Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swiss Roll (Chiffon Cake Roll)

 


Just another day for Haloween treats.
Always love Swiss rolls with whipped cream inside. Makes me peachy.
Today I replaced it with filling cream cheese for a change. Absolutely amazing.





**Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swiss Roll recipe**
18*28 cm(7*11 inch) roll cake baking sheet

3 eggs whites
3 egg yolks
50g granulated sugar
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp oil
50g pastry flour
150g pumpkin puree(steamed, peeled and mashed pumpkin. )
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp clove powder

200g cream cheese
50g granulated sugar
1 tbsp butter
A hint of vanilla extract

1. Beat egg whites in a bowl. Add 1/2 granulated sugar into a bowl and beat until it becomes glossy and get stiff peak.
2. Beat egg yolks and 1/2 leftover sugar in another bowl until it becomes a little bit white and fluffy.
3. Add milk, oil, pumpkin puree, cinnamon powder and clove powder into egg yolks bowl, and blend them.
4. Sieve dry ingredients and add half of them into egg yolk bowl. Blend quietly.
5. Add 1/2 egg whites into egg yolk bowl and blend quietly.
6. Add 1/2 leftover dry ingredients into the bowl and blend quietly.
7. Add 1/2 leftover egg whites into egg yolk bowl and blend quietly.
8. Pour the batter into Swiss roll cake pan with baking sheet evenly.
9. Bake it in the preheated oven at 180°C for 13-14 minutes.

10. Cool it down while covering with plastic wrap to keep moist and take out burn on top later.
11. When it get cool, Take out plastic wrap with brown surface of sponge.
12. Whip cream cheese, sugar, softened butter and vanilla extract in a clean bowl until stiff peak.
13. Spread out on sponge and roll it up.

14. Cover the roll cake with baking sheet, keep it in a fridge for at least 1 hour before you serve.

【Help me】How to make the beetroot color brighter when I bake cakes?

I baked beetroot and pear cake today. Recipe is posted on the previous page.

I am satisfied the taste of this awesome cake but I couldn't make the beautiful pink color of beetroot active when I baked.
How should I make it?

I know beetroot is easily affected by heat. So if I want to the pink color very active, I should make raw cake.
There are lots of beetroot cake recipes, especially with chocolate, and they look so good but most of them don't have beautiful color behind dark chocolate.

Beetroot and pear cake -vegan-

Beet is not familiar with most of area in Japan, getting to be known but still hard to use for our daily cooking. The first time I knew beetroot was when I was in Canada, my Russian friend showed me beetroot salad. That was the one which has herring, cheese, potato, beetroot and other vegetables and they had become the layers. It was so good to eat, so I tried to make the same salad when I came back to Japan about 12 years ago. However, it is hard to find beetroot in supermarket. I remember I bought it in department store.

Now getting familiar for Russian food, most popular dish is borscht.
Recently, I knew there is beetroot and chocolate cake. This is my new discover and I am going to try some bake using beetroot. Today I combined beetroot and pear.
This cake could be developed in some part, it is possible to add some spice and make it better beetroot vivid pink color.
This is slready awesome for sure! Super moist cake is heavenly.






*Beetroot and pear cake recipe**

for 15cm (6 inch) round cake pan

1 pear
1 tbsp oil
2 tbsp demarara sugar

160g beetroot  (make it puree; I used can of beetroot. )
1 banana
1 tbsp lemon juice
100g soy yogurt
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp apple vinegar
1 tbsp oil

55g almond flour
50g coconut flour
3 tsp baking powder

soy cream and pistachio for decoration


1. Peel and cut into slices a pear and place them in the bottom of your cake pan with paper liner.
2. Brush pear slices with oil and sprinkle demerara sugar on them. Set aside.
3. Put mashed banana, lemon juice, soy yogurt, maple syrup, oil and apple vinegar into a bowl. Blend them well.
4. Prepare dry ingredients in another bowl. Blend almond flour, coconut flour and baking powder. Blend them well.
5. Add beetroot puree into wet ingredients bowl and combine them.
6. Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients bowl and combine them.
7. Pour the mixture into the cake pan spread over evenly.
8. Bake it in the preheated oven at 170°C for 60 minutes. Make sure the middle of the cake is baked with using a pick.
9. Cool it down completely and place it in the fridge for a couple of hours.
10. Decorate with whipped soy cream and some pistachio.

