Honey Castella Cake

Preheat oven to 340°F (170°C). Lightly butter a 8x8-inch cake pan and line it with enough parchment paper so some hangs over the sides. The butter will help keep the parchment paper in place. Sprinkle some sugar in the bottom of the pan (on top of the parchment paper).

Bring a large pan (big enough to cover the bottom of your large mixing bowl) of water to a boil and then turn off the heat.

In a small bowl, combine the milk and 4 tablespoons of honey. In a separate bowl, measure the flour and sugar and sift them twice using a fine mesh sieve or sifter.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Place the bowl over the pan of hot water that you boiled. Add the sugar and whisk, holding the bowl on top of the pan, until the mixture warms to a lukewarm temperature. Remove the bowl from the pan and continue whisking. If the mixture cools, place it over the pan of hot water to warm it back to lukewarm. Continue whisking until the mixture holds soft peaks, about 15 minutes if you are using an electric whisk. It will take much longer if you are whisking by hand. See the notes in my post about how I completed this step for more details.

Once the mixture holds soft peaks, whisk in the milk and honey. Add the flour, one tablespoon at a time, and beat the batter until no dry lumps of flour remain.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan filling it all the way to the top. Bake the cake for 50 minutes or until an inserted toothpick or skewer comes out clean.

While the cake is baking make the glaze by mixing 1 tablespoon of honey with a little hot water. Once the cake is out of the oven, brush the top with the glaze.

Once the cake is cool enough to handle, but still warm, lift it out of the pan using the parchment paper hanging over the edges like handles. Place the cake (with the paper) in a plastic bag and seal the bag. Chill the cake for several hours in the refrigerator. This will ensure the cake maintains it’s moist texture, so be sure you place it in the refrigerator while it’s still warm.

To serve, slice the cake into pieces using a sharp knife. Cut the sides off the sides of the pieces leaving a crust on the top and the bottom of the slice.