かすてら。。。Castella

Kasutera (Castella, in English) a popular japanese sponge cake that was introduced by the Spaniards and later, as with most things that evolve into japanese culture, enhanced towards the taste of the japanese people. Still, I was surprised that it was quite sweet. Its an extremely moist sponge cake that takes some skill in making. Here's a recipe from a traditional wagashi book that I picked up. It's baked in a 40x60 cm. cake form. Here they actually use a 40x60 cardboard cake form specifically used for making kasutera and line it with panliner. You can use a 40x60cm cake pan with an extender which would work just as well.

Oven Temp.: Top/220 deg. C. Bottom/180 deg. C.
egg 1800 g.
egg yolk 200 g.
sugar 1800 g.
-combine and whip over heat until 40 deg. C.
honey 250 g.
brown rice syrup 100 g.
water 150 ml.
-warm to 40 deg. C. and add to the egg mixture.
-Strain into a mixing bowl with a whip attachment and whip until the mixture triples in volume, as for genoise.
low gluten flour 950 g.
-fold in the flour.
-strain through a 2 mm. sieve into a bowl and then pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan.
coarse sugar 50 g.
-sprinkle the coarse sugar on top and then place in the oven.

Here's the tricky part...baking it. After two minutes, with a spatula go over the top of the cake and smooth out the bubbles that protrude on the top of the cake. Do this two more times after each two minute interval.
Bake for another six minutes.
Cover the cake with an inverted pan, make sure the pan does not touch the cake. Bake for 10 minutes.
Place a full sheet pan with another 40x60 cm. ring on the bottom of the cake. Place two sheet pan with 11 layers of newspaper in the middle on top of the cake to act as a cover, the pan should not be touching the cake. This helps in slowing the browning of the cake. Bake for 15 minutes.
Remove the double layered cover to release the steam and recover the cake. Turn the cake. Bake for 7 minutes.
Remove the cover again to release the steam and place back the cover on the cake. Bake for 10 minutes.
The cake should be done at this time and evenly browned. Remove the cake form. Brush one side of a panliner with mirin and invert it over the top of the cake. Place a sheet pan on top of the cake and invert it. Remove the bottom pan. Cool. Once cooled, place a sheet pan on top of the cake and flip the cake. Remove the pan and the the top panliner that was brushed with mirin. Cut to serve.

Christmas Cakes and KFC?.....

Two things that are big here at Christmas, Christmas cakes and believe it or not, KFC. Yes, good ol' Kentucky Fried Chicken. I'm not sure why, perhaps, because it's American. You, literally, have to place orders ahead of time if you want KFC for Christmas. And Christmas cakes, where all of a sudden you see portable cake booths at just about every corner. You usually see shops taking orders a month ahead.

Christmas Lunch at Le Ciel......

We had Christmas lunch at Le Ciel, a French Restaurant on the 68th floor of the Royal Park Hotel at the Landmark Tower in Yokohama. At $80.00 a head for a 5 course lunch the food was........ok. Nothing really amusing or surprising which, I think, is one of the drawbacks of eating out when one is culinary inclined.

Les St. Jacques et "Tsubugai" saute a'la creme d'Ail

Le Potage de Celeri-rave et Pomme fruits

Le Rouget grondin saute sur Risotto sauce Beurre de X'eres

Le Filet de Boeuf poele' sauce Perigueux
or

Le Crepinette d'Agneau Duxelles farci aux Herbes

Dessert

It pains me when I see how much thought is put into the dessert at many restaurants, which is barely none. Two just as important dishes in a course meal is the 1st course, which should add some surprise and a sort of expectation as to what is to come next in the meal, and of course, the dessert, which is the last thing to be eaten. Like the last paragraph of an essay or the finale of an opera it should bring closure and satisfaction to the meal leaving your tastebuds wanting more.

Although it was cloudy, you could still see Mt Fuji in the background.

Beni Hoppe.........

Beni Hoppe Strawberries, one of the more sweeter varieties of strawberries in Japan. http://www.pref.shizuoka.jp/export/english/strawberry.html

Origines Cacao........

Origines Cacao in Jiyugaoka. Jiyugaoka is known mostly for the many patisseries that they have in this area. Here's one of the cake shops. Across from it is a place called Sweets Forest. It's like a food court, except that the only food you'll find in there are of the sweet kind.

