I want flat castella dammit!

[schneich]

since a few days iam trying to do a perfect kasutera cake that is as perfectly flat as in all those fancy japanese pictures. they always seem to form a perfect cuboid, whereas my cake is either sunk in the middle or bulged up. i tried several recipes with and without suger. more or less hoeny, with and without cream of tartar etc. etc.... since the pieces will be enrobed in chocolate the thing MUST be perfect... any hints ???

cheers

torsten s.

[Patrick S]

I'm not familiar with kasutera cake, but is there any reason why you couldn't just level your cake with a cake leveler?

[schneich]

duh! - but the art of it is to get it perfect witohut cheating...

t.

[Patrick S]

Cake strips could probably help the outside and the inside of the cake rise at the same rate, making the top more level if not perfectly level. Ive seen some round cake made with cake strips that did look almost perfectly flat. Or would you also consider that cheating?

I wonder what would happen if you put some kind of weight on the cake as soon as it is done baking, to compress it a little while it cools?

Edited January 30, 2005 by Patrick S (log)

[Patrick S]

You could actually make your own cake strips. Just find an old towel, cut it into strips that fit your pan, soak them with water, and use a safety pin to hold the strips around the pan.

[glossyp]

I do believe that there is a special pan used for baking kasutera which has a lid. I could be wrong but when I lived in Japan I asked at the bakery how they did it and they showed me a cunning little pan with a lid which secured with latches. I know no other details.

[Hiroyuki]

I did find a castella mold, with some difficulty, here

http://www.kyomachiya.net/tomo/kasi/08.html

(Japanese only)

Scroll down, and you will see a mold with a lid with characters SEIVC on it.

Caution: All the webpages below are in Japanese only.

There are a number of webpages that describe a castella mold made of newspaper.

Examples are:

http://park2.wakwak.com/~rahna/sinb.htm

http://www2.wbs.ne.jp/~ked-oa/newpage48.html

http://cookpad.com/riana/index.cfm?Page=re...90407&Mode=full

I also found one that describes a mold make of a tissue paper box.

http://cookpad.com/cocoachi/index.cfm?Page...67214&Mode=full

Edited January 30, 2005 by Hiroyuki (log)

[Transparent]

What is castella, anyway? Google nabs me some great pictures, but it doesn't give me any info other than "Japanese styled cake." It looks delcious though, and now I have a craving for it - whatever it is.

[TurtleMeng]

Oh, this is called "kasutera"?

I grew up eating it in Taiwan, but we call it "honey cake". (it is from Japan. The Nagasaki one is apparently famous)

The way they make it in most Chinese shops is to use a perfectly rectangular wooden mold. I will try to find a pic.

.....

OK, I looked, but could not find a pic of the mold. There are many pics of the cake.

One reason you don't want to level this cake might be that the top brown layer is desirable. This sucker is often baked in paper or wood so ONLY the top layer browns. The rest is all uniform in color, so when cut it forms a perfect squarish slice with the little brown strip on top.

It has a mellow taste, with a very fine crumb. Compared to most cakes I would say it's not sweet. It's not rich, but not light/airy either. Boy, I've done a great job describing it. Often it's just eaten plain. I know you can flavor it with green tea, etc. If you are in LA, you can buy it @ lots of bakeries. Anyone wanting to try one let me know.

......

OK, edited this twice because I did some thinking in the tub. (good place to do so). If you baked yours in a metal pan, it would rise in the middle because the sides heat up first but then stop rising (because the sides would set first), just like any other cake. The Japanese, however, bake this in paper or wood (at least like I just mentioned, the Chinese do), so it rises uniformily. Therefore, Patrick's suggestion of cake strip makes sense. I always use cake strips when I bake, and it helps make the cakes flat.

Edited January 30, 2005 by TurtleMeng (log)

[Transparent]

I'm known by my family to stare at the displays of the Chinese bakeries that I pass by. I don't have I've ever seen kasutera over here before. And if I have, I need to slap myself for not trying it.

[TurtleMeng]

I'm known by my family to stare at the displays of the Chinese bakeries that I pass by. I don't have I've ever seen kasutera over here before. And if I have, I need to slap myself for not trying it.

←

长崎蜂蜜蛋糕

Hope that helps. If you go to a more Kantonese style bakery, they won't have it. The more Taiwanese ones have it.

[Transparent]

I'm known by my family to stare at the displays of the Chinese bakeries that I pass by. I don't have I've ever seen kasutera over here before. And if I have, I need to slap myself for not trying it.

←

长崎蜂蜜蛋糕

Hope that helps. If you go to a more Kantonese style bakery, they won't have it. The more Taiwanese ones have it.

←

Ah, Chinatown is mostly Cantonese. For Taiwanese, I'd have to go into Flushing. Thanks. I guess I have to keep my eyes peeled for it the next chance I get to go to Queens.

EDIT: 蜂蜜蛋糕 in google yeilds a ton of results. Definately looks like kasutera.

Edited January 30, 2005 by Transparent (log)

[Hiroyuki]

The way they make it in most Chinese shops is to use a perfectly rectangular wooden mold.  I will try to find a pic.

←

I found some wooden molds such as:

http://www.castella.co.jp/castella/castell3.shtml

Scroll down, and you will find one below step 5.

http://www.shooken.com/history.html

Scroll down, and you will find one above step 3.

[TurtleMeng]

I found some wooden molds such as:

http://www.castella.co.jp/castella/castell3.shtml

Scroll down, and you will find one below step 5.

http://www.shooken.com/history.html

Scroll down, and you will find one above step 3.

←

Ah Ha!

[Stephanie Wallace]

You could also try keeping the batter (depending on its viscosity) 1 - 1.5 cm away from the edges of your pan. It will expand to touch the sides, but expand far less once it hits them. This would be completely negated by long cooking times, but it's worth considering.

[schneich]

wow...

lots of great tips, thanks a lot, i think i will try to get a mold with a lid since i think thats where the secret may be. i will keep you posted with a photo once i have the results

cheers

t.

[ellencho]

Castella or kasutera is sort of pound cake like, but less sweet and less buttery tasting. It has a yellow cake type appearance, but denser (like pound cake) and it's usally sold in block shaped "loaves" and often given as gifts.