food art

‘MOMIJI’ Japanese Maple

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What I like about Japanese sweets is that they are so seasonal. The colour, design and ingredients are all reflecting the season. For instance in spring we create lots of Sakura Cherry blossom sweet and in November it is officially Autumn so we make sweets of Autumn colour.

‘Momiji’ Japanese Maple

One of the most famous plant leaves in Autumn colour is the Japanese Maple. It is called ‘Momiji’ in Japanese and is famous for its leaves having the beautiful shape with the most delicate cut and it changes the colour into a very vivid red colour amongst all Acer family.

Momiji 3

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Monsterrrr!

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Yaaay! I have finished the Halloween themed Wagashi Making Workshop in London. I always prepare enough material for going to any events just in case for any situation and some sweet bean paste left with me after the class. I wanted to use it creating something interesting. I was in the Halloween mode and wanted to make a playful design.

Monster

So, this is what I created with the green paste (for Frankenstein’s Monster) and the orange one (for Jack-O’-Lantern). It’s a Monsterrrrr! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

MONSTER2

You might not be able to see well but the Monster is opening its mouth and the inside its mouth beyond its sharp fangs is orange.

I wanted to play with it more and made the mouth bloody too.

MONSTER1

It is Vegan and Gluten free.

Have the enjoyable Halloween🎃, everyone!

Incy Wincy Spider II

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My sweet for this year’s Halloween is Spider! I made another one and posted it a little earlier. I am not a great fan of spiders. They are spooky but I don’t like killing them. Whenever I find them in my flat, no matter how big or small, I look for a container and place them in it and release them outside. They are good guys and not our enemies.

Spider

When it comes to the Halloween theme the colour scheme is orange, purple, black and white? I covered all of them in this sweet. The parts that the spider’s legs are touching have got a small dent on the purple surface. These marks are making the impression that the spider is walking on a slightly wet surface and creating tiny ripples.

Spider2

This sweet is Vegan and Gluten free.

Have a wonderfully spooookitacular weekend, everybody!

Incy Wincy Spider …

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🎶♬ Incy Wincy Spider went up the water spout … 🎶

It’s nearly Holloween time! Great thing about this season for sweet makers is that we are allowed to create any spooky wooky designs.

🕸️Incy Wincy Spider🕷️

I have never tried making a spider sweet before and this is my first attempt. Its thin long legs were quite tricky to make but it turned out to be so realistic.😅 I just hope you don’t have arachnophobia.

Spider1

Although there is a spider on this sweet, “No Animals were harmed in the making of this sweet” so that this sweet is totally Vegan!🤣

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Japanese Birthday Cake

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I created something I have never made before. I received an order for a Birthday Cake by one very enthusiastic customer of my sweets when they were served at the Kimono shop in Notting Hill, London. There were two options for a Japanese sweet cake. One of them is a traditional Japanese sweet in a cake shape and the other one was a cake with a traditional but sponge-like Japanese sweet as a base with some Japanese decorations. Japanese sweets I often make are mainly made with beans, sugar and rice flour so that they are vegan. I could happily make the traditionally Japanese vegan sweet into a bigger cake shape, however, I have been thinking to try making a very western looking cake but actually a Japanese sweet.

Japanese Birthday Cake

I suggested the latter option to the client and she agreed with it, so here is the Japanese Birthday Cake I made for her.

Birthday Cake2

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Morning Glory, the Summer Sweet

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How’s your summer been so far? (Sorry, it’s winter for the people who live on the Southern Hemisphere). Here in London we had a record breaking hot day in July which was followed by some rainy cold days and now some sunny but still quite chilly days as summer. I wonder whether the Indian summer will come this year.

Morning Glory

I made some Japanese sweets in a summer flower design. This is one of them, Morning Glory. I think it’s the most summery flowers. It is the first plant that I have sown the seeds and looked after myself when I was a child.

Morning Glory2-2

I made this sweet because I received a private order. It is one of the best sweets for summertime.

Galaxy Mizu Yokan

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This Sunday, the 7th of July, is a special day called ‘Tanabata’ in Japan. It’s not a national holiday but it is the day that everybody hopes to have good weather and looks up at the sky in the evening. It came from the ancient story that a young loving couple was forced to live separately each side of a river by the God. It was because they loved being together too much and neglected their work. However, the God saw that they were too saddened about the fact that they could not see each other anymore, he gave them permission that they could cross the river to meet once a year if the weather was good and the sky was clear. That one day they are allowed to see is the 7th of July. It’s an ancient story which was supposed to be happening in the sky. The lovers were actually stars and the river was the Milky way. I mentioned this story in more detail in the past so if you are interested to know more, please visit my old post of Tanabata with Cosmos sweet.

So the Tanabata day is coming tomorrow. It is known as a Star festival and a wishing day in Japan and there are some places having a festival too. Last year I made the Bamboo Japanese sweet for this occasion with ‘Sasa’ Bamboo leaf shaped sweet and the red and yellow wishing paper strips as decoration. I was wondering what sort of sweet I should make for this year’s Tanabata day. I wanted to make something quite different.

Galaxy Mizu Yokan

This one is my Tanabata sweet this year.

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Roses

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Oh, No! How time flies! We are already in July. Time passes so fast and it’s so difficult for me to catch up! I made these Rose sweets a little while ago but could not post it here until now.

Roses

Anyway, there are a lot of ways to express a Rose flower in a Japanese sweet. I have made several sweets in the past including the Mochi Rose last year.  The one here is using the same technique for making the Mochi Rose but I used ‘Nerikiri’ sweet instead of ‘Mochi’ this time.

Roses1

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