Misuzu Castella

In my snack time adventures I’ve covered some interesting and uniquely Japanese food stuffs. This time around, it’s different. Castella are actually yogashi inspired by the Portuguese, the same fellas that helped bring the world tempura. Hooray foreign trade!

I’ve seen castella cakes mentioned in manga and anime before and always wondered why the characters would get so excited over them. I mean, it’s a cake, whoop-de-doo, get over it. Coming face to face with these “baby castella”, or per the translation, “nut bell castella” was underwhelming. Ok, it’s cake, yawn. I bought them anyway at the urging of a friend. (It can’t all be candied crabs and super sour candy.)

Catsella, as previously mentioned, was originally brought over by the Portuguese in the 16th century. Pão de Castella, meaning bread from Castile, is rumored to be a Spanish invention. As is their long standing tradition, the Japanese assimilated Castella into their food repertoire and tweaked it to their taste. Castella has become popular as festival food, especially the smaller, more mobile versions like the ones I purchased.

The actual process of making the castella seems to be a pain in the patooty. The batter looks like a tough job in itself but then the baker must tackle a wooden box mold and then wrap it all in parchment. Maybe I’ll revisit that idea someday…

The mini castella, misuzu castella (mi-, nut or fruit, -suzu, bell), I bought are tiny and do look like bells. I’m wondering if there was a mis-transliteration somewhere, though. Mitsu is honey in Japanese and castella is also known as Japanese honey cake. I can see a mix up in the transliteration, maybe, between mitsu (honey), which is pronounced mÄ“- sÅ« and misuzu (nut bell), which is pronounced mÄ“-sÅ« zōō.

I like the packaging for the castella. It’s simple but elegant. The traditional graphics coupled with kanji make an attractive angle for selling a yogashi. The bag is filled with a hefty amount of the cakes and the price was right at $1.99 US.

These castella are a beautiful golden brown on top and a darker shade of brown on the bottom. Sugar covers the entire mini cake adding an enticing visual to the confections. Opening the bag was like stepping into a bakery. I could spend all day with my nose in this bag. This is a pleasant change of pace from the noxious wave of stench of rotten seafood that usually assaults me upon opening a Japanese snack.

Popping a castella in my mouth I’m instantly reminded of angel food and pound cake. Delicious. This treat isn’t too sweet and even though they’re covered in sugar the sweetness isn’t overwhelming. The flavor is like angel food cake and I can taste the eggs. It’s a delicate flavor and doesn’t shout at your taste buds to wake up and pay attention.

The texture is somewhere between heavy and fluffy. Not as fluffy as angel food cake but not as weighty as a traditional pound cake. It’s a bit on the dry side, however, which is an affliction that a good butter heavy pound cake or an egg white rich angel food cake never suffers.

I have a cup of coffee handy and am enjoying its bitter goodness with these tempting cakes. A fourth of the package is only 160 calories and has only 2.5 grams of fat. Good stuff and because of that I will indulge in a quarter of the bag. I think you should too.

Texture: Flavor: Appearance: Packaging:

Giving Misuzu Castella an overall: