Green Tea Castella
Green Tea Castella (Makes One 8x8" Cake)
Ingredients
60g all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. matcha powder
5 room-temp. egg yolks
75g room-temp. egg whites
4 drops vanilla extract
20g honey
60g sugar (A)
50g sugar (B)
25g milk
Instructions
Line an 8 x 8 inch square pan with parchment paper after buttering it.
Next time because I don't have an official castella wooden frame I may line the pan with aluminum.
1. Sift matcha and flour.
2. Whisk by hand egg yolks and vanilla, then add honey and whisk until thoroughly incorporated.
3. Add sugar (A) and rapidly whisk.
4. Place the bowl on top of hot water. Beat egg yolk mixture with a handmixer on high until pale, thick, and falls in ribbons. Beat on low so that the bubbles settle to some extent.
5. Beat the egg whites in another bowl until foamy. Add sugar (B) and beat on high until stiff peaks form.
Preheat oven at this point to 320 degrees F.
6. Add meringue to yolk mixture in 3 additions, folding quickly and gently with a spatula until barely incorporated after each addition.
7. Add the dry ingredients and fold until barely incorporated. Add the milk and fold just until the mixture is completely incorporated, do not mix any further.
8. Pour the batter in the pan and bake for about 40 minutes until the cake, after rising during the baking process, starts to shrink back. The top should be browned.
Note: These are tips I'm trying next time: Take the pan out of the oven and drop it from a height to prevent shrinking. For more even slicing and a moister cake, immediately revert the castella to a surface, peel off the parchment, and wrap with plastic film. Refrigerate upside down on a flat board some hours before slicing off the thin strips from the sides, then slicing the castella into thick rectangular blocks in a sawing motion. Serve with tea.