Mini Black Sesame Mont Blanc -vegan-

Halloween is coming soon.
I always make desserts using pumpkin. I need something black.

Black sesame is my favorite flavor when I make desserts. Black sesame cream is very useful for this season. We can eat with sponge cake, pan cakes, anything matches with this cream.
I have one more thing I want to tell.
Edible gold leaf is also useful. This makes desserts definitely gorgeous. I promise.


 




**Mini Black Sesame Mont Blanc recipe**

For 12 mini muffin tins

<crust>
30g almond flour
30g coconut flour
30g maple syrup
20g oats
1 tbsp black sesame paste

1. Blend all ingredients in a bowl or mix them in a blender.
2. Place the dough in the fridge for an hour.
3. Spread over the dough and cut round shape for mini muffin tin size. Place the dough into the bottom and sides of mini muffin tins.
4. Bake the crust in the oven at 170°C for 15 minutes.
5. Cool the crust down completely.

<black sesame cream>
450g sweet potato(peeled)
50g cane sugar
20g maple syrup
40g black sesame paste
100mL soy milk
200mL soy cream

1. Steam sweet potato until soft completely and make it puree with either use strainer or blender. Make it sure it is very smooth without chunk because puree has chunks, it could get stuck in piping bag when decorating.
2. Combine cane sugar in sweet potato puree while it is warm.
3. Add soy cream, soy milk, maple syrup and black sesame paste into the mixture. Blend them thoroughly until it gets gray color evenly.
4. Keep small amount of this puree because we use it for filling for Mont Blanc.
5. Put black sesame cream into piping bag with Mont Blanc nozzle.

<filling>
small amount of black sesame cream
100g soy cream
10g sugar

1. Whip soy cream and sugar.

<decoration>
1. Put small amount of black sesame cream into the bottom of crust base.
2. Pipe whipped cream on black sesame as make a swirl.
3. Pipe black sesame cream on whipped cream as make a swirl without stop.

Yuzu Tart - vegan-

A yuzu tree have lots of fruits this year.
Still green but good enough to use for making desserts or cooking.

They are so juicy and Japanese citrus scent makes me so happy. It is easy to handle when I cook because they don't have seeds yet, maybe green ones don't have them...?

I love hot yuzu bath in the winter. On a freezing cold day, I can be so comfortable in a bath tub before go to bed. Basically we throw yellow ones into bath tub.




Anyway, I can enjoy yuzu tart today.





**Yuzu Tart recipe**

6 inch round cake pan

<crust>
30g almond
30g oats
20g oil
20g maple syrup

<filling>
120mL yuzu juice
200mL soy milk
110g soy yogurt
30g sugar
20g maple syrup
3 tbsp kuzu starch (you can use your favorite starch.)
2 tsp agar powder (Yuzu has strong acidty, so filling might not coagulate when you use agar. Adjust the amount of other starch. I used kuzu starch more than regular amount.)
some yuzu peel


<decoration>
some soy cream and powder sugar, yuzu peel

1. Blend all ingredients for crust in a blender.
2. Place the crust onto the bottom of the cake pan and push it firmly evenly.
3. Bake the crust in the preheated oven at 170°C for 15 minutes.
4. Mix yuzu juice soy milk, soy yogurt, sugar and maple syrup in a sauce pan. Start warm up on the medium low heat.
5. Add agar powder and kuzu starch into the sauce pan. Mix them until the mixture gets thick.
6. Pour the filling mixture on the crust.
7. Leave the tart in the fridge for a night.
8. Decorate yuzu tart with soy cream or yuzu peel in your favorite style.

