Sake Kasu(Sake lees ) Cheesecake with Fig & Blueberries -vegan-

   

Sake kasu(sake lees) , which is residue of when making sake, is fermented food. It has high nutoricious food, so reconsidered to use for healthy food since years.

I can't hold alcohol, but I can eat sake kasu after alcohol is evaporated enough, like cake or cookies. When sake kasu is cooked, smells like cheese, this is the reason sake kasu cake is called cheesecake even if it does't have cheese.

This cake has fig and blueberries. We can enjoy sweet and sour with sake kasu flavour.
Best match☆

**Sake Kasu(Sake lees) Cheesecake with Fig &Blueberries recipe**
18cm (7 inch ) round-shaped cake tin

<base>
50g almond
50g cashew nuts
50g oats
50g vegetable oil
20g maple syrup

<filling>
150g sake kasu(sake lees)
200ml soy milk
100g soy yogurt
50g coconut oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
150g cane sugar
60g almond powder
90g pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 middle size figs
150g blueberries

Bake the base:
1. Put all ingredients for the base in food processor and blend them.
2. Press the crust in bottom of cake tin firmly.
3. Bake it in the oven at 180° for 12 minutes.

Make the filling:
1. Warm soy milk in the sauce pan. Don't boil. Make sake kasu in small pieces and put all into the pan. Make them smooth paste and remove from the heat.
2. Add soy yogurt, coconut oil, cane sugar and lemon juice. Blend them thoroughly.
3. Sieve dry ingredients.
4. Add dry ingredients into wet and mix them.
5. Slice figs and place them on the crust.
6. Place blueberries on the crust between fig slices.
7. Pour the filling into the cake tin.
8. Bake it in the oven at 170° for about 60 minutes. Cover with tinfiol on the way not to burn top. Make sure cooked though inside.

9. Cool it down. Better eat after sitting for a night to make it to be moist and rich taste.

Matcha ice cream with waffles -vegan-

Clear weather today after huge powerful tyhoon has passed. However it is in west Japan. North and east area has caution right now, hope all will be safe.





**matcha ice cream with waffles recipe**

<matcha ice cream>without ice cream maker

3 frozen banana, about 300g
       (depend on sweetness of banana, add maple syrup)
40g almond
40g cashew
100g soy milk
1 tbsp matcha powder

1. Place frozen banana, almond, cashew in food processor and blend them.
2. While blend them, add soy milk.
3. Add matcha powder and blend all. When you taste it, if you like strong matcha flavor, add more.
4. Put all of mixture in a container, leave it in the freezer for at least 6 hours.


<vegan matcha waffles >

200 pastry flour
10g baking powder
20g maple syrup
40g cane sugar
70g soy yogurt
60g coconut oil
200ml soy milk
a pinch of salt

1. Sieve flour and baking powder twice in a bowl.
2. Add cane sugar, maple syrup and a pinch of salt to the bowl. Mix them thoroughly.
3. Add soy yogurt and soy milk to the bowl. Mix them until smooth.
4. Add coconut oil and mix all ingredients.
5. Ladle the batter into a preheated waffle iron.
6. Cook the waffles until nice golden and brown.


~If you change below, you can make non-vegan buttery waffles.~
70g soy yogurt → 2 eggs
60g coconut oil → 60g melted butter
200ml soy milk → 200ml whole milk


<decoration>
Soy cream and with matcha powder, powder sugar, kinako powder, goji berries, edible gold leaves

☆kinako powder is made from soybean.

"English Vinglish"

This is the Indian movie I watched when I was surfing on movie channel of cable TV one day. It was good more than I expected, I was late for class (this is on TV in the morning, and I wanted to watch as soon as possible).


**story**

A housewife(her name is Shasi) came to NY for family wedding preparation, and went to English class. She was modest, humble and sweet tempered housewife in her country with her well-educated husband and children, and then she became to open-minded and independent while she got used to life in NY with new friends.


In India, especially not in the city, I guess it is possible still closed society, which means let's say, talked about for housewives at home. I imagine like old Japanese ones, even we still have this circumstances. This is not bad but hard to live for housewives quite often. Dominant husband, need to be stick to the traditional family rules or like those.

