Soft Oven-Baked Castella Sponge Cake

Ingredients

• Take the eggs out of the refrigerator about 2 hours ahead so they come to room temperature, which helps the meringue whip properly.
• Melt the butter over a hot water bath, and take the milk out of the refrigerator ahead of time to let it become lukewarm.
• If using canned sweet corn, be sure to pat it thoroughly dry with a towel so the cake does not turn gummy.
• Instead of canned sweet corn, you can also add raisins, almonds, or peanuts.

Steps

1. 
   
   
   

   The ingredients are simple: flour, eggs, milk, sugar, butter, cheongju (Korean rice wine), and salt.

   Canned sweet corn is not pictured here, and leaving it out makes the cake even lighter and fluffier, so I would not strongly insist on it. I just added it to clear out the fridge.

   Sift the flour twice and add the salt with it. A pinch between your thumb and index finger is plenty.

   Take the eggs out of the refrigerator about 2 hours in advance and let them sit at room temperature.

   That way, the meringue whips up properly. Separate the whites and yolks into different bowls.

   Melt the butter over a hot water bath.

   Take the milk out of the refrigerator and let it sit until lukewarm.

2. 

   Once the ingredients are ready, prepare your baking containers. Today I am using two shapes: first, muffin liners set inside paper cups.

   You can easily find muffin liners and parchment paper at the grocery store.

   

   Since I did not have a proper cake pan at home, I prepared a sturdy cardboard box.

   We lack a lot of kitchen tools at my house, which keeps my hands quite busy.

   

   Cut the parchment paper to fit the size of the box and line the inside with it.

3. 

   First, beat the egg whites.

   Add half of the sugar little by little while whipping the whites.

   Beat until stiff peaks form and the foam does not fall from the whisk. Hand whisking is definitely a workout.

4. 

   Whisk the remaining sugar into the egg yolks bit by bit.

   When the sugar is almost dissolved, pour in the melted butter and cheongju (Korean rice wine), and mix them together.

   You do not need to worry about creating foam with the egg yolks.

   On the other hand, make sure to whip the whites properly, even if it takes some elbow grease.

5. 

   Add the sifted flour to the whipped egg whites and gently fold it in.

   Be careful not to deflate the foam you worked so hard to build.

   The cake relies on that whipped foam to rise.

6. 

   Gently fold in the milk and canned sweet corn, and the batter is complete.

   The exact order of adding the ingredients does not matter much.

7. 

   This made 2 square boxes and 2 muffin cups.

   I will cook the square box in the microwave and bake the rest in the oven.

   Tap the pans on the counter 3 to 4 times to release large air bubbles from the batter.

8. 

   This is the one cooked in the microwave for 4 minutes.

   

   This is the one baked in the oven at 180°C for 35 minutes.

   It was my first time trying this, and it turned out great.

Ppunwife's tips

• Tap the pan on the counter 3 to 4 times to release air bubbles from the batter.
• If you like it quite sweet, you can add more sugar.

FAQ

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