Castella: The First Authentically Made Japanese Cake.

In this Blog today I am going to share about The Castella Cake, its texture, ingredients and different flavors of it.

Castella Cake has been in Japan since the 16th century when Portuguese missionaries arrived in Nagasaki. The delectable sponge-like cake made its way to Mainland Japan and flourished with exciting variations, flavors and shapes. Castella known as Kasutera in Japanese (カステラ) was introduced by the Portuguese on the Northwest Coast of Kyushu Island.

(Castella Cake or Wagashi)

Japanese's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the doors between Japan and Portugal first opened in 1543 after three Portuguese Merchants found themselves in Southern Japan after being blown off course. For just over a hundred years and until 1693, when Japan's government opted to close itself off to outside world, the two saw a plenty of exchanges involving trade and religion.

Although castella cakes have undergone many changes since their introduction to Japan, they have relatively maintained their primary ingredient's. Flour, eggs and sugar. The smooth, fluffy and moist cakes were traditionally baked in a coal kiln, which allowed the distinctive Castella esthetic to be achieved.

Castella cakes have a distinctive look of a smooth, wrinkle-free, golden brown top. Another unique feature of the traditional Castella baking method is the slightly crunchy bottom layer. The crunch comes from finely ground brown sugar that sinks to the bottom of the batter during the baking process. Visitors to Japan today will recognize Castella as ''Wagashi'' or a type of Japanese confession.

As we go ahead, we get to know that Castella cakes are also available in different flavors! Let's know them.

The every famous Flavors are Honey, Matcha, Green Tea and Brown sugar. As globalization occurs, we get more different flavors in Castella cake. We have the Chocolate, Strawberry, Pineapple, Berries infused flavors, and more.

(Matcha Castella Cake) (Chocolate Castella Cake)