Ingredients
- Please read through the instructions completely.
- 8 whole "large" (55g) eggs
- 300 g (10.5 oz) sugar, raw cane sugar preferred, or use regular granulated sugar, plus a little extra sugar for sprinkling
- 200 g (7 oz) all-purpose or bread flour (not cake flour)
- 100 cc (about 1/2 cup, or 3.5 fluid oz) milk
- 4 Tbs. honey, plus one extra Tbs. for the top
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 170°C / 340°F, or 150°C / 300°F if you're using a convection oven.
Cut the parchment paper so that it's large enough to fit the bottom and sides of the cake pan with a little excess. Fold it in until it completely covers the bottom and sides, leaving a it hanging over. (To make it stick to the pan, smear a little butter or shortening on the pan first.) Sprinkle a little sugar over the bottom, on top of the paper.
Fill the pot with water and bring to a boil, then turn off the heat.
Mix together the milk and 4 tablespoons of honey - you may need to heat up the mixture for a few seconds in the microwave.
Measure the flour and sugar. Double-sift the flour. (That means passing it through your sifter or sieve twice.)
This next step is critical to the success of this recipe. Most of the people who have had problems with it have failed at this stage. I highly recommend having at least a handheld electric whisk for this. A stand mixer may be even better, if you can fit it with a 'water jacket' to keep it warm. Break the eggs into the bowl and whisk. Add the sugar. Start whisking this while holding the bowl over the pan of hot water. As soon as the mixture feels lukewarm to the touch, take it off the water and continue whisking. If it cools down again, put it back on the hot water pan to warm it up. You get the best texture if you stick to the lowest setting on your electric whisk, or whisk by hand, but you'll be at it for a long, long time. I usually turn up my electric whisk to about setting 2 or 3 until it starts to thicken, and then do the rest of the whisking at setting 1 to have small bubbles at the end. Either way though, you'll be whisking for a very long time. (Give it at least 15 minutes with an electric whisk, and a lot longer by hand.)
When you are done the batter will be thick enough to form soft peaks when you draw up your whisk. If you write your initial on the surface with the whisk, it should stay there long enough for you to read it before it disappears.
Whisk in the milk and honey mixture. Add the flour with your hand whisk a tablespoon at a time, beating until there are no pockets of flour.
Pour the batter into the pan up to the top. (see notes about what to do with any leftover batter.) Put in the oven and bake for about 50 minutes or until a skewer stuck in the middle comes out clean.
In the meantime, mix together the 1 tablespoon of honey and a little hot water, to make a glaze.
As soon as the cake is out of the oven, brush the top with the honey-water mixture.
When it's cool enough to handle but still warm, lift it out of the pan, paper and all, and put into a plastic bag. Seal the bag and put into the refrigerator, for at least several hours. This step is critical to ensure the kasutera has a moist texture. If you let it cool to room temperature before putting it in the plastic bag, it will end up a bit dry.
To serve, use a very sharp knife to make clean cuts. Cut off the sides (cook's treat) and make small, neat slices - one or two per person. Serve with hot or cold unsweetened tea.
Notes:
This batter is the right amount for a rectangular cake pan about 30 cm long x 10 cm wide, but most people probably have a 25cm / 8 inch square cake pan, and the kasutera comes out fine in that. You may have some excess batter, which can be baked in lined cupcake/muffin tins alongside the main cake. Take the cupcakes out after 20-25 minutes, then continue cooking the main cake. I can get a whole square cake plus 6-12 (depending on the size) cupcakes out of this.
Green tea is great with this, or try genmai-cha (green tea with toasted rice grains in it). In the summer, a cool glass of mugicha (toasted barley tea) is perfect.