NCIS LA Season8 episode 05 -Kensi wake up

Eventually Kensi woke up.
Long time until I can feel calm.

We had not watched NCIS LA season8 in Japan, but I knew the story.
When I knew Kensi was in coma, and Deeks talked to her, he touched with her, and I just remember this song which was used in NCIS LA season5 episode10 "The Frozen Lake". Deeks was stunned when Kensi gone to classified mission in the last scene with this song.

I took my love and I took it down
I climbed a mountain and I turned around

And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
‘Till the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail thru the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Well, I’ve been afraid of changing
‘Cause I’ve built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
I’m getting older too

Well, I’ve been afraid of changing
‘Cause I, I built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
I’m getting older too
I’m getting older too

So, take my love, take it down
Oh climb a mountain and turn around
If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide will bring you down, down

And If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well maybe the landslide will bring it down
Oh oh, the landslide will bring it down

Definitely great song.

Matcha Almond Tart

I am getting into almond tart lately.
I promise never hate this forever.


Easy to arrange various kinds of almond tart.

Everyone loves basic caramelized almond tart.
My best friend loves cocoa type.
My family loves matcha type.

Just add your favorite flavor into filling.

Matcha flavor spreads over in my mouth. Heavenly☆




** Matcha Almond Tart recipe**

<tart base> for 15cm (6 inch )  2 tart molds or 18cm (7 inch )1 tart mold
15g unsalted butter
40g sugar powder
1/2 egg
150g pastry flour
15g almond powder

1. Put room temperature butter in a bowl. Add sugar powder and mix them.
2. Add egg to the bowl and mix them until smooth.
3. Add almond powder and combine them. Make one batch.
4. Wrap tart dough and keep it in the fridge for 12-24 hour.
5. Cut tart dough in half (possible to keep another half in freezer). Press the dough on the table with wrap or flour not to stick. If the tart dough gets melting, keep it back in the fridge, and start to press again. Transfer the dough into tart mold.
7. Press the dough onto bottom and sides of tart mold firmly and keep it in the fridge again for 1 hour.
8. Put the baking paper on tart dough and put tart stones onto it.
8. Bake the tart dough in preheated oven at 180°C for 12 minutes. Remove tart stones and baking paper and put it back to the oven and bake it for 5 minutes. If the dough is baked completely, don't mind (we bake the dough again with filling later).


<almond filling> for 15cm (6 inch) 1 tart mold
30g unsalted butter
25g powder sugar
1/2 egg
40g almond powder
1 tsp matcha powder

1. Put room temperature butter in a bowl. Add sugar powder and mix them.
2. Add egg to the bowl and mix them until smooth.
3. Add almond powder and matcha powder. Combine them.
4. Pour the almond filling into the baked tart.
5. Bake it in the preheated oven at 180°C for 20 minutes. If the top of the tart burns, cover with alminum foil.
6. Cool the tart down.


<almond nougat> for 15cm (6 inch) 1 tart mold
40g sliced almonds
25g butter
25g sugar
25g honey

1. Put butter, sugar and honey in sauce pan on the low heat while mix them.
2. When they are melting, add sliced almonds in the sauce pan, and mix them intil light brown.

<Finishing almond tart>
1. Put the almond nougat onto the baked tart.
2 Bake it in the oven at 180°C for 10-12 minutes.
3. Cool it down.

Pumpkin and Matcha Chiffon Cake

 

I am getting into baking chiffon cake from yesterday.
Last night I baked cocoa chiffon, and today is pumpkin and matcha.

There are various recipes of chiffon cake, it is hard to decide specific one because I have lots of favorite flavor. I picked up pumpkin and matcha today, but last year my favorite was earl gray with soy milk.