When I watchted Shasi in this movie, and then she was getting independent in NY, I felt to support her in my mind. She had struggle between her traditional family style and new life with learning new language, culture and self-confidence.

This movie reminds me when I experienced to study in English in foreign counrty for the first time as Shasi had. Now I admire her smartness and beauty as an independent woman for entrepreneur.

Rich Pudding Cake

Once a year or two years I make rich custard pudding without guilty.
I tried to get healthy food recent years, but not every day. In my opinion, I need take balance to take food and this is on my responsibility.
I go to see a doctor when I am sick and take medication. Speaking of food into my body, I decide daily food control on my own even if I can get doctor or nutrician's advice.

I also wanna get a nice response from my family about daily meal or dessert requests as much as I can.
To keep good family healthcare, get family smile first.

**pudding cake recipe**
For about 18cm cake pan
Today I used smaller square pan and small cup

<caramel>
50g granulated sugar
1 tbsp water
2 tbsp hot water

<pudding custard>
6 eggs
500 ml milk
70g sugar
vanilla extract

<sponge base>
70g flour
50g sugar
2 eggs
25g butter

Blueberries and mint leaves for decoration.

1. Prepare to cake pan. Put melting butter inside of cake pan.

Make caramel;
1. Put water and sugar into sauce pan and warm it. When it turns light brown, add hot water. Watch out burning. Pour caramel into a cake pan.

Make custard;
1. Warm sugar and milk into a sauce pan until sugar dissolve. Don't boil them. Break eggs in a bowl and add warm milk. Mix them thoroughly.
2. Strain custard through a strainer twice. Add vanilla extract.
3. Pour custard into the cake pan.

Make sponge base;
1. Beat eggs with sugar in a bowl until it turns white and thick.
2. Add flour and mix them quietly.
3. Add melting butter into the bowl and mix them.
4. Pour sponge base ingredients into the cake pan. Spongebase could be floated.

Bake pudding;
1. Preheat oven at 170°.
2. Boil water.
3. Bake pudding cake in baking sheet with hot water in the oven for 35-40 minutes.
4. Cool it down and place in the fridge for a few hours.
5. Flip over the cake on the plate to serve.

Beautiful spot and new explore in Osaka -Osaka Castle Park-

  this is from the bridge called "Gokuraku-bashi".


I have chances to go to Osaka castle park quite a lot because I live in Osaka city and Osaka castle is placed in the middle of business area in Osaka city.
However, I walk around there only a few times in a year, in March, April and November of beautiful flower season.




Unusually I walked though on the way back to home on weekday, I was super surprised. More than about 90% foreigner tourists there. I saw two Japanese family and couple.

When I think about it, this is good place to know Osaka, history, samurai, and enjoy the walking.
I just felt odd. Feeling like that I am in other country but have a familiar sight. I was asked to take photos for tourists many times in the park yesterday. Funniest thing was I took so many photos for me there.




This is from the top of castle(called Tenshukaku). So beautiful, it was sun down time.




This is from the bridge(called Osakajoshinbashi).



This short cut was not bad.  Short cut means walking though the park without taking trains. I usually take trains because my house and bussiness area are on the diagonal position.
I recommend to go Osaka castle park when my friends comes to Osaka. This is nice to walk around here.

http://osakacastlepark.jp/foreinger/english.html


There are some other photos when I visited.

Plum blooming season in early March.



Budding green leaves season in early May. From the restraunt at the top of TWIN21in Kyobashi.




Lovely season in autumn leaves in the end of November.

 


I want to take Aqua Bus. looking nice☆
http://suijo-bus.osaka/

Avocado Chocolate Nut Squares - vegan-

I got lot of avocados today.
I cooked avocado creamy spaghetti for dinner, and still there were leftover.

Avocado chocolate tart could be nice for tomorrow's treat. It takes a night to make but easy to make!





