wagashi workshop :: japanese sweets making class

today, my friend & i attended a wagashi class which we signed up in advance a few weeks ago. the workshop demonstrated two japanese sweets, sasamaki and karukan. sasamaki is a bamboo leaf wrapped sweets made of mostly sugars (white, brown & black sugar (kurosato)) and karukan is a traditional sponge cake made out of nagaimo (long mountain yam), a main ingredient in the cake. we also had the opportunity to learn how to fold & wrap the sweets in a bamboo leaf known as the sasamaki. afterwards, we get to taste both sweets followed by a bowl of high-quality matcha (green tea). and of course, we didn't leave empty handed; each person gets to take home a small box contained of four sweets and a handout consisted of recipes & instruction.