Amount of egg whites could change if you add flavor in chiffon dough.
Pumpkin paste is heavy for chiffon dough, so I used 4 egg whites. Basically I use 3 egg yolks and 3 egg whites for 17 cm(6.7 inch) chiffon cake mold as you bake chiffon cake with cocoa or matcha powder.

I love to eat chiffon cake with heavy cream, my son does without it. It depends.
Pumpkin cream I made yesterday was awsome decoration for chiffon cake.






** Pumpkin chiffon cake recipe**
18cm(7 inch) chiffon mold

3 egg yolks
60g granulated sugar
15mL oil
50mL milk
4 egg white
60g pumpkin paste(peal, steam and mash pumpkin)
65g pastry flour
2g baking powder
10g cinnamon powder

<Bake chiffon cake>
1. Combine egg yolks and 10g granulated sugar in a bowl with whisk.
2. Add oil little by little into the bowl and blend them.
3. Add milk little by little into the bowl and pumpkin paste. Blend them well.
4. Shift pastry flour, cinnamon powder and baking powder twice, and add them into the bowl. Blend them quietly.
5. Put egg white in another bowl and start to make meringue.
6. Add 50g granulated sugar into a bowl little by little and whisk them until firm meringue.
7.  Combine 1/3 meringue and 4. mixture and then add 2/3 meringue into the bowl. Mix them quietly.
8. Pour the mixture into a chiffon mold.
9. Bake it in the preheated oven at 170°C for 30-35 minutes.
10. Cool down with upside-down.

<Decoration chiffon cake>
Whipped cream with sugar, pumpkin seeds, possible to use powder sugar for sprinkling.


** Matcha chiffon cake recipe**
17cm(6.7 inch) chiffon mold

3 egg yolks
60g granulated sugar
30mL oil
60mL milk
3 egg white
60g pastry flour
3g baking powder
6g matcha powder


<Bake chiffon cake>
1. Combine egg yolks and 10g granulated sugar in a bowl with whisk.
2. Add oil little by little into the bowl and blend them.
3. Add milk little by little into the bowl and blend them well.
4. Shift pastry flour, matcha powder and baking powder twice, and add them into the bowl. Blend them quietly.
5. Put egg white in another bowl and start to make meringue.
6. Add 50g granulated sugar into a bowl little by little and whisk them until firm meringue.
7.  Combine 1/3 meringue and 4. mixture and then add 2/3 meringue into the bowl. Mix them quietly.
8. Pour the mixture into a chiffon mold.
9. Bake it in the preheated oven at 170°C for 30-35 minutes.
10. Cool down with upside-down.

<Decoration chiffon cake>
Whipped cream with sugar, matcha powder, sweet black beans, possible to use powder sugar for sprinkling.

If you like pumpkin cream,
<Pumpkin cream>
150g pumpkin
20g cane sugar
20g soy cream
rum

1. Steam pumpkin until soften. Remove skin and small amount of pumpkin, and keep them for decoration later.
2. Make pumpkin puree in blender, make sure it is smooth. If it is not, pumpkin stuck in piping bag when you decorate.
3. Add cane sugar, soy cream and rum in the blender and combine with pumpkin puree.

MARUKAME and Kona's Coffee in Osaka -Udon and Pancakes-

Udon is popular food in Japan. I love it, and miss it when I can't eat for long time.
When I was in Canada, I cooked once, and my friend had a sip of soup, and said, " This is awesome soup but talking of noodle, I prefer ICHIBAN to udon."
ICHIBAN is ramen.

Now Udon is trending overseas. So happy to hear that.
Marukame UDON, Japanese udon restaurant group,  is opened  in Hawaii, and other udon Japanese udon restaurants are also opened in United States.
http://www.toridollusa.com/

MARUKAME UDON is famous in Japan, and this company's food business has been wide spread more than that. Udon, Ramen, Tenpura, Yakisoba and Pancakes, they are a kind of Japanese flour food business. That company's name is Toridoll.
http://www.toridoll.com/en/

We have Hawaiian Pancake Cafes in Japan, just several cafe in Japan, luckly in Osaka.
I visited there last week. It is opened first a few years ago, still packed with many people.
When you go around Neyagawa city in Osaka, enjoy this pancakes of udon company☆
Talking about Marukame Udon, we have lots of restaurants here.