**Avocado Chocolate Nut Squares recipe**
used 18cm cake pan

<the base>
60g almond
60g cashew
60g oats
50g coconut oil
50g agave syrup

<the filling>
250g avocado
20g vegetable oil
50g agave syrup
20g cocoa powder

pistachios for decoration

Blend all ingredients for the base in a food processor.
Press the mixture into bottom of a cake pan firmly.
Bake it in preheated 180° oven for 12-15 minutes.
Blend all ingredients for the filling in a food processor until it gets smooth.
Pour the filling mixture into the cake pan.
Place in a freezer for one night.
Transfer into a fridge a couple of hours before you eat.

I like eat in half cold, but if you like completely defrosted, OK. Even if you eat in frozen, not bad in hot summer. It is up to you.

"Lost in Translation"

This is my favorite movie, which is on TV quite often, every time I watch it, I enjoy the difference of understanding between Japanese and Americans.


** story**
An American movie star Bob Harris(Bill Murray) in Tokyo for filming of Suntory whiskey. He was feeling lonely because he was not comfortable in Japan for a little difficulties of translation Japanese and English. He also had a loneliness about family life. In the same time, young woman Charlotte(Scarlett Johansson) was in Tokyo, and she was also feeling lonely because she just came with her husband on business as a photographer. They stayed in same hotel and had feeling of same cultural barrier, so got into close....





For the first time I watched this movie, Canadian friend recommended me. He said "This is funny movie because we can find the difference between your country and me."
It was true. Misunderstanding for translation in this movie is so funny to watch even if I watch many times, maybe some Japanese feel uncomfortable to watch the way the producer filmed, which is I was', though.

Now I enjoy this movie about both character's feelings more than those funny parts of "lost in translation".  I think I could understand their true feelings of complicated, loneliness. Furthermore, I understand the irritation which they couldn't tell someone what they wanted to say. I don't think this is a romance, this is a friendship story.
We have to imagine by ourselves about last scene, there are lots of imagination.

As much as we can, we should watch this movie in English and Japanese. The pleasure becomes twice.

Soymilk Pudding with blueberries-vegan-

Last night my teenager boy finally claimed, "No more baking for a while. I need chips."

Pity to hear that, understood, though. I bake every single day recently, and I am feeling he is getting sick of it. OK, no bake today.

So, it is pudding day. Good to start Monday and back to school. His summer vacation is over. Best of luck, my boy!

**Soymilk Pudding with blueberries recipe**

500ml soymilk
10g agar
4-5 tbsp sugar
100g blueberries

decoration for blueberries and goji berries


Start to warm soymilk in a milk pan. Remove it from the heat when enough to melt agar and sugar.
Blend blueberries and 50-100ml of soymilk from the pan into a blender until smooth.
Mix thoroughly agar and sugar in a bowl before add the soymilk.
Pour warm soymilk to the sugar bowl.
Add the smooth blueberries into the bowl.
Stir thoroughly all ingredients.
Pour the container and place them in the fridge for an hour.

Favorite Chefs

  

I love baking when I was young. It is because of my mother.
I learned a lot from her and watching cooking TV show or enjoy cooking together sometimes. We used to get lots of recipes from TV, papers or cooking books, and currently I search online or TV.

The most attracting chef for me was Giada De Laurentiis.
http://www.giadadelaurentiis.com/

 One day I watched her TV show "Giada at Home", I was crazy about watching it . I watched Giada at Home every day before going to work, bought her books and DVDs, searched her recipes online and I tried her recipes.

Recently I like Laura vitale. Sometimes I can find a couple of chefs online who are so amazing. Giada and Laura are so active about entertain people while they are cooking.
I love that. They tell us recipes and more witness of how to live more comfortable when we are in the kitchen.

My mother also loved one Japanese chef. I took over her cooking books or recipes notebooks. The chef was Kuniko Mukoda, who already passed away because of air crash. She was truly not a chef. She was a writer. My mom loved her, so read her books a lot including cooking books.



Kuniko Mukoda's cooking is very homey. Now I read her cooking books, I found dishes which my mom used to cook for my family dinner. I remember that was so good. I now understand how much my mom loved Kuniko's recipes. Their taste was not same but have some similar heartwarming.

  

I challenge all the time for my family to love, miss and want to take over my taste.
However, it is hard for my boys. Now it seems important for them to have more quantity than taste of food.

