BAKING,  CAKES,  DESSERTS

Honey I Messed the Castella …but it was still so good!!

2008/08/17 / 31 Comments
“When you hear buzz around the beehive, you know they’re making honey in there.”
Terrence Howard
honey+castella

This week’s been bookmarked to post recipes I’ve bookmarked & gotten down to attempting. Strange how the best of plans fall flat on their face & all prior preparation flies out of the window. Had a free kind of free day…no hub, no kids, no laundry & no grocery…decided to bake a cake, The Honey Castella. I’ve been fascinated with it with ever since the very talented doctor-blogger-foodie-friend @ No Special Effects posted it. It’s the first one of Manggy’s that I’ve had the courage to try. Most of his drool worthy creations are intimidating in the least, full of Special Effects (don’t get misled by the ‘No‘), & I’m very hesitant to try climbing to his ‘Everest‘ heights. About the cake in his words, “It’s already been specially engineered by skillful Nagasaki bakers (inspired by the Portuguese who introduced the Pão de Castela) to have a superior crust and lovely crumb. The crust is dark (actually supposed to me much darker than mine), sweet, smooth, and silky. The crumb is dense and moist. Just unmarred perfection.”
IMG 3199

This seemed simple enough & I MESSED IT UP, I think!! It’s not really my fault…is it ever? See, I was all set up to make it with all the above ‘NO’ factors on my ever so free day. BUT, luck was tough & the morning went on to NO electricity. So I had this neat row of ingredients, lined baking tin, jar of honey, recipe notes neatly copied down…etc & *SULK*, only 3 eggs; making matters worse – no power to bake. I even had an impressed Manggy (or so I choose to believe) knowing that I had everything ready. Hit the kitchen counter early the next morning…easy, breezy, beautiful…until the recipe asked for the oil to be whipped into 1/2 a cup of batter, when a bolt of lightning struck the dolt in me!
IMG 3213
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh, had bunged the oil in the beginning with everything else in my stupid hurry. Not my fault…I could feel Manggy staring over my shoulder through-out & was already nervous that I had beaten the blessed batter 8 minutes, instead of 10 etc. I bravely carried on, hurriedly shoved it into the oven…got a beautiful cake but still rue what I might have missed. Mailed the good man @ No Special Effects & he immediately gave me an analysis based on my pictures. O boy… was the tin larger that 8 inches he queried? Shiver me timbers man, how did you guess? Crumb looks good, crust is fine…see, he’s just a Doc in disguise & there are plenty of Special Effects there. Despite my major blooper, the cake was fantastic, though suffered in proper aeration. It was everything he said it would be…superior crust, lovely crumb, dense & moist! Would have been lighter & spongier had I not been careless…next time!!

IMG 3190

Our post baking conversation went something like this…
Me: Hi there…
Alright ‘fess time. I got the title ready…”Honey I Messed Up the Castella!!”
You don’t want to know what I did after all my prep, but you’ll have to know. Had everything ready, but when old Mother Hubbard got to the cupboard, there were only 3 eggs. Plans were rapidly shelved for want of an egg-white!! This morning, everything was going along fine…till the time that the oil had to be whisked into 1/2 a cuppa batter. And that moment a blinding flash went through my silly brain…***********… I had happily tossed the oil in with the rest of the merry stuff. I’ve got the post ready in my head & a list of who’s who to blame…so worry not, it’ll be posted soon.
Otherwise it came out fine ( think a bit underdone coz i thought it would get too dark & was done pretty much sooner than 25 minutes for the first bit. I’ve had a slice already & it’s really nice & light…but I rue what it might have been………..aaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!

IMG 3227Manggy: Oh, Deeba… Well, I’m glad it tasted nice. Was the pan size 8 inches? It looks a little larger.You shouldn’t have minded the dark crust– it really is supposed to be that way– it’s MY Castella that had too pale a crust for reasons unknown.Definitely whipping the eggs with the oil already in it will hinder proper aeration. Oh well! Did it form the thick, slowly sinking ribbons?I’m glad I was able to make your morning a little more exciting, ha ha ha 🙂

collageHoney Castella adapted from The Sweet Spot
As copied from Manggy’s @ No Special Effects (he did all the hard-work of recalculations etc.)