Tiramisu Pancakes


Abocado humberg and Pancakes
 

Eggs benedict pancakes

Cocoa Chiffon Cake for Halloween dessert

It is difficult to bake Chiffon all the time.
I need fluffy, moist and a little chewy Chiffon dough.

Today's Chiffon is cocoa flavor. I love this more than rich chocolate.
Super fluffy shiffon is heavenly all day!





**cocoa chiffon cake recipe**

17cm(6.7 inch) chiffon mold

3 egg yolks
40g granulated sugar
30mL oil
50mL hot water
3 egg white
10g cocoa
50g pastry flour
5g baking powder

<Bake chiffon cake>
1. Combine egg yolks and 10g granulated sugar in a bowl with whisk.
2. Add oil little by little into the bowl and blend them.
3. Add hot water little by little into the bowl and blend them.
4. Shift pastry flour and baking powder twice, and add them into the bowl. Blend them quietly.
5. Put egg white in another bowl and start to make meringue.
6. Add 30g granulated sugar into a bowl little by little and whisk them until firm meringue.
7.  Combine 1/3 meringue and 4. mixture and then add 2/3 meringue into the bowl. Mix them quietly.
8. Add cocoa into the bowl and blend them lightly. Don't mix too much.
9. Pour the mixture into a chiffon mold.
10. Bake it in the preheated oven at 170°C for 30-35 minutes.
11. Cool down with upside-down.

<Pumpkin cream>
150g pumpkin
20g cane sugar
20g soy cream
rum

1. Steam pumpkin until soften. Remove skin and small amount of pumpkin, and keep them for decoration later.
2. Make pumpkin puree in blender, make sure it is smooth. If it is not, pumpkin stuck in piping bag when you decorate.
3. Add cane sugar, soy cream and rum in the blender and combine with pumpkin puree.

<Decoration chiffon cake>
Whipped cream with sugar, pumpkin seeds, possible to use powder sugar for sprinkling.

Every day BENTO -Inari Sushi-

This picture is Kyoto Fushimi Inari Taisha when I visited this spring.
You see a fox in front of a vermilion big gate called "torii", this is entrance to shrine.
The fox is a messenger of crop god, and they loves fried tofu which is called Inari.
Inari sushi is inari pocket with vinegared rice.

I love Inari sushi, sweet juicy fried tofu with rice is heavenly.
I make it for lunch very often. Inari sushi is called sushi pocket overseas, I understand but I don't call it in that way.


By the way, Kyoto Fushimi Inari Taisha is so nice to visit.

http://inari.jp/       ←Japanese
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3915.html　←English

 

This is famous shrine so many people including foreigners visit here.
Better to put comfortable shoes on because I think walking around here is tough. There are "senbon torii" , which is thousand of torii, we can walk up to hill. A thousand of vermilion gates are so beautiful to see and enjoy walking through.


Today's Inari sushi BENTO is bellow.



*Inari Sushi (sushi pocket)
Juicy fried bean curd with vinegard rice

*Sauteed sprout and mini sausage
*boiled egg
*Cheesy fish cake seasoned with green seaweed flake
*Cruncy lotus roots with sweet saysauce

Every day BENTO -Satsuma-age Don-

I thought mom's struggle of bento menu for kids every day was only in Japan. Now it has spread over the world. We can find online "how to make bento for school or work", "everyday my vegan lunch", and more.
I am very happy to share bento menu with people all over the world.
In my case, when I have nothing in my fridge for main bento menu, I make Donburi. It is any dishes on rice.

