Now officially it is spring in the UK. Which means Sakura season has started. Sakura is a Japanese word for Cherry tree and also Cherry Blossom. People in Japan love Cherry blossoms and go crazy when this season starts or even before when the season comes nearer. I mentioned about our tradition in Sakura season three years ago on this blog so if you are interested about the custom please read my old post.

As well as our traditional Cherry Blossom viewing ‘Hanami’ we like to eat all sorts of food which is in flavour or shape of Sakura blossom. There are many ways to produce Sakura related sweets and I will try making several different types in this season.

Sakura sweet in Japanese Crêpe style (with recipe)

This is a baked type Sakura sweet in crêpe style.

The outer layer is a baked crêpe type in coloured in cherry blossom pink. I added some rice flour so it’s slightly Mochi like in texture. As the reminder of the season I added a cherry blossom shape on top. The filling inside is sweet Azuki (Red) Beans Tsubu-an paste.

[Ingredients] (Makes about 12 Crêpes)

• 50g of Gultinous Rice Flour
• 50g of White Wheat Flour
• 1Tbsp of Sugar
• Beetroot paste or Pink Food Colour
• Vegetable Oil, a little
• 200g of Tsubu-an Sweet Azuki (Red) bean paste (or Sakura-an / anything you like)
• 110-115ml of Water

[Direction]

Mix Glutinous Rice flour with 110ml (or a little bit more) of Water in a bowl. Add in Wheat flour, sugar and mix well to make a soft runny dough.

Add a tiny amount of Beetroot paste (or Food colouring) to make the dough into a light pink colour.

Heat a frying pan and use a tiny amount of oil. Pour 1 Tbsp amount of dough on the heated pan and spread into an oval shape by using the back of the spoon.

When the surface starts drying turn the crêpe upside down to bake the opposite side for about 30 seconds.

When the crêpe gets cooled down roll it with the filling inside.

Enjoy your 🌸 spring days!