Freddy's Harajuku

Cocoa brioche maritozzo

This recipe came about out of a necessity to use up my sourdough starter. I made the mistake of feeding dark chocolate cookie crumbs to my starter, which while it enjoyed profusely, the addition of cocoa powder caused my starter to take on a leather-brown color and produce a cocoa aroma. So I had to…

Passionfruit-Champagne Tartlets

I was fortunate enough to be gifted fresh passionfruit from a family friend, so I wanted to celebrate that! With passionfruit, you have this soft pulp with crunchy seeds, and a sweet and sour flavor that really just pops and works well in both sweet and savory applications. I know that people would hear me…

Levain-Black Sesame Kouign Amann

Back in 2015, I watched a video on Youtube on how to make these pastries called Kouign Amann. They greatly resembled croissants, but baked with a lot of sugar, and in the shape of a muffin instead. The pastry was buttery, flaky, and looked like a giant pain to make – all puns intended. The…

Cinnamon Tequila Apple Mille Feuille

So I was fortunate enough to be gifted with a bottle of cinnamon tequila from the lovely Sheetal from Masterchef season 1, from her company, Spice Note Tequila, which features spice-infused tequilas! I actually love baking with alcohol, despite not being an alcoholic or even that much of a drinker(featherweight problems I guess), so I…

Shiso Mint Chip Ice Cream

I grew up on mint chip ice cream. For some reason, it was the only ice cream we would get whenever we went to Baskin Robbins, so it became a nostalgic flavor profile for me. That coupled with me eating a lot of thin mints as a kid. One random day when I was working…

Milk Tea Snow Skin Mooncakes

A few years ago, I wanted to make snow skin mooncakes, but I did not have the molds for those. The difference between a snow skin mooncake and the traditional mooncake is that the snow skin ones are made with mochi as the wrapper, whereas the traditional mooncakes are baked pastries. While I did not…

Rhubarb-Elderflower Petit Gateaus

About 5 years ago(which is such a weird preface to say out loud because man, time FLIES), I made a dessert that featured rhubarb and elderflower. Ironically, it featured strawberries as well, so I opted to not even include rhubarb or elderflower in the name of the dessert. The cake itself featured elderflower mousse, and…

Strawberry tea time: an entremet

With this dessert, I really was aiming to utilize some leftover goat cheese and strawberry puree I had lying around. While I initially thought about doing a cheesecake with those two components, I figured that I could make it into something more fun, and go with an entremet, or a mousse cake! Since strawberries and…

Earl Grey Cherry Tart

A while ago, I made a recipe that featured both cherry and earl grey, and it was one of my favorites ever! The combination of the floral and bitter notes from earl grey and the tart and sweet flavor in cherries makes for a fun and well-balanced dessert, so I wanted to bring that back…

Cyndaquil Manju

Since I had already made recipes for two of the three Pokemon: Legends Arceus starters, I figured, why not round out trio, and make something Cyndaquil-themed? Cyndaquil is based on a hedgehog, but instead of spikes, it has flames on its back! They are really cute, with these stubby legs, beak-like snout, and squinty eyes….

Gluten-Free Rhubarb Financiers

Years ago, I was fortunate enough to snag a dinner table at Annisa in New York City. Annisa was a 1-star Michelin restaurant(which sadly closed in 2017) helmed by the highly talented Anita Lo, who focuses on French cuisine with Asian influences. I remember seeing chef Lo dominating in Iron Chef, Battle Mushroom, back in…

Jigglypuff Choux Buns

Randomly after my Rowlet Inarizushi recipe, one of the more requested Pokemon people wanted to see was Jigglypuff. Now I love Jigglypuff. The one in the anime, specifically when it would angrily react to everyone falling asleep to its singing, was bringing that mood for all of the Capricorns out there. So I wanted to…

Sourdough Liege Waffles

This recipe has been on my to-bake list for probably longer than I would care to admit(mostly because I forgot exactly when I came up with the idea, but it was definitely before Easter). I love liege waffles, which are waffles made from a yeast-leavened dough, giving them this breadier texture. On top of the…

Sloth-acado Eclairs

So for my Sylvie(if you watched my audition on season 12, you will better remember her as “Fred’s Friend” who was making all of that commentary about my chocolate LOL)’s birthday, I wanted to make a fun dessert that was unlike anything I have previously attempted. Sylvie is obsessed with this sweet passionfruit-avocado tart that…

Strawberry-White Chocolate Tart

Whenever I think of my earlier childhood, I recall going to the local Asian bakery section in the Japanese supermarket and getting fruit tarts. Buttery pastry, silky, custard pastry cream, fresh fruit on top, a simple combination, but really delicious and addictive. With strawberry tarts in particular, they take what I love about fruit tarts,…

Yakult-Passionfruit Popsicles

It has been a minute since I last made popsicles in general. I do love making them, though I find that with frozen desserts, they take a bit more time. That being said, popsicles are super simple to do, and there is a lot less manual or hands-on work that you need to invest in…

Polar Bear Shaved Ice

During my most recent trip to Oahu, I had the fortune of being able to go to Matsumoto Shaved Ice! I’ve been wanting to go since I was about 8 years old, so it was create to finally go and experience it! What makes Matsumoto so special is that they use a lot of Japanese…

Cacao Parfait

I came up with this dessert because I was having MAJOR choco-holic cravings. If you were looking to get chocolate-wasted from a dessert, this parfait has your number. I did this in the style of a Japanese parfait, which features less fruit, yogurt, and granola, and more ice cream, crunchy cookies(I made feuilletine), and cream….

Oshawott Cheesecakes

Back when Pokemon Black and White came out, I was immediately a fan of Oshawott. Based on sea otters(which are already an adorable species of animal), Oshawott are these blue and white sea otters that kind of look like snowmen, and are just adorable. They have these large round noses and hold a scallop-like item…

Black Sesame Swirled Baked Cheesecake

A long, long, LONG time ago, back when I was just a middle schooler, way before I even started cooking or baking, we went to a restaurant on Redondo Beach Pier called Maison Riz(sadly it closed something while I was away for college). It was this Japanese-French fusion restaurant located directly on the pier, with…