with one more egg, 1/8 tsp of salt, and 1 1/2 cup of bread flour. Instead of mixing water with the honey, I mix in 1/4 cup of milk. I follow basically the same technique as you do to make the batter except I alternate slowly adding the milk/honey mixture with the flour to the egg mixture. I also sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar to the bottom of the baking pan. Rather than using loaf pans, I can fit the entire batch in a 9×9 square pan lined with parchment. I bake at a constant 325 for 55-60 minutes, rotating halfway through baking. I’ve never had to cover the cake during baking. Also, there is no need for honey glaze. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, flip it over onto some plastic wrap, take off the pan, leaving the parchment on, wrap the cake and cool. There should be very little to no wrinkling or shrinking of the top with this recipe. I hope you try it out.
Thank you so much Akiko! I will give that a try! 🙂
Hi Nami,
Firstly thanks for your perfect recipe. I made this cake and followed your recipe exactly and guess what? It turned out fabulously delicious just like yours. I wish I could send you the picture of my cake to prove that your recipe works. A few days ago I tried similar recipe different measurements from kitchen t blog but it failed it was like eating a bathing sponge. This is the 2nd recipe am following the other was your chicken and tofu meatballs. It turns out good too. You are very polite, kind, generous, and honest in sharing your recipe. Thank you once again. Am now eating a slice of this delicious cake with my family. Thks & God Bless
Hi Avanti! Thank you so much for your kind and sweet words! I’m so happy to hear your Castella and Chicken & Tofu Meatballs came out well. 🙂 Thank you for writing your feedback. xoxo
I’ve always wanted to try Castella and now I have a recipe ^_^ I wonder though, you mentioned that they traditionally use wood over metal, but how about silicon? Perhaps it would work better than metal.
Hi Eluinn! I’ve never tried it with silicon. If you give it a try, please let us know. 🙂
Hey, such a fantastic job 🙂 Well done on making such a fantastic cake with a fantastic outcome.
I just wanted to ask if I could but butter cream in the middle of the cake ? I love butter cream and would love to add it to this cake. Hope to hear from you soon.
Thank You
Hi Shuaib! Thank you so much for your kind words! I’ve never added butter cream, so I can’t tell. I wonder if the butter cream will disrupt the cake from rising. If it’s same texture of castella batter (but different flavor maybe), I think it’s no problem. But different texture… hmmm not too sure. Never know, maybe you give it a try and let us know. 🙂
Hey :
Thanks for your awesome reply. I made the cake last night and it came out fantastic sadly I put in wholemeal flour instead of super white but will do that next time. I also used a 2lb loaf cake as that is the only size available but used all of what you said. After taking it out of the fridge I cut it in half and added butter cream in the centre and it tastes really nice. I have left it for an hour to set. You did a fantastic job with your instructions. Wish you all the best and thanks again for an awesome job 🙂
Hi Shuaib! You’re so kind! Thank you very much for trying this recipe and I’m glad you liked the instructions. 🙂 Hope you enjoyed Castella. Thank you!
My cake turned out to be great. Not flawless because I had to use a cake mold with no baking paper, limited resources, (forgot to buy baking paper yet again) 😀
I don’t have the top heating element so I couldn’t get the top crust. I’ll try covering it next time, maybe it might work.
I have made a change to the brushing mix. I like sweet sour combinations so I added lemon juice with a touch of honey. I also brushed all over , I wanted more lemon taste. It was a good combination. It did make the cake a bit soggy at the top, but that’s because I had no crust to absorb it. I was wondering if you tried playing with the brushing mix for different flavors as well?
Thank you for this recipe and all the others 🙂
Hi Ozge! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! Sounds delicious! I’ve never added lemon before or other flavors before. Thanks for sharing your experience with us!
Hi Nami, I have a question about the cake pan. Instead of making 2 of the 1 lb loaf, can I bake it in one 2 lb. loaf pan (9″x 5″) instead? Will it effect the cake texture and all?
Hi Tt! Sure that should work. Please adjust the baking time according to your oven. 🙂 Hope you enjoy this Castella recipe!
This is a very delicious recipe. While I was making it it really helped to see a visual of each step, thank you very much for posting it. I look forward to making many more of your recipes.
Hi Ulana! So happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe and thanks so much for your feedback! I’m a visual person too, and really glad to hear step-by-step/video was helpful. 🙂
Hi Nami,
why the castella cake have to put in the fridge for 12 hrs after baking.thks
Hi Shirley! It’s important to wrap the Castella after being baked, so that it keeps the moisture and flavor trapped inside the cake. Some recipes say to keep in the room temperature is okay too. 🙂
Hello Nami! It’s my third time making Castella, and my previous attempts turned out dense and extremely moist, not like the coarser texture Castella is supposed to have. This worked perfectly! My castella tastes great and has a perfect texture. It’s interesting how you beat the egg yolks with the whites first, unlike all other recipes that beat the egg whites separately. This is SO simple compared to every other recipe out there, thank you so much! Will definitely make this again. 🙂
Kejia
Hi Kejia! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe and thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
Tried this cake today. Turned out beautifully, such an easy recipe to follow with great results. I lined my loaf pans with thick brown paper underneath the baking paper as well in an effort to keep the bottom and sides from browning too much. Also turned the oven temp down to 150C (fan-forced oven). Cooked for 35 mins then 5 more mins with the door ajar. Nice light, airy sponges with no cracks on top or sinking in the middle. Couldn’t stand to wait 12 hours overnight though, only managed to refrigerate one of them for an hour before I had to try it! 😀
Hi Anna! I’m SO happy to hear your feedback, and thank you very much for taking your time to write here (so others can read about how you adapted it). I’m happy you had no crack or sinking – after testing this recipe so many times, that’s my worry for everyone who tries. The texture and flavor is perfect, I think. Thank you once again for your comment! 🙂
I tried out your recipe and my Castella turned out wonderful. Thanks!
Hi DN! So happy to hear it came out well! Thank you so much for letting me know. 🙂
Nami, my husband asked me to add some green tea to this cake, so I added 2 tbsp and it is absolutely delicious!
Hi Christina! Matcha version! I need to make that next time. So glad your husband enjoyed it. I know I would! 😀
I made this today for the first time and half a loaf is already devoured by my wonderful husband, Kohei. He loves all my Japanese cooking and thank you so much for all the fantastic recipes, Nami!!!
Hi Christina! Thank you!! I’m so happy to hear your Japanese husband liked the Castella! 😀 You’re doing a wonderful job making Japanese food for him. He’s such a lucky guy. 🙂 I’m glad you guys enjoy my recipes, and thank you for following my blog!