First of all, probably on Friday, "Oh, I have nothing today in my fridge, ok, I make Donburi."
Next Thursday, "Oh, Nothing in the fridge, ok, I'm gonna make Donburi this week as last week."
And then, next Monday, "I am tired because it is Monday, ok I make Donburi. It is easy to cook."

That is my style.




*Satsuma-age Don
 Satsuma- age is a fried fishcake. Simmer Satsuma-age with soysauce, mirin, sugar and some onion and fluffy egg.

*Sauteed enoki mushroom bacon
*Simmerd veggies
*Asparagus with sesame and miso sauce

Mini Pumkin Mont Blanc Tart - vegan-

Mont Blanc cake seems fancy but it is not in halloween time. It is fun to make it.
I have tart dough in my freezer, so easy to make.

Today's pumpkin Mont Blanc is based on vegan recipe, and taste is not big different from non-vegan.

I love smooth and silky pumpkin cream☆




**Pumpkin Mont Blanc Tart recipe**
used 12 mini muffin tins

<Crust> this is the amount for stock in my freezer. we can use anytime we want to bake tart and also can be used as crumble on top of cake.

1 1/4 cups pastry flour
1 1/4 cups oats
1 cup cane sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup oil
vanilla extract

1. Mix pastry flour, oats, cane sugar, salt and baking soda in a bowl.
2. Add oil and vanilla extract into the dry ingredients bowl and mix them.
3. Press crust onto bottom and sides of mini muffin tins. Keep leftover in freezer.
4. Bake crust in preheated oven at 180°C for 12 minutes.
5. Cool down completely.


<Pumpkin cream>
150g pumpkin
20g cane sugar
20g soy cream
rum

1. Steam pumpkin until soften. Remove skin and small amount of pumpkin, and keep them for decoration later.
2. Make pumpkin puree in blender, make sure it is smooth. If it is not, pumpkin stuck in piping bag when you decorate.
3. Add cane sugar, soy cream and rum in the blender and combine with pumpkin puree.

<Decoration tart>
some soy cream
some granulated sugar
some steamed pumpkin dices
pumpkin seeds
pumpkin skin
some powder sugar

1. Whip soy cream and granulated sugar in a bowl until it gets harder than usual.
2. Put on steamed pumpkin dices on tart base.
3. Pipe whipped soy cream around pumpkin dices and coat them completely.
4. Pipe pumpkin cream around whipped cream like making a swirl on top.
5. Decorate Mont Blanc with powder sugar and pumpkin seeds.

Every day BENTO -Grilled Salmon -

My little monster left half uneaten BENTO yesterday.
I wonder he is sick, something happens at school or doesn't like today's menu, while  his words is usually, "Just don't have enough time to eat."

Last night was not usual.
" I didn't feel good. So tired at lunch time."
Actually he got over it already, but I noticed something.

BENTO could be one of his health barometer.




*Grilled salmon with mayo & cheese sauce
*Yakisoba
salty noodle with sakura shrimp
*Sausage& pea sprout
*tomato
*Mini rice balls

My Favorite Music -from the sound in NCIS -

Music from NCIS season12 episode 23.
Special agent Ned Dorneget died while on a mission in Cairo.
He is such a dork, so he irritates Gibbs a lot but also he is adorable. Tony teases him all the time.
Dorneget's death happened suddenly, so I miss him.





Music and scenes from NCIS season7 episode10.
Beautiful melody behinds some touchy scenes in this episode, my favorite one is a boy's Christmas wish to see his mother by McGee's kindness and MTAC magic comes true.

I love this so much.

Every day BENTO -Lemon herb Chicken-

It is important to add color the side dishes for bento when we make it. This is basic thought and many people do that. Even though they are not attractive color, lots of food is so tasty, but  I don't want to put only dark color dishes into bento as simmered dishes. They are the dishes which is called "grandma dishes".

Anyway, I remember this television commercial Tokyo gas.
It is very touchy.