Rose Madeleines with Classic Recipe

Madeleines are simple recipe and always good to be with an afternoon tea.
And also easy to take with as small gifts for friends. So it should be my best bakes but it is not. I love madeleines and bake for only me quite often.

The reason is the looking. Classic madeleines are mostly baked in shell shaped tins. There are so many kinds of tins in kitchenware store, and I believe we should choose best one if we bake nice looking madeleines.

Yesterday I baked shell shaped madeleines a lot for friends. I was not satisfied with the looking. Great taste, golden and brown, though. Gave them to my family.
My family always look happy to get my bakes so I appreciate that.

Today is a sort of revenge.
I baked rose shaped madeleines with lemon, chocolate and matcha. Honestly I like more rose shaped than shell. Easy to put it into my mouth.
I don't completely happy to bake because of the looking. However, taste is so good. Fresh lemony flavor spreads all my mouth, rich buttery chocolate flavor makes me happy and a bite of matcha makes me want Japanese green tea.

My mom baked madeleines a lot. She always baked basic ones with round tins.
Buttery flavor all over my house when I came back to home from school reminds me
 "This is my home."

**Rose madeleines with classic recipe**

<lemon>
2 eggs
90g granulated sugar
100g pastry flour  (80g pastry flour and 20g almond powder)
5g baking powder
100g butter
Lemon zest and 1 tbsp lemon juice


Beat eggs in a bowl and add sugar. Beat them until the color changes to cream yellow and fluffy.
Shift dry ingredients and combine them to the bowl.
Melt butter in the pan until light brown and add the bowl.
Add lemon juice and zest.
Rest the batter in the fridge at least 2 hours.
Prepare the tins using pastry brush with butter and flour.
Fill the tins with about 1 tbsp of madeleine batter.
Bake madeleines preheated 180° oven for 18-20minutes.

<chocolate>
Add 2 tbsp cocoa powder to dry ingredients.

<matcha>
Add 1 tbsp matcha powder to dry ingredients.

Mini Black Sesame Muffins -vegan-

Since I got mini muffin tins, I never use big ones. Mini is so easy to handle, and I love small bites. I can't stop digging sometimes.

I keep recipe of favorite basic muffins. I arrange this depends on my feeling, some ingredients in my fridge or healthier.

My recipe is mostly based on my mom's but actually I don't remember whether I ate her muffins or not when I was a kid. A few decades ago, muffins or cupcakes were popular homemade desserts in Japan? Probably not. I believe baking whole cake was more popular at home.

Today I baked mini black sesame muffins with using leftover of black sesame paste when I made black sesame pudding last week. Also this recipe is healthier than usual.
I remember saying to hate using oven in summer. When I bite this mini muffins, I totally forgot about it. This recipe made me so happy. So moist, rich black sesame taste and absoluely amazing muffins.




**Mini Black Sesame Muffins recipe**
makes 15 mini tins

45g coconut oil
50g soy yogurt
2 tbsp black sesame paste
70g cane sugar
20g agave syrup
90g pastry flour
40g almond flour
6g baking powder
20g soy milk

soy cream, white sesame for decoration

Mix coconut oil, soy yogurt, black sesame paste, cane sugar and agave syrup in a bowl thoroughly.
Mix dry ingredients well and sift them.
Combine wet, dry and soy milk until they are smooth thoroughly but don't over mix the batter.
Place into lined or greased unlined muffin tins.
Bake at preheated 170° oven for 18-20 minutes.

Art Aquarium 2016 in Osaka

http://artaquarium.jp/en/osaka2016/ 

Very beautiful spot in Osaka this summer☆
Feel like in aquarium or bottom of the sea or possible in space in here. This is aweome.
When you come here at night, much more having fun, means you can drink at abar inside.




                                                          





We can enjoy here fantasy weekends. I love here.

Matcha Cheesecake

I had perfect ingredients in my fridge today to make matcha cheesecake.
Summer always reminds me to make cool desserts for sure and this is a request from my family.

My mom made cheesecake based on a recipe of backside creamcheese box in old days. We can find tons of recipe from cooking books, and we tried many times different ones but she believe this was the best. So do I.

