Taiwanese Honey Castella Sponge Cake (Fail-proof)
You know your Taiwanese Honey Castella Sponge Cake is successful when you can hear the slight “sizzle” when you take a bite.
Super moist, bouncy, soft, and slightly sweet Taiwanese Honey Castella Sponge Cake is super easy to make at home and is the best cake for summer picnics!
I grew up eating my mom’s Taiwanese Honey Castella Sponge Cake, and I swear it is the best cake ever!
If you never try Taiwanese Honey Castella Sponge Cake before, it is a bouncy sponge cake that has a slight sweetness from the honey. It is super moist as the cake is baked and steamed, giving the cake its volume and moisture.
Here is my pro-tip, top the cake with some homemade whipped cream and fresh strawberry, and this is the cake that I can eat for the rest of my life.
Taiwanese Honey Castella Sponge Cake is super easy to make at home.
We tested this recipe 3x to ensure all the measurement is correct, and I also took step by step photos to ensure your sponge cake comes out bouncy, moist, and delicious.
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Ingredients
- 8 Eggs (separate egg white and egg yolks)
- 130 g of Cake Flour
- Butter – 130g
- Milk – 130g
- 2.5 tbsp of Honey
- 1 tbsp of Vanilla
- 130 g of Sugar
- Separate the egg white and egg yolk into two different bowls.
- In a pot, add in milk and butter. Turn the heat to medium-low, and cook until the butter is fully melted.
- In a large bowl, add in cake flour, and slowly pour in the melted butter and milk mixture. Pour while gently stirring.
- Add in the egg yolks, one at a time. Mix until combined, and repeat until all the egg yolks are mixed well. (refer to photo for consistency)
- Drizzle in honey and vanilla, mix together.
- Beat the egg white with a hand mixer, once bubbles are formed, add in sugar ⅓ at a time.
- Keep beating until egg white becomes a stiff consistency and hold its shape (refer to photo).
- Add 2 ladles of the egg white into the egg yolk mixture, and gently fold.
- Finally, pour all the egg white into the egg yolk mixture and gently fold till everything is combined.
- Pour the mixture into a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Drop the pan to push out all the air bubbles.
- In a larger pan, add in enough hot water where around ¾ of the smaller container will be covered in water. Add in the container and bake at 300 F for 60 minutes.
Taiwanese Honey Castella Sponge Cake
By Tiffy Cooks
You know your Taiwanese Honey Castella Sponge Cake is successful when you can hear the slight “sizzle” when you take a bite. Super moist, bouncy, soft, and slightly sweet Taiwanese Honey Castella Sponge Cake is super easy to make at home and is the best cake for summer picnics!
Ingredients
- 8 Eggs separate egg white and egg yolks
- 130 g Cake Flour
- 130 g Butter
- 130 g Milk
- 2.5 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp Vanilla
- 130 g Sugar
Instructions
- Separate the egg white and egg yolk into two different bowls.
- In a pot, add in milk and butter. Turn the heat to medium-low, and cook until the butter is fully melted.
- In a large bowl, add in cake flour, and slowly pour in the melted butter and milk mixture. Pour while gently stirring.
- Add in the egg yolks, one at a time. Mix until combined, and repeat until all the egg yolks are mixed well. (refer to photo for consistency)
- Drizzle in honey and vanilla, mix together.
- Beat the egg white with a hand mixer, once bubbles are formed, add in sugar ⅓ at a time.
- Keep beating until egg white becomes a stiff consistency and hold its shape (refer to photo).
- Add 2 ladles of the egg white into the egg yolk mixture, and gently fold.
- Finally, pour all the egg white into the egg yolk mixture and gently fold till everything is combined.
- Pour the mixture into a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Drop the pan to push out all the air bubbles.
- In a larger pan, add in enough hot water where around ¾ of the smaller container will be covered in water. Add in the container and bake at 300 F for 60 minutes.
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 687kcalCarbohydrates: 69gProtein: 18gFat: 38gSaturated Fat: 21gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 446mgSodium: 365mgPotassium: 239mgFiber: 1gSugar: 46gVitamin A: 1405IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 110mgIron: 2mg
Hi Tiffy,
I don’t have cake flour can I use all purpose flour instead?
Thanks Tina
Yes 🙂 it may come out a bit stiffer, so you can add in 1.5 tbsp of corn starch to soften
What brand of honey do you use?
For butter, is it unsalted or salted?
Hi Selena, I’ve made this cake a couple times with different brands of honey, so any brand would work. My favorites might be the ones I get from the farmer’s market. The butter should be unsalted!
Tiffy
Thanks!! We’ll try making this for our little one’s bday soon.
What size pan are you using?
Thanks,
Stacy
Hi,
I an using 8 square 2 inch 🙂
happy baking!!
Hello! I don’t have a food scale, so I was wondering if you have the recipe in cups? I’ve tried converting but the consistency was not the same like your picture/video.
Hi Anh,
Unfortunately, for cake recipes, I recommend using a food scale to get the most accurate results.
