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.

Merry Christmas 2016

Lots of homemade desserrts brought me happiness this year.
Always smile even screwed when baking.
Hope I will give the smile to many people next year as much as I can .


I will find the best one 2016 with my son until the end of December.
Happy holidays☆

Winter Chocolate Tart with Frosted Berries

Chrismas is coming.
Winter baking makes me excited a lot.

I like a recutanglar tart mold even big for my family.
Frozen berries stimulate creamy and rich chocolate tart. Super yummy☆



**Winter Chocolate Tart with Frosted Berries recipe**

10*30 tart mold

<tart base >
80g butter (room temperature)
40g sugar
120g pastry flour
1 egg
10g cocoa powder
25g almond flour

<chocolate filling>
150 cream cheese (room temperature)
30g sugar
30g cocoa powder
90g sweet chocolate (melted)
2 egg yolks
1 egg white
10g granulated sugar

<for decoration>
frozen berries, powder sugar

1. Make tart dough. Knead room temperature butter in a clean bowl.
2. Add sugar into the bowl and mix well.
3. Add egg yolks into the bowl little by little and blend them well.
4. Add almond flour into the bowl and blend them well.
5. Add shifted pastry flour and cocoa powder into the bowl dividing 2 batch, and blend them.
6. Make one batch tar dough. Wrap it with plastic wrap and place it in thee fridge for at least 12 hours.
7. Spread over tart dough and place it into your tart mold with 5mm thickness.
8. Place it back to the fridge for 1 hour.
9. Make a small hole on the bottom of tart dough.
10. Bake the tart dough with tart stones on the tart base bottom in preheated oven at 180° for 15 minutes.
11. Remove tart stone and bake it 5 more minutes.
12. Cool it down completely.

13. Make chocokate filling. Knead cream cheese in a bowl, add sugar and mix them.
14. Add melted chocolate and cocoa powder into the bowl.
15. Add egg yolks and blend them well. Set aside.
16. Make meringue. Beat egg white in a clean boal until soft peak. Add granulated sugar and beat it again until hard peak.
17. Add meringue into a chocolate & cream cheese filling bowl. Blend them quietly.
18. Pour the filling into a tart base evenly.
19. Place the tart in the fridge for a couple of hours.
20. Decorate with berries and powder sugar.

Rustic Persimmon Pie

I didn't know Japanese Kaki in English. I learn today what is called. It is "Persimmon".
Japanese Kaki is found in any supermarket. I don't buy this fruit, looking good though. Just haven't had a good chance to get it before.
I am wondering whether it is easy to get Japanese kaki overseas or not.

This year I got a big box of Kaki. Once I put a piece of Kaki into my mouth, so juicy.
I love it.
Just cut into small bite, this is the best way to enjoy Kaki, but I want to make something baking with.

I also didn't know the name of  "Rustic pie" or "Rustic tart". Similar to crostata.
Juicy Kaki and rich almond cheese cream filling matches with pie crust.




**Rustic Persimmon Pie recipe**

<pie dough>
120g butter
180g all purpose flour
A pinch of salt
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp ice water
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp demerara sugar

<filling>
2 persimmons
a few blueberries
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp starch
100g cream cheese (room temperature)
20g almond flour

apricot jam and a few pistachio for decoration


<Make pie dough>
1. Cut butter in small pieces.
2. Mix all purpose flour, sugar, salt and butter in blender.
3. Add cold water into blender, and blend for a few seconds until moist.
4. Put together and knead dough a few times and wrap it with plastic wrap.
5. Sit pie dough in fridge for 1 hour.

<Filling>
6. Slice persimmons into 5mm size and put them into a bowl.
7. Sprinkle sugar on persimmons.
8. Sprinkle starch on persimmons. Set aside.
9. Mix cream cheese and almond flour. Set aside.

<Form pie dough>
10. On a floured surface boad, with floured roll pin, roll out pie dough into a large circle about 15cm (6 inch) in diameter. I made 2 circles with this size, but it is ok one big pie.
11. Spread out almond cream cheese on center of circle leaving 3cm (1 inch) border.
12. Put persimmon slices on almond cream cheese on center of circle, also leaving 3cm border.
13. Fold edges of the dough over fruits.
14. Lightly brush egg yolk on the dough. Sprinkle demerara sugar on the dough.

<Bake pie>
15. Bake the pie in the preheated oven at 180°C for about 35 minutes until the crust is golden and brown.
16. Cool it down, and lightly brush apricot jam on the crust and sprinkle a mince of pistachio before you serve.

Happy Thanksgiving Pumpkin

What a fabulous Pumpkin cake☆
This is cutest ever.
Makes me so happy whole this week and wish best of luck for my son. He has biggest tests in his life for getting into a university from next year. I want him to try some this cake before taking tests.

Pumpkin cream and butter cream is so creamy on top. I guess whipped cream is also matched with this cake but today is special.




