Have a safe and wonderful Weekend, Everybody! (^_-)-☆
green tea
🌸 Sakura, Sakura 🌸
Wow, time passes so quickly! It is already April and we are officially in Spring! This winter was so mild in England and spring has arrived early too. I heard that in several areas in Japan the symbol of Spring ‘Sakura’ Cherry Blossom has been flowering slowly this year and still not fully opened, however, it has been flowering everywhere in London. The trees in the park where I live nearby actually lost most of the flowers and leaves are coming out already. Since I was looking forward to seeing beautiful cherry blossom, it is sad that the best season is going so quickly.
Anyway, when this season comes I have to make some sweet in the Sakura theme for April.
Sakura/ Cherry Blossom
So, this is my ‘Sakura’ Cherry Blossom sweet this year.
‘Momo-no-Hana’ Mochi
I feel the sky looks brighter these days. The atmosphere is lighter and the air is warmer. I sense that the spring is coming nearer day by day. I even feel birds’ song sounds so much more cheerful. Maybe they are happy that spring is just around the corner.
About two weeks ago I posted that the 3rd of March was the Girls’ Day in Japan. The symbol of the Girls’ day is ‘Momo-no-Hana‘ Peach Flower, and this flower is also the sign for the arrival of spring. I made a Japanese sweet inspired by Peach flower for this month.
‘Momo-no-Hana’ (Peach Flower) Mochi
Mochi Kaki/Persimmon
It was until the last few years that I did not see any Kaki/Persimmon (Sharon Fruit) sold in any shop anywhere in London. But now this fruit is sold regularly with the names as Kaki, Persimmon or Sharon Fruit. The first name ‘Kaki’ is actually a Japanese word so it is obvious that the fruit is not native in the UK and imported. When I was a child I saw Kaki tree with lots of fruit hanging down during its season in every garden. If you go to the Japanese country side you can still spot bright orange colour in here and there.
I have made a Japanese sweet in this Kaki shape before. That time it was a type of sweet called ‘Nerikiri’ which is made with ‘Shiro-An’ sweet White Bean Paste but I was thinking that it would be very tasty and great texture if I make the outer layer with soft ‘Mochi’ Rice Cake and fill it with soft sweet bean paste.
Mochi Kaki/Persimmon
So this is the outcome of my tasty dream.
‘Mochi’ Rice Cake shaped into Kaki/ Persimmon.
Petal Mochi (Hanabira Mochi)
Happy New Year to you all again! Hope you had great Christmas and New Year’s Day. The first sweet I would like to introduce you in 2017 is this sweet called ‘Hanabira Mochi‘.
Petal Mochi (Hanabira Mochi)
‘Hanabira‘ means flower petal in Japanese so I shall call this sweet Petal Mochi.
It is a sweet we traditionaly have only during New Year period. It started in the palace to celebrate a New Year by eating two layers of white and red mochi with some other food. Until the Meiji period the custom spread out to people in the country and the food got simplified onto some similar type of sweet that I made here.
🎍 Happy New Year 2017!🎍
🎍 Happy New Year!🎍
Brand New Year has arrived! During 2016 I experienced many new things and thank you all the people who visited my Blog. I wish you all a very Happy New Year! 🙂
Matcha Ukishima Cake with Sweet Chestnut
This is one of the sweets I assorted for creating the Sweet Gift Box in an Autumn theme which I introduced on my previous post. It might look like a normal western cake but it is actually very Japanese sweet.
Dorayaki with Matcha Custard Cream Part1 – Soft & Moist ‘Dorayaki’ Pancake
I made ‘Dorayaki‘ Japanese Pancake and posted here at the beginning of this year. Although it was good enough for me I was not convinced that it was the best I can make so I did not include the recipe to share it with people. I have tried making Dorayaki many times since then and now I think I have the best recipe which I can be proud of.
So here it is…
Dorayaki (Japanese Pancake)
This recipe gives you a very soft and moist Pancake which is perfect for Dorayaki. Make one side smooth brown surface and the other side with a bouncy airy texture.
How Japanese’ Mind works in Hot Summer Day – “Shaved Ice with Matcha Syrup”
When it becomes hot and humid in summer, there is only thing comes to Japanese people’s mind.
Summer + Hot = …
“Kakigori” Of course!
‘Kakigori’ is Shaved Ice with some sweet syrup. We love it during a very hot and humid Japanese summer. Japan is composed of a collection of many islands that lies very long from the North to the South so that there is slight difference in weather but anywhere in Japan we cannot escape from the heat and humidity in summer time. So, what do we do? We enjoy eating the food that beats it!
That is the way how Japanese people’s mind work. ‘Kakigori‘ shaved Ice is the best remedy. Actually I have introduced ‘Kakigori with Mango‘ last year (Remember this ↑ flag?). Mango flavour is fairly modern in Japan, so this time I made the most traditional flavour for Kakigori. That is ‘Uji Kintoki‘ flavour.
Uji Kintoki Kakigori (宇治金時）
Uji-Kintoki Kakigori, Shaved Ice with Matcha Syrup & Sweet Bean Paste
Raspberry Mochi Cake / ラズベリー餅ケーキ
There is a Japanese traditional food that is a Japanese favourite but almost all foreign people disliked it. That is ‘Mochi’ Rice cake. Many western people have said that “Mochi is not enjoyable even if it is as sweet or savoury, and however it’s grilled or cooked with sauce”… That is until now. Mochi became very popular just recently at least in London. It has been used as topping on some dessert such as Frozen Yogurt and Ice Cream.
Because I knew western people didn’t like the texture I was avoiding to make any sweet with the Mochi texture in London. However, there is huge demand for Mochi nowadays. What is happening? It was so unthinkable before.
So I created this sweet with Mochi and Raspberry to make it looks like a western cake.
Raspberry Mochi Cake
How does it look?
Sakura Junction 