True Castella from Nagasaki does not contain any added oil, which makes Ong’s recipe unique. There are also several other techniques in traditional Castella that I don’t use here: sprinkling the batter with coarse sugar that settles at the bottom and makes a dark, sweet bottom crust, taking out the cake halfway through baking and disturbing it to destroy the air bubbles and make the cake dense, and baking in a covered container to steam the cake. You will also notice there is a slight fall in the cake, which creates a raised rim of crust. This didn’t bother me, but if you don’t like the effect, you can cool the cake upside-down: just be careful to do so on a greased surface so you won’t lose any of the precious crust.
88g (1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
pinch of salt
126g (1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons) granulated sugar
42g (1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons) honey
22g (1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons) canola or other neutral oil (you may also use the same weight, or 1-1/2 tablespoons of butter, melted)

Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Spray an 8-inch round pan with baking spray and line the bottom and sides with parchment. Don’t spray the parchment after lining. Sift the flour onto a sheet of wax paper or a bowl and set aside. In a heatproof (or mixer) bowl, add the eggs, egg yolk, salt, sugar, and honey. Place this over a saucepan of simmering water and beat on medium speed with a hand mixer (or use a whisk) for 10 minutes (the mixture will be at least 40°C, or 104°F). Take off the heat and beat on high speed for at least 6 more minutes using a hand mixer (or 10 minutes on a stand mixer if you started out with a whisk). The batter will be cool, pale and form very thick ribbons that take a very long time to sink completely into the surface of the batter.Gently fold in the flour into the batter in 3 additions. Take about 1/2 cup of the batter and whisk it into the oil until completely homogeneous, then drizzle it back into the batter, folding continuously as you add it.Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes, then turn the heat down to 150°C (300°F) and continue baking for 18-25 more minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few very fine crumbs. Cool the cake completely (cool inverted on a sheet of greased parchment if desired). Unmold to a serving platter.
IMG 3201This is off to Ruth @ Ruth’s Kitchen Experiments for her Bookmarked event.

bookmarked%252Brecipes

And of course I did some more with the beautiful Castella sponge. Couldn’t resist it.

IMG 3321Made some light ‘Mango Mousse Cheesecake Trifle’ as I chose to call it.

Was delicious. Recipe shall follow in the next post!

titles group writing project

Am sending this post off to a Group Writing Project, on a cool site I just discovered, Problogger. The call is to ‘Write a Post with a Killer Title. Be as creative as you like. Make the post relevant to your blog.’

Posted by Deeba @ PAB

About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.

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31 Comments

  • Grace

    2008/08/17 at 5:48 pm Reply

    well, it sounds like a delicious cake, and if you weren’t satisfied with this version (which actually looks pretty darn good to me), you’ve got a genuine excuse to make another one! 🙂

  • The Daily Rant

    2008/08/17 at 7:06 pm Reply

    The mango mousse cheesecake trifle looks sooooo good. Oh, and that original butter chicken in the recipe below. Damn – I’ll never get out of the kitchen!

    What a phenomenal find this blog is!

  • Mike of Mike's Table

    2008/08/17 at 11:00 pm Reply

    Messed up? That still looks awesome to me! Just like Grace said, guess it calls for a second cake–I’ll take the first one. 😉 Also, that trifle is beautifully presented

  • Anonymous

    2008/08/18 at 12:55 am Reply

    hello Deeba, I discovered ur wonderful site today and love baking too..my question to you is : when u use colors with whipping cream for decorating cake which is frosted white whipping cream, which type of color do u use…coz I use the icing colors , but it tends to spread on the base white frosting ..like when u use yellow color on base white frosting ? Let me know please …Thanks Pooja

  • Dwiana P

    2008/08/18 at 2:48 am Reply

    Yaw Debra, I saw that cake at Maggy’s blog and now…you are successfully make me droll!! Plus with mango mousse cheesecake triple – YUMMY!

  • Helene

    2008/08/18 at 2:49 am Reply

    I read this thread with delight. The pictures are beautiful & from my side of the world it looks like it's a really good cake.

  • Manggy

    2008/08/18 at 5:18 am Reply

    I certainly hope you will try again– I hope the taste has more than inspired you. The trifles are definitely inspired and beautiful. (I’ve never been so quoted in my life!)

