Has anyone noticed that LA had about one or two weeks of summer and now we’re back to fall weather? What the heck is all that about. When I woke up early to make pancakes and go to the grocery store and it was freaking freezing outside. I wore sweats and a sweater for the first time in months. And yes, when I say freezing I mean in the 60s. Don’t laugh at me. And it bloody RAINED today!
Where has my summer gone? Weather is not helping this feeling of nostalgia about the last summer vacation of my life. At least it’s sunny in the afternoon.
Look what I found in my backyard! Hello nature. Haven’t seen you in a while. Pomegranate tree is going crazy. Spider webs always reminds me of “Charlotte’s Web.” Anyone else?
Anyway, after finishing my second CPA exam, my mom thinks I’m a cake-making machine.
“Jean, I have to go to someone’s house tonight! Make a cake that I can take! Oh, and you’re not busy tomorrow are you? Can you make me a cake to take to my potluck on Sunday?”
“Sure, Mom… should I make my orange yogurt – “
“No yogurt. No oranges. Just use what we have.. eggs, butter… oh, and we have some flour. Oh, and don’t make it too sweet. Adults don’t like that.”
So, what the heck do you make for a Korean church group of middle-aged women and men who don’t like chocolate or sweets or butter?! So difficult. Sheesh…………………
I just settled on making castella. Castella is an Asian sponge cake with leavening that comes just from whipping up egg whites; it’s very light, fluffy, and not overly sweet. There are a lot of difficult recipes out there for Nagasaki Castella but this one’s kind of a quickfire way to do it. Cut some corners, cheat a little bit… It’s okay. You can’t tell. :)
When I’m not a slave to the books, I’m a slave to the oven. Hah. Kidding. I like baking for my mom.
Castella
2 egg whites
5 egg yolks
6 tbsp white sugar
1 tbsp + 1 tsp milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a small loaf pan 8×4 with parchment paper.
Using a stand mixer, beat the egg whites and 3 tablespoons of sugar until stiff peaks form, about 7 minutes. In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks, vanilla extract, milk, and the rest of the sugar for about two minutes until sugar is dissolved and the mixture is slightly frothy. Fold the egg white mixture gently into the egg yolk mixture so as to not deflate the egg whites.
Sift flour and salt twice. Fold flour into the wet mixture gently until fully incorporated. Add oil to mixture and mix until just mixed together. Pour batter into prepared pan and tap gently several times to get the air out.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
Wow thank you so much for taking the time to post this recipe! I tried it and it’s exactly what I was looking for :D
Awesome! You’re welcome :)
What do you mean by sift the flour and salt twice? And would this work for a korean fresh-cream cake? I’ve been looking for a sponge cake recipe and I’m hoping that this one will work ^__^
You’re going to want to sift it to get the lumps twice. I did it twice to make sure it was fine and soft so I wouldn’t overmix the batter!
I didn’t try baking it in a round pan for a cream layered type of cake. I made a chiffon cake and layered it with cream sometime ago (if you look in recipes under Cakes – look for strawberry chiffon cake) that I thought was good for that creamy not too sweet texture
Hi Jean :) This cake recipe was a success!!! I am so happy and pleasantly surprised haha. I was ready to face another failure in making a sponge cake but it came out well! It was also delicious and eye-appealing =] I am super excited to try the chiffon cake and cookie recipes too hehe. Thank you so much for posting this recipe up!
I’m so glad it was a success! :) I’d love to see photos of whatever you decide to bake!
Reblogged this on tavelodet and commented:
delicious Korean sponge cake as seen on bonnevivante