food styling

Blue Hibiscus

/ Mutsumi / 4 Comments

hibiscus-oiseau-bleu2During later summer there is one shrub that gets lovely bluey flowers in my garden. It is the Blue Hibiscus (Hibiscus syriacus ‘Oiseau Bleu’). As I am not good at pruning the shrub lost its shape a little but after many years of neglect it still gives us beautiful flowers every summer.

There is another thing in nature that gives me huge pleasure during this season. That is the sight of the abundant crop of Blackberries in the fields. I went to pick some and by seeing its beautiful shiny crop I thought that I should use them for my sweets. The Blue Hibiscus flowers and deep reddish black colour of blackberries combined in my mind to be my next sweet design idea…

Blue Hibiscus

So that is how this creation was born. It is my Blue Hibiscus as the Japanese sweet for August.

Blue Hibiscus2

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Mochi Rose

/ Mutsumi / 2 Comments

In February I created a Japanese Sweet in a Rose shape for Valentine’s Day. It was a type of sweet called ‘Nerikiri’. This month I made another rose shaped sweet and this time it is Mochi Rose. ‘Mochi’ is a sticky and gooey rice cake that is getting so popular in London but actually it is not the easiest material to make into some shape. This Mochi Rose is my second attempt in a flower shape by following the Clematis I created in May. I like trying to create something new.

Mochi Rose

Unlike the pink Rose in February for Valentine’s Day, the colour of the flowers I had in my mind for summer is orange and yellow.

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Strawberry & Cream Mochi

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It seems like when June comes (it means when summer comes to England) I always think about Strawberries & Cream. It may be because it is the month that Wimbledon Tennis Tournament is coming nearer which is famous for ‘Strawberries & Cream’. Last year I made ‘Strawberries & Cream Cup‘ as a Japanese sweet and I made another version of it for this June.

Strawberry & Cream Mochi

They might look like cupcakes but these are Mochi type ‘Wagashi’ Japanese Sweets. This is a Japanese Sweet that goes as close to a Western sweet as it can get. This time I received good revue from the people who tasted this sweet. They said that “it tastes exactly like Strawberries & Cream!”.

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Clematis

/ Mutsumi / 2 Comments

It’s so spring here in London all of a sudden! Once the sun starts shining above our heads everything bursts out in the fiels and the garden. One of the plants that looks almost dead during the long miserable winter time but is the first to show signs of life in my garden is the Clematis. When the temperature becomes slightly higher, tiny green buds emerge from dead looking branches and then if you don’t care for it quickly enough all the leaves get tangled up and become a mess. However, if you look it after it well you gets a beautiful reward!

clematis_carnivalThere are many different types of Clematis. Some flower in spring and some in autumn. Some get small flowers and some get huge ones. The one I love the most is the type with bluey purple flowers with a slight pinkish tinge and which come out at this season. The Clematis in my garden is quite similar to this one in this photo and will start flowering soon.

 

Clematis

I created a Japanese sweet in a Clematis shape as the monthly sweet for May.

Clematis 4

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Oh! Hanami 🌸 Ukishima

/ Mutsumi / 2 Comments

For us Japanese Spring time is all about ‘Sakura’ Cherry Blossom. You might think all the Cherry blossoms are the same, however, there are many different types. The species with single petal flower start blossoming first and then other types with multi petals follow to open flowers. So that, although the best viewing time is quite short for each tree, we can enjoy viewing Sakura Cherry blossom for quite a long time betwee mid – late March and throughout April in Japan.

These days it is getting quite well known that Japanese have a picnic party eating and drinking under a full blooming Cherry tree. It is called ‘O’Hanami’. It literally means ‘the viewing of Sakura blossoms’ and it tells how much we love seeing Sakura. I tried to think a perfect Japanese sweets for this O’Hanami occasion which is something delicious in the Cherry blossom theme and also easy to pick and eat outdoors.

O’Hanami Ukishima

The sweet I created for the O’Hamani occasion is ‘Ukishima’. It looks quite like a western cake but is actually a very Japanese sweet with a soft, light texture. When I tasted this sweet the first time, I fell in love with it! The best thing about it is it’s so moist.

hanami Ukishima4

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