    If you want to continue making this in a 9-inch pan, here are the quantities to use:
    112g (3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon) flour
    4 large eggs
    1 large egg yolk
    160g (3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon) sugar
    53g (2-1/8 tablespoons) honey
    28g (2-1/8 tablespoons) oil
    Do whip the eggs for 10 minutes on the heat and 10 minutes off, as there are more eggs. I can’t estimate the cooking time but do start off at 175°C for 20 minutes then check 30 minutes later, and then at 5 minute intervals as you see fit until the toothpick comes out clean. And make sure the electricity stays consistent the next time (well, we cannot help that :).

  • anu

    2008/08/18 at 7:04 am Reply

    HI!!!

    The cake looks yummy:).. i am a BIG FAN of ur site….have tried some recipes from ur site and the result was always good. when i start my blog i will give all the credit to u:) wanted to ask have you tried veg lasgane anytime.. do u have a recipe for that if u can share
    have a nice day
    thanks
    anu

  • Aparna

    2008/08/18 at 7:14 am Reply

    Wher’s the mess, Deeba? Forgot to post it, maybe?
    Seriously, all I can see is a lovely cake.

  • Passionate About Baking

    2008/08/18 at 7:54 am Reply

    Not a mess as in mess guys…made a mistake on the recipe. And sponges suffer only aeration problems. Would have been spongier & lighter had I put the oil in at the end.It's a beautiful recipe so will try it again soon.Thanks for all your good words!

  • Zita

    2008/08/18 at 7:56 am Reply

    Your castella still looks pretty to me, castella and mango trifle…mmmm … I wish I could visit your house that day 🙂

  • Dhanggit

    2008/08/18 at 9:05 am Reply

    Manggy’s Castella cake made me drool too 🙂 well your version look great to me…specially if you would sned me over a slice! I’ll probably try making this one of these days

  • Ivy

    2008/08/18 at 10:21 am Reply

    Now, nobody would have even noticed if you weren’t so honest. I think your cake looks fantastic.

  • Passionate About Baking

    2008/08/18 at 11:53 am Reply

    It’s not that I’m not happy…very difficult to explain going wrong with a recipe for a sponge because air is the only leavening agent here. I was annoyed because I messed a very important part of the recipe…I guess I am too ‘passionate about baking’!! LOL!!

  • Gloria (Canela)

    2008/08/18 at 4:00 pm Reply

    I understand you Deeba, the cake look so nice but you are not satisfied with it! Dear, happens to me sometimes, but the cook is so!
    Anyway I think the Cake is so wonderful and the dessert look absolutely yummy I love it!!!
    Ans sometimes the recipes is so tasty but the pictures dont show how really is!! xxxGloria

  • Rosie

    2008/08/18 at 7:10 pm Reply

    Oh Deeba your trifle looks sooooooooo beautiful and wow your cake looks perfect and delicious!!

    Rosie x

  • Laurie

    2008/08/18 at 7:36 pm Reply

    Both look so beautiful.. but I love the creamy desserts so..can I have some of that trifle? 🙂

  • Bharti

    2008/08/19 at 3:21 am Reply

    What an exciting and nerve recking day…I was literally on a roller coaster ride with this post. Glad the outcome was sweet.

  • Divya

    2008/08/19 at 10:14 am Reply

    Gosh…thats such a nice slice of cake you have there…I am sure it would have tasted delicious as well..I am fida over that slice!!You say the cake didn’t turn out the way you wanted it to be and its not looking perfect,really??from which angle..whatever I can see of the cake spells,in fact screams its a delicious spongy cake!!!

  • Ruth Elkin

    2008/08/20 at 5:57 pm Reply

    Great cake Deeba, I’m sure it’s been all devoured by now!

    Thanks for submitting it to bookmarked recipes!

  • Ruthie

    2010/06/04 at 6:56 am Reply

    Hi Deeba,

    The cake looks awesone and the trifles, thats something am gonna make for my cousins this weekend.

    On another note, I wanted to try out a cheesecake recipe, but getting creamcheese here is a very expensive affair. I tried the home made recipe as well but it tasted too milky. What are my option, how can i make a delicious and inexpensive cheese cake? Can you help me please?

    Thanks very much, Rhea (Ruth)

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