Chocolate Castella Cake

5 from 3 votes

Chocolate castella cake is the dessert of your dreams. This fluffy cake has a fun jiggly aspect thanks to its light, airy texture. The chocolate flavor is delicate and it's super moist. In other words, it has everything!

Prep Time10

Cook Time1

Total Time1 10

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Japanese, portuguese, taiwanese

Keyword: chocolate castella cake

Servings:

Calories: 179kcal

Author: Viana Boenzli

Equipment

9" x 9" square cake pan
Large roasting pan that will fit the cake pan inside

Ingredients

¾ cup cake flour, sifted
¼ cup cocoa powder
⅔ cup whole milk
2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup neutral oil
6 large eggs, separated
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup granulated sugar
Dark chocolate chips
Cooking spray (like Pam)
Boiling water

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325°F and start a pot of boiling water on the stove.
In a small bowl, mix flour and cocoa.
In another bowl, mix together the milk, dark chocolate, vanilla extract, and oil. Microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each time, until smooth (the mixture will still be runny...this is normal).
Whisk 6 egg yolks into the chocolate mixture.
Then, add flour mixture to the chocolate and stir well.
Next, using either an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer with whisk attachment, whisk together egg whites and salt at medium speed until it becomes foamy.
At that point, add the sugar, turn up the speed to high, and whisk until soft peaks to make a meringue.
Add the meringue it to the chocolate batter, one-third at a time, gently folding it in until the color is uniform and there are no white streaks.
Prepare a 9 x 9 baking dish by spraying it with cooking spray, then lining the bottom and sides with parchment paper, then spraying the parchment paper with the cooking spray again. Make sure to leave “handles” of parchment sticking up the sides, as you’ll use these handles to lift the cake out of the pan after baking.
Pour the cake batter into the lined and greased 9 x 9 pan, using a spatula to level the top.
With the pan sitting on the counter, lightly drop it three times. This will break up any air bubbles.
At this point, prepare the bain-marie: Place the 9 x 9 baking dish into the roasting pan, then carefully pour the boiling water into the roasting pan until it reaches about 1″ up the sides of the baking dish. If you prefer, you can also place the baking dish in the roasting pan, then place everything in the oven, then add the boiling water.
Bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Immediately lift the cake out of the pan using the “handles” of parchment paper.
Then, while the cake is still hot, drop some dark chocolate chips on top.
Let the cake cool for only a few minutes. Remove the parchment and wrap the hot cake tightly in plastic wrap (to seal in the moisture) and place in the refrigerator for several hours until cool.
To serve, cut into 1″ slices and enjoy with tea or coffee.

Notes

FAQ
- Why did my cake collapse? After pouring the batter into the baking pan, make sure to drop it on the counter a few times. This will break the large air bubbles. If any small bubbles remain on top, you can gently break those up using a wooden skewer.
  The other possibility is under-whisked meringue. If the meringue is not whisked to soft peaks, it won't be stable enough to support the cake.
- Why is my cake dense? Again, there are two possibilities. The first is if the meringue was over-whisked to firm or stiff peaks, which can cause denseness. The other is cooking the cake too long. At about 50 minutes of baking, start checking the cake for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center; if it comes out clean, it's done.
- Why is my cake not moist? It's important to wrap the baked cake in plastic wrap while it's still hot (or in a ziploc bag, pressed tightly around the sides of the cake), in order to trap the moisture inside.

Suggestion: If you enjoyed this, you're gonna love our chocolate orange cake!

Nutrition