A boy grew up with his grandmother's cooking. He liked her cooking like grilled fish or simmered fish, so he is good at removing fish bones when he eats fish at the table, and his boss talked about him. One day, he remembers a day when he was a kid. His friends came over his house, and grandmother served dinner for them. However, they didn't like her dinner and couldn't finish because they didn't get to use to it. The boy yelled at her about it. "The reason my friend couldn't eat dinner tonight is your cooking is too old!" His grandmother looked sorry for them because she thought it her cooking was not good.
Now he regrets saying that since years and decided to go home to see grandmother and apologize. When he apologized to her, she showed her best smile without words.

Grandma' cooking is best in the world.







Today's bento menu is,



*Lemon herb Chicken
*Sauteed mashroom & spinach
*Egg roll
*tomato

Mini Victoria Sponge Cakes -vegan-

Cream and berries are perfect to enjoy cakes.
I was so happy to eat buttery sponge and sweet berries for my birthday when I was a kid. My family celebrated our birthdays with each favorite cakes, I asked my mom to bake this cake and my brother asked for chocolate cake.

Now I can bake amazing fluffy sponge cakes without eggs and butter. I am happy though my life.


**Mini Victoria Sponge Cakes -vegan- recipe**
12 mini muffin tins

100g pastry flour
3g baking powder
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp oil
120mL soy milk
vanilla extract
100mL soy cream
3 tbsp raspberry jam
Some powder sugar
Some fresh or frozen strawberries or raspberries

1. Mix pastry flour and baking powder in a big bowl.
2. Mix sugar, salt, oil, soy milk, vanilla extract in a another bowl.
3. Add 2. mixture into the 1.mixture little by little, and combine them.
4. Pour mixture into mini muffin tins.
5. Bake it in the preheated oven at 170°C for 14-15 minutes.
6. Cool down completely and cut in half.
7. Whisk soy cream and add raspberry jam.
8. Decorate mini sponge cakes with soy cream, powder sugar and berries.

Every day BENTO -Omurice-

It sometimes happens.
Too focus to do something, miss somthing.

While I was covering fried rice with the omelet gently, All I thought was trying not to break the omelet.
When I was done, I found it was too big to eat.

I won't say anything to my son even though he can't finish it.




*Omurice
sweet tangy ketchup-seasoned fried rice wrapped with fluffy omelet

*Sauteed veggies&sausage
*Ham&cheese

Oats Crumble Lemon Blueberry Bars

Last summer treat☆
There are tons of how to make lemon bars online.
I have been still looking for best one.
Today I make filling in advance before baking and put it on baked crust. I think the color gets more beautiful bright yellow comparing with uncooked filling on the crust.




**Oats Crumble Lemon Blueberry Bars recipe**
8*20cm (3*8 inch)     2 baking pans
If you still have leftover of crust, you can keep in the freezer.

<Crust>
1 1/4 cups pastry flour
1 1/4 cups oats
1 cup cane sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup melted butter
vanilla extract

1. Mix pastry flour, oats, cane sugar, salt and baking soda in a bowl.
2. Add melted butter and vanilla extract into the dry ingredients bowl and mix them.
3. Press half of the mixture into a bottom of baking pan.
4. Bake it in the preheated oven at 180°C for 13-15 minutes.


<Lemon curd filling & blueberries>
2 eggs yolk
2 eggs
3 lemon juice(about 100mL)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 tbsp corn starch
100g frozen or fresh blueberries

1. Put eggs, egg yolks, lemon juice and granulated sugar and flour into a sauce pan.
2. Warm up on the low heat and stir them with a whisk.
3. Add melted butter into the sauce pan and stir them.
4. Remove the saucepan when it gets thicken.
5. Prepare blueberries.

