{"id":57561,"date":"2026-11-09T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-09T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koffietcacao.com\/?p=57561"},"modified":"2026-10-23T21:54:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T19:54:53","slug":"castella-the-silky-smooth-japanese-cookie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koffietcacao.com\/en\/blog\/castella-the-silky-smooth-japanese-cookie\/","title":{"rendered":"Castella: the silky smooth Japanese cookie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anyone visiting Japan will encounter Castella sooner or later. This airy sponge cake, known in Japan as <em>Kasutera<\/em>, is known for its exceptionally soft texture and subtle sweetness. Although it originally arrived in Japan via Portuguese traders, it has since become a classic within Japanese baking culture.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In <em><a href=\"https:\/\/koffietcacao.com\/en\/blog\/hidde-de-brabander-releases-new-baking-book-the-art-of-baking\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Art of Baking<\/a><\/em> Hidde de Brabander describes Castella as a sponge cake with an almost pillowy softness. It is a recipe that seems simple at first glance, but where precision and patience make all the difference. According to Hidde, it is also worth letting the cookie cool completely before cutting. That resting time allows the structure to fully develop.   <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Persons:<\/strong> 8<br\/><strong>Preparation time:<\/strong> 15 minutes<br\/> Baking time<strong>:<\/strong> approx. 40 minutes<br\/> Oven temperature<strong>:<\/strong> 170 \u00b0C<\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Also needed<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>baking pan measuring 18 x 18 cm<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>baking paper<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>(mixer with whisk<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ingredients<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>butter, to grease<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>120 g wheat flour<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>90 g protein<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>120 g granulated sugar<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>80 g egg yolk<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>40 g honey<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>30 g whole milk<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>30 g sunflower oil<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Preparation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Preheat the oven to 170 \u00b0C. Grease the baking pan with butter and line the bottom with baking paper. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Strain the wheat flour twice with a fine sieve.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Beat the egg whites with the granulated sugar to stiff peaks with the (stand) mixer with whisk.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mix the egg yolks with the honey in a bowl. Fold the yolks into the stiff egg whites. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Gently stir in the flour mixture until you no longer see any dry flour.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Then spatula the milk and sunflower oil into the batter.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Spoon the batter into the baking pan and smooth out.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bake the sponge cake for about 40 minutes, or until golden brown.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Allow the sponge cake to cool in the mold, then carefully remove.  <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"has-background wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"background-color:#abb7c252\">This recipe is from <em><a href=\"https:\/\/koffietcacao.com\/en\/blog\/hidde-de-brabander-releases-new-baking-book-the-art-of-baking\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The art of baking<\/a><\/em> of Hidde de Brabander. Curious about his views on technique, taste experience and craftsmanship? Also read our <a href=\"https:\/\/koffietcacao.com\/en\/blog\/hidde-de-brabander-on-technique-tradition-and-why-a-brownie-shouldnt-be-fluffy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">premium interview<\/a> with Hidde de Brabander. You can also find an overview of all the recipes we publish from this book <a href=\"https:\/\/koffietcacao.com\/en\/blog\/hidde-de-brabander-releases-new-baking-book-the-art-of-baking\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.   <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This Castella from The Art of Baking by Hidde de Brabander is a classic Japanese cookie with a remarkably soft texture and subtle honey notes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4656],"tags":[5109,5103,4716,5019,5098,5108,5110,5111,4718,4872,5090,5112,5024],"class_list":["post-57561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-receptions","tag-castella","tag-cookie","tag-green-tea","tag-hidde-de-brabander","tag-honey","tag-japan","tag-japanese-cookie","tag-kasutera","tag-matcha","tag-patisserie","tag-recipe","tag-sencha","tag-the-art-of-baking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koffietcacao.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koffietcacao.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koffietcacao.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koffietcacao.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koffietcacao.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57561"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/koffietcacao.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59879,"href":"https:\/\/koffietcacao.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57561\/revisions\/59879"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koffietcacao.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koffietcacao.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koffietcacao.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koffietcacao.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}