Kasutera/Castella

We have different kinds of cakes in Japan. Most of them are french-style, I think. Of course, we have our own sweets and cakes, but the western-style cakes are popular as well. One of my favourites is kasutera, a sponge cake which is a specialty of Nagasaki. Apparently, it was originally from Spain and brought to Japan in the 16th century.

A couple of years ago, I was dying to eat this sponge cake, so made my own. It turned out to be really easy to make, actually. When I was in Okinawa, I had never baked cakes. I didn't grow up using the oven to start with and always thought that baking was pain in the neck. When I cook, I don't normally measure the ingredients. It works that way in cooking, but not in baking. You have to be accurate how much flour to use and so on. Otherwise, it will be spoiled.

When I baked kasutera for the first time, I was amazed how easy it was and how good it was. It was a real kasutera! I had never thought I could make my own kasutera in my life.

Baking is still not my expertise, but there are a few things I can bake.I will write the recipe for kasutera soon.

*The shape of kasutera is normally rectangle, but mine is rounded as I didn't have the right baking tin... Sorry about the bad photo. It's a bit blurred.