Decades have passed since then, creamcheese box still has informed us recipes of cheesecake. It is very greatful. Now I can arrange a little bit and have fun to make and taste it.

Rare  cheesecake is basically thick and rich taste. I think I want to make it more refreshing taste and cool, so I added lemon juice more than usual. This is very summer taste! And then, just before eating, sprinkle lemon juice a little bit more, it turned to be in heaven☆

**Matcha cheesecake recipe**

<base>
100g digestive biscuit for crust
50g cocoa powder
50g butter, melted

<filling>
100g creamcheese
100ml heavy cream
1cup sour cream
50g granulated sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
7g gelatin powder and 3 tbsp water
1tbsp matcha powder


Put all biscuits into a plastic bag and crush them to crumbs with rolling pin.
Add cocoa powder and melted butter in the plastic bag, and mix well.
Prepare loose-bottom tin and tip all crumbs in it, press down firmly into the base to make even layer.
Chill the tin in the fridge for 1 hour.

Make creamcheese and sour cream in a bowl soften with room temperature.
Beat heavy cream in an another bowl until soft peak.
Add granulated sugar and soft peaked heavy cream into creamcheese bowl, and then blend them very well.
Add lemon juice.
Soak gelatin in warm water as instructed in a gelatin box.
Add gelatin water into the bowl.
Devide filling in 2 bowl, and add matcha powder in one of the bowl.

Take out the base from the fridge.
1 scoop of white filling into a tin, and 1 scoop of matcha filling into a tin next white filling. Scoop again in altenate for all filling.
With a stick, move it from the edge of the tin to the other twice. If you like make marble pattern on top, pour matcha filling like draw a dot on white filling first. With a small stick, pull out a line from inside a matcha dot to white part.
Sit tin in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Cut square, and decorate on top with goji berries, a slice of lemon or edible gold leaves.

Fruits Clafoutis - vegan& non-vegan

I have had this a kind of tart since years but I didn't know the name "Clafoutis" when I was a kid. My mom probably made quite often with lots of fruits, and then every time she baked, different types. I just didn't realize that.

My mom used to bake non-vegan with eggs, butter and milk. like regular pudding.
I challenged to bake without them, and I made it. Healthy and tasty.

**Fruits Clafoutis -vegan recipe**

100g all purpose flour
1tsp baking powder
30g coconut oil
70g cane sugar
3 tbsp chia seeds with water (already soaked in water)
180cc soy milk
1tsp lemon juice and lemon zest
favorite fruits (blueberries and slices of peach or grapes)

Put cane sugar and coconut oil together in a bowl and mix them well.
Add chia seeds with water to the bowl and mix them.
Add flour and baking powder to the bowl while shifting them.
Add soymilk, lemon juice and lemon zest.
Put the clafoutis dough into a mold.
Put fruits on the dough.
Bake in the 180° preheated oven for 25-30 oven until become golden blown.

**Fruits Clafoutis -non vegan recipe**

100g all purpose flour
1tsp baking powder
50g butter
70g granulated sugar
2 eggs
200cc yogurt
1tsp lemon juice and lemon zest
favorite fruits

Put granulated sugar and butter together in a bowl and mix them well.
Add eggs to the bowl and mix them.
Add flour and baking powder to the bowl while shifting them.
Add yogurt, lemon juice and lemon zest.
Put the clafoutis dough into a mold.
Put fruits on the dough.
Bake in the 180° preheated oven for 25-30 oven until become golden blown.

Fruits Jello -vegan-

Simple and easy to make!
Jelly is the most popular dessert in summer. Recently in Japan, water jelly is getting popular among people who want to go on a diet.

Water jelly is made without sugar, just put favorite fruits in water and make it harden with gelatin. But if you are vegan, you don't eat gelatin, so use agar.

Today, I made tons of jelly. I didn't intended this amount first. I cooked liquid ingredient too much with mistake of measurement. However, eventually looking party time.

I used agar and sugar because when I use only agar and water, could make lump of agar.

**Fruits Jello recipe**
8inch Kouglof mold

1000cc water
20g agar
90g granulated sugar

you can use favorite fruits in jelly. I used frozen mixberries(blueberries, strawberries, rasberries).

