Japanese Cotton Sponge cake with fresh cream

When I was living in Bangkok decades ago I used to love patisserie at a Japanese Bakery called Yamazaki. I have a vivid memory that cakes I consumed from Yamazaki was so divine - the softness, the slightly sweet and creamy topping - they also looked as beautiful as the taste.

 

When I moved to the UK, I found Victoria sponge cake and the rest of the cakes you get here were very heavy and ultra sweet. And I dreamt and I wished I could have one of those cakes at Yamazaki again. The thing is, those days I didn't know what it was called - I tried to explain to people how light and delicate it was - my friends who baked had tried and tried to bake sponge cakes for me to try but none of them remotely resemble my Japanese's Yamazaki cakes

All these years, I have been haunted by the memory of the cakes I once had. And that memory seems to polish the experience to become almost mythical. 

Recently, I found a cooking video on YouTube, someone baking a cake that I felt it could be what I once loved. "The Japanese Cotton Sponge Cake" 🎂

I only baked once or twice in my life -  it was a long time ago and I didn't make a good job of it. I didn't find baking easy, all of these measuring, whipping and whisking so I didn't bother. But after watching the video on YouTube I had the inspiration that perhaps after all these years I could create something to make peace with my Yamazaki's memory. So I went and bought baking equipment and the ingredients.

On Sunday night at approximately 21:15 I started baking my Japanese Cotton Cake - it was the first time I used electric hand whisk to turn egg white to meringue - there are things I've learnt from this baking expedition  - everything takes much longer than on the video and baking is tiring. I didn't finish it until midnight and by that time I was too tired to get excited about it. I put the cake in the fridge and when I woke up in the morning I ate a slice - just to find that ...either my baking skills has not improved or I have put Yamazaki cakes in the pedestal far too long - the cake gave me an indigestion and it was kind of mediocre.

Still, I'm glad I have done it. I'm sure my younger self would disagree and said, "Nothing mediocre about Japanese cakes they are gorgeous.  Just your cake is crap!" 😁😂