Yogurt Castella Cake

This castella cake made of yoghurt is refreshing and super fluffy. Prepare a square baking pan by lining the bottom and sides with parchment paper. Into a mixing bowl, sift 75 grams of cake flour, then heat 60ml of vegetable oil in the microwave for about a minute and a half (about 70 to 80 degrees Celcius). Pour the hot oil into the bowl with the sifted cake flour and whisk it until smooth. Add 140 grams of chilled Greek yoghurt into the batter and stir until it thickens.

Set it aside. Separate five egg whites from the yolks and add the yolks to the yoghurt mixture in three batches. Mix the egg yolks well after each addition, ensuring they are well incorporated into the batter. Mix until the mixture becomes smooth and silky. At this point, preheat the oven to 300F(150C). Add a few drops of lemon juice to the bowl with the egg whites. Using an electric whisk, beat the egg whites at high speed until they form bubbles.

Add 65 grams of sugar in three additions to the egg whites and beat well after each addition. After adding the last batch of the sugar, mix just until the meringue reaches a soft peak. Mix a third of the meringue in the yolk batter from bottom to top with a whisk. Pour the batter directly into the remaining meringue and continue folding the mixture until smooth and incorporated. Finish folding with a spatula and ensure there is no visible meringue.

Once done, pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and tap it gently on the counter a few times to remove tiny bubbles in the batter. Place the pan in a larger baking tray and add cold water about 3 cm from the bottom. Bake in the preheated 300F(150C) oven for 60 minutes. After 60 minutes, increase the temperature to 320F/ 160C and bake for 6-8 minutes for surface colouring.

Once baked, take the cake out of the oven and demold it immediately; otherwise, the heat will become water vapour, and the bottom of the cake will be moist. Leave the cake to cool for about 20 minutes before slicing it into a soft cake. Cut the cake into pieces to see the internal texture of this soft cake. This cake will melt in your mouth. Serve it plain or with any cream of your choice.