I made jello with 2 mold, which means made this recipe as twice.
One has 200g mixberries with kouglof mold, the other has 4 kiwi.
And then I have liquid ingredients lefover , so made more mango one with jello cups.


Mix with agar and sugar in a dry bowl very well.
Put water in a sauce pan, and add dry ingredients little by little while you are mixing.
Simmer for a while more than one minute.
Put fruits in bottom of mold, pour liquid ingredients in the mold.
Cool it down for a while.


I crushed my kiwi jello and decorated  in a glass.

"A Mighty Heart"

**story**

A journalist Mariane Pearl searches her missing husband Daniel, who is also a journalist, in Pakistan. Despite of a frantic investigation with government even though Mariane is pregnant, she has to know difficult result.


I watched "A Mighty Heart" , this film was released about ten year ago, based on a true story.
Angelina Jolie played as a leading actress in this film, she was already strong and tough lady at this moment. Probably as a role, but I think her strongness shows her own.

This film has no exciting or nervous peak. Whole the story stream was simple view as a case. I guess this film was based on a true story so it is like documentary film. I felt sometimes rough camera work, maybe on purpose.


In the last part,I was thinking if I were she, how I would handle this situation.
How could I confirm my husband was killed? Could I watch the video?
How would I tell my son about his father in the future?

I like films in which has strong, powerful, smart, and having a faith woman.

Black Sesame Pudding -vegan-

Sesame is eaten all over the world. Japan is not the best producing country but I have image sesame seems Japanese food. This is my big misunderstanding.
American has sesame cookies, Middle Eastern or Mediterranean has tahini and Asian also produces black sesame.

Maybe Japanese people like sesame salad dressing, and I know foreigners loves Japanese sesame dressing.
I can't find this delicious Japanese dressing in other countries. I have never seen black sesame neither. Of course I know we can get Japanese supermarket in foreign countries.


My mom used to make sesame tofu for dinner. I love her rich sesame tofu. It was totally different one which I get at supermarket. She was good at making sesame tofu, and I am not.
She was also good at making fruits or coffee jelly, mousse or blancmange, and I am not neither all of those.

I guess I am not good at making ones which my mom was good. Just because my mom's was much tasty than mine, so I didn't have chance to make a lot. I need more practice.


Now I tried to make pudding. Black sesame pudding is rich taste, soft and bouncy texture. The problem is dark looking. No decoration looks car tire.
I decorated colorful table as much as possible today!



** Black Sesame Pudding recipe**

60g cane sugar
40g black sesame paste
500cc soy milk
10g agar

something favorite for decoration . I used black bean, goji berry(Chinese wolf berry), a piece of edible gold leaf, herb, mixture of soybean flour and powder sugar

Mix with cane sugar and agar in a bowl.
Add black sesame paste in those. Stir very well.
Warm soy milk in the sauce pan for a while, and pour a little by little in the bowl.
Put those liquid ingredients back in the sauce pan, warm them more than one minute.
Pour liquid in the pudding case, cool it down.

Soymilk Brownies -vegan-

Every time I baked brownies, I thought how to make it tasty.
Baking brownies is not difficult, so which means anyone could bake same taste.
I want to be creative, fun to eat, so sometimes change kinds of flour or sugar or some ingredients.

Today I bake in vegan way. No cow milk, no egg, no butter, no heavy cream.
However, if you I don't mind vegan way, I could change to sweetener to honey, or add rum. I tried to change to be healthy and tasty. I am not paticular about vegan.

And then I put salty macadamia inside. This is a kind of spice of this brownies!



** Soymilk Brownies recipe**

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup maplesyrup
2/3 cup soymilk
1 tbsp coconut oil (vegetable oil)
1/2 cup macadamia nuts (favorite nuts)
1/2 cup dried blueberries (favorite dried fruits)

sugar powder for decoration

Mix with dry ingredients in a bowl.
Mix with liquid ingredients in another bowl.
Put together dry and liquid ingredients.
Add nuts and dried fruits.
Put your baking pan and bake in the preheated 180° oven for about 25minutes.
Cool it down and sprinkle with powder sugar.