Spring baking -Salted Sakura muffins-

   

My baking time is less. It depends on my feeling.
At the moment I wanted to use salted Sakura in muffins.

Adding salted Sakura in my basic muffin ingredients is enough but need more fruity.
I baked strawberries and banana with salted Sakura on top.
Slight salty flavour matches muffins!


I love spring.
Everything is fresh. People, trees and flowers.

All I see outside is feeling my dream. I can absorb power of spring.

 

                    

Valentine's Day 2017

This is so bad.
I skipped writing blog for three months from this Valentine's Day. It is a shame.
I know talking about valentine now is weird but this is a part of my baking memory for only me.

This was a gift for my friend.
Very quick to be ready for it but nutty flavor makes me to have happy baking time.
and then, always happy to bake for my friend.

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

So sweet. So addicted.
I couldn't expect to love such a sweet chocolate in Japan.
It happened to me to know this super yummy bites when I had been in north America.
Now I got easy recipe on my own.
Trips to the foreign countries always give me new world.




**Homemade Peanut Butter Cups recipe**

12 muffin size tins

300g semisweet chocolate
100mL heavy cream
unsalted peanut butter (chunky), softened
2 tbs unsalted butter, melted
2 tbs sugar
12 pieces graham cracker
some decoration stuff (I used raspberry powder and small decoration chocolate)

1. Put graham crackers in a plastic bag and crash them. Set aside.
2. Put sugar, softened unsalted peanut butter and melted butter into a bowl. Mix them.
3. Add graham crackers into the bowl. Combine them. Set aside.
4. Place paper liners into your muffin tins.
5. Put semisweet chocolate and heavy cream in a sauce pan on the low heat. Combine and make them well melted.
6. Pour melted chocolate into muffin tins. Place it in the freezer 10 minutes.
7. Pour peanut butter layer into the tins. Place it in the freezer 10 minutes.
8. Pour chocolate on top for third layer. Sprinkle some decoration chocolate or raspberry powder on top.
9. Place it in the freezer 10 minutes.

Mini Opera Cake for Valentine's Day

 

Easy to bake! I love opera cake.
Not a classic one but so moist opera ever.
I hope this will be perfect for valentine's day. Also good to make this simple dessert with your kids.



**Mini Opera Cake recipe**

15 pound cake mold for sponge

<sponge cake>
1 egg
40g granulated sugar
30g flour
20g cocoa powder
20g melted butter

<simple brandy syrup for cocoa sponge>
20g water
20g granulated sugar
1 tbs brandy

<ganache>
90g dark chocolate
50g heavy cream

Bake sponge cake
1. Mix egg yolk and 10g granulated sugar in a bowl until color turns white a bit.
2. Beat egg white and 30g granulated sugar in a another clean bowl until get stiff peak.
3. Blend egg yolk and egg white quietly.
4. Add shifted flour and cocoa powder into the bowl. Blend them.
5. Add melted butter into the bowl and blend them but not to mix too much.
6. Bake it in the preheated oven at 170C for 15 min.
7. Cool sponge cake down completely.
8. Slice sponge into 3.

Make simple brandy syrup
9. Warm up water and granulated sugar in a sauce pan on medium heat.
10. Add brandy into the sauce pan for couple of minutes.
11. Cool syrup down.
12. Apply syrup on cocoa sponge for each.

Make ganache
12. Warm up heavy cream in a sauce pan and add small pieces of chocolate. Make chocolate melt completely into heavy cream.

Decorate opera cake
13. Apply ganache on cocoa sponge with syrup each layer.
14. Decorate opera cake in your favorite way. I used berried and eligible gold.

Matcha Ganache

This fresh cream chocolate melts in my mouth.
So many kinds of fresh chocolates spread over shoppers this season for Valentine's Day.

I love making dessert at home. However I buy chocolates for Valentine's Day.
Fun to go hopping around chocolate shops to find best chocolates for me and my family, packed with people at shops, though.

Actually, easy to make matcha ganache. It just mix ingredients and sit it over night.
Should be careful for choosing nice chocolate.

**matcha ganache recipe**
6 * 18 cm (2.3 * 7 inch) flat mold

150g white chocolate
10g matcha powder
80mL heavy cream
1 tbsp agave syrup

matcha powder and edible gold for decoration

1. Put white chocolate and matcha powder in a sauce pan. Simmer on the low heat until they melt and blend them. Set aside.
2. Put heavy cream and agave syrup in another sauce pan, and simmer on the very low heat. Mix together.
3. Add heavy cream into a matcha white chocolate saucepan very quietly. Blend them thoroughly.
4. Pour chocolate into a flat mold with attachment paper. Sit it in fridge over night.
5. Take out matcha ganache from the mold and cut in pieces for small square size.
Be careful when you cut chocolate. Use warm knife.
6. Sprinkle matcha powder and decorate with edible gold.

Classic Gateau Chocolat

It is time to get idea for Valentine's day.
Classic chocolate cake grabs my heart.

Always stocked creamy pumpkin in my fridge.



**Classic Gateau Chocolat recipe**

20 cm(8 inch) round cake pan  (baked rectangular tart pan today)

120g sweet chocolate
100g butter
30g pastry flour
3 egg yolks
100g granulated sugar
100ml heavy cream
1-2 tbsp dark ram
50g cocoa powder
5 egg whites and 60g granulated sugar
powder sugar, pumpkin seeds for decoration

1. Put minced chocolate and butter in a saucepan on the medium low heat until they get melted.
2. Put egg yolks and granulated sugar in a clean bowl. Whisk them until the color changed a little white.
3. Add melted chocolate and heavy cream into the bowl. Also add dark ram into the bowl and blend them all.
4. Add cocoa powder and shifted pastry flour into the bowl. Blend them quietly. Set a side.
5. Beat egg whites and granulated sugar in an another clean bowl until get stiff peak.
6. Add egg whites into the chocolate batter bowl in twice. Blend them very quietly.
7. Pour the cake batter into your cake mold with buttered inside.
8. Bake the cake in the oven at preheated 160C for about 1 hour.
9. Cool down completely and decorate in your favorite way.

The Seventh of January

Special day for me. Only me.

The day I flew to Canada with my little monster thirteen years ago.
The day I extremely felt grateful to my husband.
The day I said good-bye to my mom for entire my life. I lost her while in Canada.


Memories is basically fading from our mind as time has passed.
Mine of spending time in Canada becomes more clearly.

Probably my son now remembers just small part of Canadian life.
Probably my family I left in Japan at the moment don't care about it now.

I care Canada for good.

Happy New Year 2017

I like 2017 very much so far.
Need New Year's Resolution, still keeping my mind.
Popping up new desserts in my head,  brainstorming my new lifestyle and so on.


Our first day of 2017 started with digging easy quick Osechi and strolling Osaka castle park.
Not bad even not having my whole family together.