On the other day, my daughter tried a ‘Lemon Slice’ recipe that she found on YouTube. She baked the base, poured the lemon topping mixture over the base, and baked it again. The lemon topping didn’t set, and it was far too sweet. Then I decided to create my own ‘Lemon Slice’. The base of …
This is a great frosting for all your favourite cakes, but particularly good for Carrot Cake and Banana Cake. Ingredients 50g Unsalted Butter *softened125g Cream Cheese *softened1 cup Icing Sugar *sifted2 teaspoons Lemon Juice Method Place softened Cream Cheese, softened Butter and Lemon Juice in a bowl. Using a whisk, beat until well combined. Gradually …
This is what is known as Florentines in Australia. It’s very different from what is known as Florentines in Japan. It seems ‘Cornflakes’ is the key ingredient here in Australia. The method is simple. Combine Condensed Milk and Cornflakes, and add Dry Fruit and Nuts. Then bake in the oven at rather low temperature. Finally, …
My mother used just Plain Flour to make ‘My Mother’s Stick Doughnuts’ as those stick doughnuts should have firm cookie-like texture. She occasionally added some Baking Powder and made these round ones. She used only basic ingredients that were commonly available, and these doughnuts still taste great. Makes 10 Doughnuts Ingredients 1 cup Self-Raising Flour …
What is known as ‘Florentine’ in Japan is very different from ‘Florentine’ in Australia. It is basically sweet cookies topped with crispy caramelised Almond Flakes. For the base, you can use your own cookie dough or sweet shortcrust dough. There are so many different recipes and methods these days. Many people roll out the dough …
By adding Matcha Powder to my ‘Basic Plain Cupcakes’ batter, you can make delicious Matcha flavoured cupcakes. Today I stuffed them with ‘Tsubu-an’ (Sweet Azuki Paste). Matcha and Azuki are a very popular combination. Butter and Azuki match very well, too. And Rum goes well with both Matcha and Azuki. Makes 12 Cupcakes Ingredients 12 …
When I want to use up leftover Egg White, I often make ‘Langues de Chat’ Biscuits. Ingredients are easy to remember. You need same weight of 4 ingredients, that are Egg White, Butter, Sugar and Flour. Today I added Almond Flakes and baked the whole mixture into one large sheet. You can easily break it …
‘Rum Raisin Cream Cookies’ are very popular in Japan, and you can purchase them from most supermarkets and ‘combini’ stores. It’s quite easy to make at home. You can use your own shortbread recipe for the cookies. I used my ‘Easiest Sweet Shortcrust Pastry’. Rum Raisin Cream is commonly made with White Chocolate and Butter. …
This Pound Cake is slightly sour. The sourness comes from Apples. You don’t see Apple pieces in this cake, because the Apples were finely grated. As a lot of juice comes out of Apples, you might need to add extra Flour. The cake tastes better when cold, and it stays moist for a few days, …
This is a super easy way to make Peach Cobbler. Using a canned Peaches, it can be made any time, really quickly. When Peaches are in season, you may wish to use fresh Peaches. If you have never made Peach Cobbler before, you would be surprised how easy it is to make it, according to …
To make Black Sesame desserts that are very popular in Japan, Black Sesame Paste called ‘Neri-goma’, which texture is similar to Tahini, is commonly used. However, here in Melbourne where I live, I can’t find it. I have to grind Toasted Black Sesame Seeds using a ‘Suribachi’, the Japanese mortar, that works better than electric …
I heard ‘Scoop Cake’ has recently become quite popular in Japan. I believe it has been strongly influenced by the English dessert ‘Trifle’. However, ‘Scoop Cake’ in Japan is more like a shortcake in a bowl. It can be made with the clumsiest hands, because the sponge cake doesn’t have to be perfectly baked and …
I had a bag of leftover 1 cup Almond Meal that was already mixed with 1/2 cup Caster Sugar. It’d been in the pantry for a while and I had to use it up. I was looking for a recipe that I could use it for, and found my ‘Sachi’s Coconut Cookies’ recipe. I replaced …
The popular French cake ‘Friand’ is well known as ‘Financier’ in Japan, and they are usually baked in the shape of Bar of Gold. ‘Financier’ means ‘Financial’, and that’s why ‘Financier’ cakes are in that shape. I don’t have such specialised tins, so I bake them using muffin tins. Makes 8 Cakes Ingredients 100g Butter …
Christmas has passed and now I have some leftover Dried Mixed Fruit. What would you make with it? Cake, Cookies, OR add it to your Granola? Today I baked Biscotti for the first time in a long time to use up the leftover Dried Fruit. Makes 24 to 28 Biscuits Ingredients 1/2 to 1 cup …