When I first saw the Ogura cake on food blogs, I was pretty intrigued by it. Its simple appearance, cotton-like texture and nicely browned crust won me over. It reminded me of the castella and Japanese soufflé cheesecake. But what made me decide to bake this instead of the X number of recipes I was choosing from would be its almost non-existent (crumb) pores.
The recipe calls for 6 whole eggs and 5 egg whites. Surprisingly, it did not taste eggy at all. The steps involved are rather similar to that of the chiffon cake. It requires very minimal flour and no butter. It can be quite challenging to attempt due to the temperamental nature of egg whites/meringue, and the need for a water bath. I had to steam-bake it for an hour over low heat.
The recipe used is an adaptation of the one by Anncoo. To create a yuzu version, I replaced orange with yuzu juice and added some sweetened, roasted chestnuts which paired really well.
Imagine my excitement when I saw it rose nicely… And dismay when I saw a crack. Apparently, it has to do with the temperature of the oven. I was satisfied with how the taste and texture turned out but I hope I’ll have better luck – appearance-wise – with my second attempt.