In Jiyugaoka

Pain au Chocolat...

My absolute favorite. For me the size, shape, lightness, and the chocolate have to be right. Dalloyau, Maison Kayser, and Fauchon make good pain au chocolat. The one in front has a pistachio-chocolate filling.

Maison Kayser Recipe

France bread flour 500 g., levain 50 g., instant yeast 8 g., salt 10 g., sugar 63.5 g., egg 27.5 g., water 230 g., butter 22.5 g., butter for folding 456 g. at 50% butterfat, pate au chocolat sticks 30 pc.

Prepare dough as for croissant. 24' C. finished dough temp., 40 min. proof time at 28' C at 85% humidity, pin 45cm x 100cm, cut 8cm x 15 cm, place chocolate stick on one end and roll , place on sheet pan, proof 1 hour at 28' C. at 85% humidity, egg wash, bake 20 min at 170' C.

Maison Kayser.....

Two new books that I picked up recently, the famous Maison Kayser recipe book that gives recipes on their popular French specialty breads and the magazine H-style which features the pastry chef/owner of Mont St. Clair in Jiyugaoka and Waraku-Beniya in Tokyo, Hironobu Tsujiguchi.
In this line of work I have picked up two languages, French and Japanese. Although, now I speak and read more Japanese than I do French. The first, I pick up when I was first an apprentice and my first pastry chef was French. At the time when there was no internet and considering that my chef was not the sharing type, it was a matter of survival for me. Every time my chef would go for lunch I would sneak into his recipe book and copy recipes, all of which, were in French, of course. After many translations later and a couple of semesters of French in college.......you get the picture. As for the latter, again a matter of translating the language in recipe books and many travels and finally residing here. Japanese patisserie and boulangerie books make up most of my library now.

visit http://www.maison-kayser.com/, with shops in Paris and Tokyo.

In the Land of the Rising Sun.......

Well, in this case, it was setting. This was taken in front of our apartment on my way home.

At the movies.....

We went to watch "I am Legend" at World Porters in Minato Mirai, our usual spot for watching movies. If you think paying $9.50 to watch a movie is expensive, here admission is 1800 yen which is about $15.65. Here the seats are assigned which prevents people from sneaking into other theaters. Another odd thing is that everyone waits until the credits are done to leave from their seat, at least, at this theater.

Omu Rice

Here's the closest thing that you can get for an American breakfast, although, it's hardly American, Omu rice. It's an omlet stuffed with rice cooked in a tomato broth (similar to Spanish rice) and topped with demi-glace. They have restaurants that specialize in omu rice with a variety of omu rice, some stuffed wih cheese, topped with a cream sauce, or topped with beef stew. Sorry no sausages or bacon here.

Iron Chef Chen Kenichi

Remember Iron Chef Chinese, Chen Kenichi......He just recently opened up a new restaurant in the Queens Square in Minato Mirai, Yokohama. It specializes in mabodofu, a popular tofu dish.

和菓子 (Wagashi, Japanese Confectionery)

Here's a few selection of Japanese confectionery that we bought in Sogo Dept. Store. Wagashi mostly utilizes the starch root kuzu and mochi flour. It's an all natural starch without any chemicals or preservatives. Since kuzu helps balance the acidity of sweets, it is ideal in desserts such as kantens and puddings.

They have Wagashi Confectionery schools in Japan with a one year curriculum after which, you would train, at least, 5 years under a Wagashi confectionery shop.

Japanese confectionery usually range between 200 yen($1.75) to 800 yen($6.95) a piece.

鹿おん寺 (the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto)

This temple was built in the Kamakura era, way before Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1397 by Yoshimistu, the third shogun of the Ashikaga. The entire builing has been restored and gilded in gold, much thicker than the original.

東寺 (Toji in Kyoto)

This builing is called "kodo" where they house many of the different statues of Budda. We weren't allowed to take any pictures inside, unfortunately.

Japanese did not use nails in making these buildings in the past. The wood beam interlock with each other.

The famous five story pagoda in Kyoto

清水寺 (Kiyomizudera in Kyoto)

Going to Kyoto.....

You would think that there's a festival here with all this people. We went sightseeing in Kyoto on a Sunday and considering that it's fall and a weekend this place was packed.

This place was just amazing with all the trees in full autumn color.

Part of the temple is built on a hill on wooden stilts.