Mochi Mummy ๐ป Japanese sweets (Vegan, gluten free)
Makkuro-kuro-mochi dressed up as a mummy for going to a Halloween party tonight.
Have fun in a safe environment.
Halloween
Incy Wincy Spider …
๐ถโฌ Incy Wincy Spider went up the water spout … ๐ถ
It’s nearly Holloween time! Great thing about this season for sweet makers is that we are allowed to create any spooky wooky designs.
๐ธ๏ธIncy Wincy Spider๐ท๏ธ
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.๐ I just hope you don’t have arachnophobia.
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!๐คฃ
Grape Mochi
This is one of the Mochi sweets I recently made. I used fresh red grapes as well as some sweet white bean paste as the centre filling. The size of the grapes was a little smaller side for using for this type of sweet but it was very juicy and tasty. In order to make biting easier the skin of the grape was removed before wrapped up in the Mochi layer.ย So it got three thing – looks pretty, tasty and easy to eat.
This sweet is Vegan and Gluten free.
I would also like to announce to all Wagashi lovers in London. I am going to have a WAGASHI Making Workshop in the Halloween Theme soon.
on: the 19th / October (Saturday), 11:30 โ 13:30 at: The Havan (262 Kensington High Street, London W8 6ND)
This time the venue is in a wonderful shop in High Street Kensington which serves a bowl of beautifully thick and creamy Matcha tea and lovely vegan sweets.ย They are also a kind of concept shop and have a lot of lovely things. They are offering 10% discount of any purchase on the day for all the participants. Isn’t that Great?
[The tickets] If you are interested in participation, please visit the detail page (โclick here to the Link). The class is limited to a small group of people so book now not to be disappointed! Cheers!
Wagashi Making Workshop in October
Oh, Nooooo, we are in October! It’s been raining every day and cold winter is coming soon! The sky is dark and miserable. I already miss summer. However, for the Japanese sweet lover who lives in or near London there is a great experience coming to you. I am going to have a ‘Wagashi’ Japanese sweet Making Experience Workshop this month. Because it will be held in October, the theme of the sweet we are going to make is Halloween. I love making Jack-O’-Lanterns and Ghosts but haven’t made them in a workshop yet. It will be a great fun making these cute & spooky sweets together.
Wagashi Making Workshop in London (19th/Oct)
I have been using different venues for the last few workshops and this coming workshop will be also in a new place. However, it is going back to a little closer to central London this time and also it will be held daytime on Saturday, so this will be much easier for some people who really wanted to participate but couldn’t before.
on: the 19th / October (Saturday), 11:30 โ 13:30 at: The Havan (262 Kensington High Street, London W8 6ND)
The venue Havan is a new type of cafรฉ which is located in the High Street Kensington area. It is an Ethical Lifestyle Boutique and Matcha Tea Bar. The shop owners are great Halloween lovers and I am very excited to have a Wagashi Workshop in the Halloween theme at their shop. As well as great thick and creamy Matcha tea and lovely Vegan food they have many interesting products. Come and join me in the workshop and you will probably find something interesting to take home with you from the shop.
[The tickets] for this workshop are available now from here (โclick here to the Link). The class is limited to a small group of people so don’t miss out on this great opportunity! See you there then!
Ghost 2018
This is my Ghost sweet for this Halloween in 2018. I have been making Ghost shaped Japanese sweets for the last three years. I created this one as the example of one of the sweets that I was planning to make in the Wagashi, Japanese Sweet, Workshop with participants. However, we changed the theme for the event in the end and I did not have a chance to make this Ghost in the event. I liked how the shape and the charming face of this ghost came out, so I hope I can create it in another workshop maybe next year.
Ghost 2018
Happy Halloween ๐
Mochi ‘Jack-O’-Lantern’๐
What is the most significant thing /character for Halloween? When you go shopping to a grocery shop or even your usual supermarket, you see many pumpkins piled up in a box. They are for carving into lanterns. I always think it is such a waste if they are just used as lanterns and not to be eaten. Once I was given a big orange pumpkin and I tried cook it instead of carving a scary face on the surface, but I failed, miserably. It was very watery, spongy and tasteless and how ever you cooked, it was unedible!
So my answer for the question I made at the beginning is Jack-O’-Lantern for me! It must be. You see pumpkins everywhere during this season. I made Jack-O’-Lantern Japanese sweet two years ago with Japanese sweet ‘Nerikiri’. It is a material which is very suitable to create a shape and pattern on the surface. This year I made it again, however, the material I used was ‘Mochi’. I wasn’t sure if I could make the detailed look of Jack-O’-Lantern with such a gooey and bumpy material but I tried it anyway.
Mochi Jack-O’-Lantern
It’s the Dracula ๐งโโ๏ธ Time!
For the last three years my monthly ‘Wagashi’ Japanese Sweets for October were all in the Halloween theme. For this year it has to be the same. I tried to think very hard this time and then decided to make … Dracula! The idea came to my mind quickly but it took a long time to come up with the design which would be easy enough to create. I finally decided to go for one design after trying so many possible models, however, as I started making it for real, the shape of some parts and the way to create them changed several times.
Dracula, Japanese Sweet
So here it is! The Star of this Halloween!!
Wagashi Making Workshop in London – Halloween Theme
I am going to hold another Wagashi Making Experience Workshop in London. It will be in October so the sweets I am planning to show how to make are mainly in a Halloween theme as the photo below.
Wagashi Making Workshop in London
on: the 18th of October (Thursday), 19:00 – 20:30
at : My Cup of Tea (5 Denman Place, London W1D 7AH)
The Entrance to the Chamber of Secrets ๐
At Halloween ๐ Night the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets ๐ might open for you.
Have a fun Halloween ๐ Night! ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
Halloween at Hogwarts
Although I enjoyed more reading the Harry Potter books, I liked seeing the films as well. When a friend of mine visited me in London we decided to go to the Harry Potter Studio Tour.
Harry Potter Studio Tour
The studio is located at the outside of London. We had to take a short ride on the overground rail from Euston station and a bus. However, it was much closer that I had expected.
Sakura Junction 