I’m in home stay now. I’ve already spent 2 months with my host family.

They are so good and always support me. I think sometimes that they are too kind to me. For example, they often give me a lunch, however they don’t have to do that.

So I thought about giving something to them. Then they told me that their wedding anniversary is 12^th April. I decided to make some sweets for them.

But I didn’t know what sweets they like, so I asked them. However, they answered “We like everything!”. I couldn’t have any hints from them.

So I figured it out by remembering some of their habits. Then I remembered that my host mother likes healthy foods. I decided to make a Castella. Castella is a kind of cake. It ‘s simple, not so sweet and very fluffy. Furthermore they haven’t eaten it, so I thought that it’s the best. But I hadn’t made it before, even in Japan, so I was so afraid.

I’ll write the recipe below.

1: Heat up milk and put honey into it.

2: Mix eggs and sugar with a hand mixer until they become sticky.

3: Add oil, honey milk and flour and mix.

4: Put it into a square baking dish.

5: Preheat an oven to 170 degrees, put the mixture inside and heat it up for 10 minutes.

6: Preheat to 150 degrees again and heat it up for 40-45 minutes.

7: Take it out of the baking dish, and wrap it.

8: Keep it in the fridge and leave for 2-3days.

It’s easy. Just mixing and baking.

I hope that it was good and my host family liked it. But if it was not good,  I’m not disappointed.  I enjoyed making it and heart is the most important thing when I make something, I think. I usually didn’t cook or bake in Japan, but  I want to try to make some sweets and foods from now on.

Haruka, Upper-Intermediate