kuromitsu castella cake.

Whoops, a baking flop. Haven't had one in a while! I didn't whisk the eggs long enough so the cake ended up sunken in the middle. Oh well. But it still tasted great, most importantly, even though the texture isn't what it's supposed to be.

The cake is like chiffon-cake-moist, and it isn't terribly sweet. It has a unique depth of flavour because of the kuromitsu (which is a Japanese dark brown sugar syrup similar to molasses by the way). The glaze applied to the surface cake would be of great relief to you if you aren't accustomed to modestly sweetened desserts.

I didn't expect for such a small amount of kuromitsu to go such a long way! Which is great because the small squeeze bottle of it I got was considerably pricey. I wonder what else I should make with it.

Kuromitsu Castella Cake
adapted from here

Castella cakes are traditionally made with honey. If you cannot find kuromitsu, which is highly understandable, just substitute the same amount of honey for the kuromitsu in the recipe.

2 large eggs
75g sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
50g flour, sifted twice
25ml milk
1 tbsp + 1 tsp kuromitsu, divided

Preheat oven to 170C. Line a 8 x 5 inch (or thereabouts) loaf pan with parchment. Sprinkle a little sugar over the bottom.

In the bowl of a standmixer over a pot of simmering water, whisk the eggs and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is warm to touch. Reattach bowl to mixer and whisk until the batter is thick enough to form soft peaks.

Meanwhile, warm the milk and 1 tbsp kuromitsu together. Stir to combine.

Whisk the milk mixture into the egg mixture. Stir in sifted flour until just incorporated.

Scrape batter into pan and bake for about 30 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, stir the 1 tsp of kuromitsu syrup and a little hot water to combine. When the cake comes out of the oven, brush the top of the cake with the sugar mixture.

When the cake is cool enough to handle but still warm, lift it out of the pan paper and all, and seal in an airtight bag. Place the bag into the refrigerator overnight. (This traps the moisture in and keeps the cake from drying out.) Trim the edges of the cake and slice to serve.