I got mine from Amazon for less than $10 🙂 super handy!!
Tiffy
This castella looks absolutely dreamy! I’m Taiwanese-Australian and I love recreating my favourite Taiwanese foods, and I’m so glad I found you and your recipes!
Does the recipe need to be baked in a conventional or convection oven? I only have a convection oven at home, and everytime I’ve tried to make sponge cakes that are baked in a water bath, they never come out right (e.g. dense or deflated). Also does the cake pan need to be a certain height in order for the cake to grow sufficiently tall? I’m worried my cake pan is not deep enough.
Hi )
you can use both, I tested actually in both types of ovens and it works. just make sure to add enough water in the pan so it is half baked and half steam.
i use 8-inch square pan, mine is around 2-inch in height. I recommend at least 2-inch
happy baking <3
Tiffy
while she uses 2 inch pan a 3 inch not only works but can give extra support if batter is slightly loose (runny)
shouldn’t be a problem but no down side so like using suspenders AND a belt….
definitely looking forward to trying this recipe!! in the written instructions, the temperature given for baking is 300°, but in the video you say 350°; which is correct?
Hi 🙂
apologize for the mistake, its 300F 🙂
happy baking!!
Tiffy
Which cake flour do you use?
hi 🙂
I use robinhood cake flour
you can add corn starch to regular flour (NOT self-rising) ro pass as cake flour
(note” self-rising flour just has baking powder, a popular leavening agent, added)
Hey Tiffany,
Is it bake and 300F or 350F (you say 350F in video). Also what size cake pan are you using?
Thanks! 🙂
Hi Sadie,
sorry for the mistake! its 300F! and my pan is 8-inch square 🙂
Tiffy
Hi Tiffy! What size baking pan is this?
Also, the recipe says 300 but the video says 350. Which one is correct? Thank you!
Hi,
I apologize for the mistake, its 300 🙂
the banking pan I use is 8-inch square 🙂
One of the best things I’ve ever made! It was light, spongy, and super soft. It reminded me of the small honey cakes I used to buy at markets when I was little.
Dangerous cake. I ate half in one day without sharing
an 8 x 8 cake would be too much for me alone.
i was wondering if i can do it in a 9 x 4 loaf pan instead? if it’s possible, can i just half the recipe and should the temperature and baking time be kept the same?
i really love the taiwanese honey castella cake and would like to make it at home so if you can advise me would be greatly appreciated.
thank you very much.
Yes! You can. You can try keeping the temperature the same, but the baking time might differ, so keep an eye on it and use the toothpick test a couple of times until it’s ready!
My batter is quite runny but followed the recipe exact any suggestions??
If your batter’s runny, you can try beating the egg whites and yolks longer and making sure they form stiff peaks. If that still doesn’t work, I’d add a little more flour into the batter.
Eggs size for the cake
Large eggs should work!
Tiffy
Hey I made the cake and I asked my mom to convert the recipe into cups because she said that the scale won’t come until week a later but I’m supposed to be going on a trip that week. So she gave these measurements:
-1 c. Cake flour
– 2/3c. Sugar
-8 eggs
-½ c. Butter
-½2c. Milk
-2 1/2 tbsp Honey
-1 tbsp Vanilla extract
I put parchment under the pan and baked it in a water bath, but the cake still had a chewy bottom and it was like shiny and rubbery. What do you think I did wrong or should do again?
I think it taste awesome but not sure why mine was slightly burnt and the innards are a bit too soggy as compared to the ones I ate before. Is it because I took it and cut it too early (20 mins from the oven)?
After a wrinkly first attempt, I realized it was because I didn’t know how to properly cool the cake. Take it immediately out of the pan and remove the parchment paper onto a cooling rack. Very tasty cake and happy to make again.
Hi, can you sub regular milk with oat milk?
Hi Lulu, it should work, but honestly I’ve never tried it myself and you may have to make some adjustments. If you do try it, definitely let me know how it goes!
Tiffy
Hi tiffy, thanks for the recipe! Our family loved buying this cake growing up, it’s nostalgic. I finally tried your recipe , following everything exactly and it turned out not bad! It had really impressive rise (almost overflowed the pan haha). However, my issue was that the cake turned out with a wet interior texture, like too much moisture. It had that sizzle you talked about but the wetness makes it unlike the ones we bought at the store. Any idea why it was like this, is this normal, and any way to fix it? Thanks.
Hi Tiffany! Yes, that can happen sometimes with home ovens. Store bought ones are made with commercial ovens that may be better at controlling consistent temperatures to ensure consistent, large batches. Plus, bakeries tend to let the cakes rest longer to release moisture. You can bake it slightly longer (and maybe slightly lower temp) to ensure better cooking inside (without burning the top), or after baking, remove the cake from the pan sooner and let it cool unwrapped on a rack to let all the moisture release while the cake is warm. Please let me know how it goes!
Tiffy
I halved the recipe but it still came out very tasty. Super soft and not too sweet Would try to make again 😀
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!