**Pumpkin pound cake recipe**

8 cm * 20 cm (3 inch * 8 inch) pound cake pan

<pumpkin cake>
120g pumpkin puree
80g butter
80g granulated sugar
2 eggs
20g maple syrup
80g pastry flour
50g dry fruits (dry blueberrie and cranberries this time)

<pumpkin cream>
200g pumpkin puree
20g granulated sugar
20g heavy cream
15g butter
a hint of rum

<butter cream>
2 egg whites
60g granulated sugar
110g butter

<Decoration>
some dry fruits, pumpkin seeds, nuts.

1. Make pumkin puree. Steam pumpkin, remove skin and mash it until very smoothly.
When you steam pumkin, use all pumpkin for cake (120g) and puree (200g).
2. Mix room temperature butter and sugar in a bowl.
3. Add eggs little by little into the bowl and blend them.
4. Add 120g pumpkin puree and maple syrup into the bowl. Mix them together.
5. Add shifted pastry flour and dry fruits into the bowl. Blend them lightly.
6. Bake it in the preheated oven at 180°C for 35-40 minutes.
7. Cool  down completely.

8. Make pumpkin puree. Blend all ingredients for pumpkin puree in your blender.

9. Make butter cream. Beat egg whites in a clean bowl until gets hard peak. Add granulated sugar little by little into the bowl on the way.
10. Add room temperature butter into the bowl little by little. Continue beat egg white for a while.

10. Decorate your pumpkin pound with butter cream and pumpkin cream.

Mini Baked Doughnuts

Looking mini muffins but these are based on baked doughnuts.
I baked mini size not to have too much. However it didn't work. So yummy treat at tea time with coffee. I can't stop being patient with these cute doughnuts on the table.

Glaze or topping depend on whatever you want. I made choices for cinnamon sugar and pumpkin seeds, lemon glazed and pistachio, matcha and white chocolate, beetroots and white chocolate, sugar glazed and colorful chocolate sprinkles.

I love this baked doughnuts recipe. Not oily dough, not too sweet.




**Mini Baked Doughnuts recipe**

20 mini muffin tins or about 30 mini doughnuts tins

130g pastry flour
90g sugar
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
2 eggs
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp soy yogurt

cinnamon, powder sugar, lemon juice matcha powder, beetroot paste, white chocolate, pistachio and pumpkin seeds for topping

1. Blend all dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Blend eggs, oil, soy yogurt in another bowl.
3. Combine 1 and 2.
4. Pour the mixture into the muffin(doughnuts) tins with oil liner for each tin.
5. Bake it in the preheated oven at 180°C for 12 minutes.
6. Cool doughnuts down and put your favorite topping on.

Matcha Mille Feuille

Mille Feuille is very pretty pastry.
I always have stock of pie sheets in my freezer, so easy to make.

One thing makes me nervous when I eat mille feuille. Always messy to eat this pastry.
Sometimes pie crumbs are spread around my plate, and much worse I have to clean up my clothes.
I've never made it clean but I can't stop eating. When I am in a cafe and find someone is eating mille feuille, I give her a once-over how to eat it.
I know I am so bad.


**Matcha Mille Feuille recipe**

4 matcha mille fueille

2 pie sheets (18cm *18cm, 7inch*7inch)
250ml milk
1 egg
50g sugar
10g flour
1 tsp matcha powder
a hint of rum
sugar powder and edible golden leaves for decoration

<bake pie sheet>
1. Defrost pie sheets.
2. Bake pie sheets in the preheated oven at 200°C for 10 minutes.
3. Put another baking sheet on risen pie sheets and press down with your hands.
4. Bake pie sheets with baking sheet on for another 10 minutes.
5. Cool it down completely.
6. Cut out 4 edges, and cut in 6 rectangles each pie sheet. (make 12 rectangles)

<matcha custard>
1. Warm milk in a sauce pan.
2. Mix an egg and sugar in a bowl.
3. Mix flour and matcha powder in another bowl.
4. Pour egg mixture into dry ingredients bowl. Blend them.
5. Add warm milk into the bowl little by little. Add a hint of rum. Blend them with a whisk.
6. Put the mixture back into a sauce pan at low heat and make it thick while whisking.
7. Cool it down.

<decoration>
Decorate in your favorite way.
I pipe matcha cream on rectangular pie sheet, and sprinkle powder sugar, matcha powder and edible golden leaves.

Matcha Treats

I got tons of crepes mix powder from my friend.
I wonder it is useful or not, however when I bake it, I realized this is so good.

100g Crepes Mix
2 eggs
200 mL milk
1 tbsp oil
1tbsp matcha powder

Blend all ingredients in a bowl, and bake the mixture on a pan.
We can roll it up with any cream, fruits or chocolate, sometimes chicken and veggies.

Also we can enjoy crepes in another way as follows:
Mille crepes and aumoniere. So cute on your table.

 

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.

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.