Maple Castella by Seven Premium, 7-Eleven Japan

I found another interesting underrate treat hiding under the Seven Premium cake corner in 7-Eleven in Japan. It is Maple Castella! And it came in bite sizes making it easy to share. (As you might know, normal castella cakes come in a loaf and in 2' X 3' slices that can be messy as you normally have to peel a piece of paper off, but these could be popped into my mouth straight from the bag.

The taste and overall experience did not disappoint.

The maple flavour was immediately very distinct and fragrant, exactly like the maple syrup on pancakes.

The cake itself was non-greasy, which is the case for traditional premium Japanese castella. 

And most importantly, despite the maple flavour, it was not too sweet! Since many naturally maple-flavoured bakes have maple syrup, they tend to be quite sweet, so I was happy about this normal sweetness level. 

As for the texture, however, it was more like a madeleine or a normal eggy cake rather than the traditonal Japanese castella which tends to be dense, moist and fluffy. This version was a bit drier than the usual castella, although within acceptable range, perhaps because of the lack of oils or butter. And if I were to describe the texture, it was slightly puffy as opposed to fluffy. I believe you can see this from the photo below.

Finally, here is the ingredients list. Interestingly, it contains custard paste, which is made from flour/starch, sugar, fats, and milk or eggs. Apparently, this is a common ingredient in such bell-shaped castella. And besides this, there is also vegetable oil, perhaps coated on the metal griddle on which it was baked to prevent it from sticking. So it DOES contain some oils, but maybe not enough to make it greasy. 

The maple flavour does indeed seem to come solely from maple syrup. The other ingredients are quite typical of traditional castella, such as flour, sugar, eggs and mizuame.

Discover other interesting castella treats

• Traditional Sakura VIA Castella Cake by Quolofune
• Japanese Komeko Rice Flour Castella Cake by Fukusaya, Tokyo, Japan
• Butter and Matcha Castella Rusks by Minamoto Kitchoan
• White Peach Castella by Minamoto Kitchoan
• Matcha, Original and Brown Sugar Castella Rusks by Quolofune
• Oil Free Cocoa Castella with Raisins and Walnuts by Fukusaya in Japan