<Finish lemon bars>
1. Place blueberries on crust. Pour lemon curd onto oats crust base and blueberries.
2. Sprinkle the leftover oats crumble on top.
3. Bake it in the preheated oven at 180°C for 15-20 minutes.
4. Cool it down, and then place it in the fridge for a while.
5. When it gets cool completely, cut into the bars.

Every day BENTO -Shigureni-

20 minutes.
In general, this is the time to make bento in the morning. I can get some information from cooking book for bento, and also check information online the same.

"How to make bento in 20 minutes."
"Easy and quick to prepare bento in your busy morning."

The title of these books is very attractive to buy it and I actually did, but never done in such a super short time.
At least it takes more than 20 minutes to cool rice down before I put it into the lunch box.
Definitely it is important to prepare for bento the night before the day. It depends on how much take time to prepare.

I am a morning person, so it is not hard to get up early for making bento. I want to go to bed as soon as possible at night. I don't want to take long time to prepare at night. That's why it takes much longer time to make bento for me than others. In conclusion, this depends on individual life style.


One of my friends "togu" rice in the morning and cook it for bento.
("Togu is wash or rinse rice. It is important step before we cook rice. After we do this, need to place quietly for at least 30 minutes before cook rice. Cooking time with rice cooker is generally about 50 minutes.) Too much things in the morning.

Another friend cooks rice, cool it down, put it into the bento box and keep in the fridge at the night before in advance. Basically keeping cooked rice is not tasty.

I have friends who is super slow, and super well prepared. I guess I am in the middle.
OK, I don't care the words "20 mintutes".



*Beef Shigureni
 Gingered beef  and burdock cooked in soy sauce and mirin.

*Boiled egg & tomato
*Butter sauteed enoki and zukkini
*rice balls

Every day BENTO -Chinese Stir fried Veggie and Chicken

No more frozen food in my son's bento box.

I swear last week, but almost I break down. This challenge is my selfish one, not his favor.
I want keep doing this until he says something about non-frozen food bento. I am very curious about it whether he notices or not.

When I was young, my mom made bento for me without frozen food. There were few frozen food for bento as today, but she wanted to cook very homemade side dishes for me. I was so greatful. I don't know whether I was an idiot or not, which meant I remember I asked my mom to use frozen food for my bento. I said to her I wanted eat frozen food in my bento like my friends.
She was so kind she did my favor once a week.

When I ate bento with frozen food about 10 days ago at home, there was a reason, I noticed it was not good.
I realized my son eats this every day. That's why I started to make bento without frozen food. He has said nothing about it so far.

I know frozen food is very convenient when I make bento, but I don't want to eat it every day.
Hang in there.



*Chinese Stir fried Veggies and Chicken
rich oyster sauced taste

*Butter sauteed mashrooms
*Ketchaped sausages
*Fish sausage with cheese

Sports Day BENTO

Sports day is coming.
Sports day is the biggest event in a year for parents who have small kids in Japan.
On this day, there is a opening ceremony and group marching, and kids participate a lots of sports. This is competition between classes.

Parents watch energetic kids for competition, and prepare their lunch. Lately most of school have a rule about lunch time. All kids should have lunch at the day in their class room, but so did I when I was young. However some school has different one, which is kids spend lunch time with their parents or relatives.

There are arguments for and against this. Spending with parents during lunch time on sports day for kids could be precious time, but there is one problem.
For the kids who don't have parents or relatives, there are no one who come to watch them on the day. Spending in class room with friends or teacher is better idea.

Anyway, this arguments for and against this idea have been coming to conclusion, each school has a rule on their own.

In my son's school, we had lunch with kids with parents so I need to prepare tons of lunch for my whole family. I remember this was hard but fun.


Looking back BENTO pics on past sports day, I made big BENTO with same menu every year, and it doesn't change until now. Now my son is high school student and still need BENTO every day.

I make same BENTO for more than 10 years. This could be thought amazing or ridiculous.





Fried chicken
Hamburg steak
Egg rolls
Simmerd root veggies
Salad
Rice balls