The month of May has just started. The biggest event in this month is on the 5th which is called ‘Kodomo-no-Hi’ the Children’s Day. It is the day we celebrate the healthy growth and happiness of children and do some ceremonies or eat some special food on this day. I have introduced some of the traditions we do last year over two posts.

Last year I made two sweets in this Kodomo-no-Hi theme. One is ‘Koinobori’ the Carp and the other one is ‘Shobu’ the Iris and I wanted to make something different this year.  I got an idea from some object we make with Origami. The photo on the right side is the thing  I used as the base design. I hope you can guess what it is.

It is a ‘Kabuto’ the Samurai Helmet made with Origami.

‘Kabuto’ the Samurai Helmet

So for this year’s Children’s Day I made ‘Kabuto’ the Samurai Helmet in Origami style with Japanese sweet ‘Nerikiri’.

When I was thinking what kind of sweet I should create next, somebody told me that he had liked ‘Yatsuhashi Wrap’ the most amongst all the sweet I made last year. ‘Yatsuhashi’ is a Mochi type of sweet with ‘Kinako’ toasted soy beans and cinnamon and I have just used it for making the Cinnamon Nest for Easter Eggs last month. I know the flavour goes well with Mochi but I was not sure if it would match with Nerikiri sweet so I had to test it. And it worked!

I wanted to make this sweet not only into the Samurai helmet shape but also combining with two flavours. One is Yatsuhashi Cinnamon and the other with original Nerikiri flavours.

The cotrast of two colours, one with slightly brown and the other with light off-white, went well too. For my eyes this sabtle natural colour combination looks rather sophisticated, more than the coloured sweet.

‘Koshi-An’ sweet Azuki bean paste is used as the center of this sweet and it matches so well with cinnamon and Kinako Yatsuhashi flavour of the outer layer.

This sweet is free from Gluten, Egg, Dairy and Oil.

This sweet will be served at Wasoukan Cafe (Notting Hill, London / presently closed for refurbishment) between the 23rd – 31st May.

Have a great Children’s Day!  😀