Eggy & Robb re. kasutera

Eggy, I think your mother was making her own version of kasutera. Because we lived in Tokyo when I was a child, my mother really never made cakes at home because she never had to, with all the goodies available in stores. And every kasutera is different. The kasutera I ate back then was made by Bunmeido which probably was the first Japanese confectioner to make kasutera commercially, and their cakes were extremely moist and DENSE (it felt like bricks) with a mahagony-colored top. A lot of these Western-influenced food came into existence during the Meiji period, about 140 years ago, after the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate -- so for the Japanese in the 90's, kasutera is an old-fashioned dessert. Kasutera recipes are never featured in magazines and cookbooks because nobody asks for them. They are more likely to be into Belgian waffles and crepes these days. I have, however, noticed different versions of kasutera in groceries these days, such as matcha (green tea), orange, lemon, chocolate, mocha, etc.

Robb, it's really difficult for us to try to re-create your grandmother's kasutera. All I can suggest is for you to start with Susan's recipe and go from there.