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1
Take an empty tissue box and cut off the top part.
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2
Fix the four corners with a stapler.
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3
Line the prepared box with a piece of baking paper.
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4
Leave the baking paper peeking out above the box (much higher than its sides) because the castella is going to swell a lot.
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5
Sprinkle with some brown sugar on the bottom of the box.
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6
Beat the eggs in a large bowl and add the white sugar and soft brown sugar.
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7
Whisk the mixture with a hand mixer at a highest speed on a bain-marie heated to 80C for 3 minutes.
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8
Remove the bowl from the bain-marie and whisk for further 7 minutes until fluffy and smooth.
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9
Mix the milk heated in a microwave and honey together and add to the whisked egg and sugar mixture.
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10
Whisk at the highest speed for 2 minutes.
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11
Add the sifted strong bread flour and gently whisk at a low speed for 2 to 3 minutes without leaving any lumps.
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12
Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
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13
Pour the batter into the prepared box.
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14
Hold a plastic spatula upright and move it in a criss-cross fashion through the batter.
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15
Try not to touch the brown sugar on the bottom, though.
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16
After Step 4, small bubbles will float to the surface of the batter.
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17
Smooth out the surface of the batter and pop the bubbles with a plastic spatula.
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18
Repeat this procedure about 5 times.
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19
After this, gently rap the box against the counter five times to remove bubbles inside.
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20
Put in the oven and reduce the heat to 170C to bake for 10 minutes.
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21
Then reduce the heat to 150C to further bake for 35 minutes.
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22
Cover the castella with a piece of baking paper to prevent it from burning on top for the last 15 minutes before it's finished baking.
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23
It's done.
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24
After taking out the castella box from the oven, remove the castella from the box straight away.
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25
You don't need to peel away the baking paper at the moment.
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26
Wrap with cling film while still hot and leave to sit overnight.
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27
This will make the castella very moist.
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28
The next day, remove the cling film and cut off the sides to trim into a nice clean rectangle.
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29
Leave the baking paper on underneath because you don't want to lose the brown sugar.
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30
You can eat the trimmings, of course!
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31
This is my ultimate fluffy and yellow honey castella.
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32
You will be amazed how smooth and moist it is.
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33
It's like a shop-bought one!
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34
Do not remove the baking paper underneath when serving.
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35
At least, that's what I like to do.
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36
I love scraping off the brown sugar that sticks to the paper.
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37
You can bake a 20 x 20 cm square castella in the same amount of time.
