Freddy's Harajuku

Vegan Scones with Strawberry-Basil Jam

This recipe came about because I had an opened can of coconut milk, a pint of strawberries, and a large amount of Thai basil that I needed to get rid of. So I figured, why not try my hand at making vegan scones? And serving them with a strawberry-basil jam? Worst comes to worst, I’ve…

Uber Fluffy Chocolate Layer Cake

This chocolate cake is the intersection of everything I could possibly want from a chocolate cake. The sponge is somehow both fudgy and rich, but light and springy with this almost honeycomb-like crumb structure that could only be achieved by whipping the living hell out of egg whites, and adding in just the right amount…

Pork and Miso Cream Stew

This stew is me throwing almost every umami-developing technique I have in the book(minus dried mushrooms, tomatoes, or cheese rinds) into a pot of Japanese-styled cream stew. I have made pork cream stews in the past, but I was always disappointed by the color of the cream. I had envisioned this light, pale color, but…

White Sesame Tropezienne

Tropezienne has always been one of my sister’s favorites. Fluffy brioche that is brushed with a simple syrup, finished with pastry cream/lemon curd and fresh berries. Basically a shortcake using brioche instead of a biscuit or cake is the simplest way of explaining it. Ever since she had it in France and told me about…

Diglett Rocky Road Doughnuts

When I think back to Generation 1 of Pokémon, one of the funniest designs for me is Diglett. It’s supposed to be like a living whack-a-mole situation, and it looks like a brown bump with eyes, a pink nose-mouth-thing, and it is just sticking out of the ground. It apparently has legs and an actual…

Dijonnaise de Chocolat

So this is probably the most random thing to admit to, but I grew up on shoujou anime(aka CardCaptor Sakura, a pinch of Sailor Moon, and Mirumo De Pon to name the main ones I watched), and there was an anime I was exposed to called “Yumeiro Patissiere”, which was a baking anime. I had…

“Present Box” Petit Gateau

Before you ask, these little egg nog-cranberry present boxes are my modern, gluten-free interpretation of a Christmas cake. Christmas Cake, at least in Japanese culture, are soft spongecakes with cream and usually strawberries, just to capture this red and white aesthetic. I wanted to take the red and white aesthetic, along with some more traditionally…

Gluten-Free Levain Cookies

So I am fully aware of my penchant for making giant cookies. I just happen to own a really large ice cream scoop, so with that comes really large scoops of ice cream and cookie dough! So when I would visit New York, once of the most iconic bakeries there was Levain. Known for their…

Blue(berry) Goat Cheesecakes

This recipe hilariously came about because I had leftover blueberry gelee cores(from my Jigglypuff recipe), leftover white chocolate shavings(from my lemon-white chocolate snowballs), leftover goat cheese(from my pumpkin toast recipe), and leftover shortbread dough(from my Oshawott cheesecakes). Before anyone asks, since all of these recipes were clearly posted months apart, yes, I do make content…

Oatmeal-chocolate chip scones

These scones came about because I dun goof’d on an oatmeal cookie recipe – I did not sub out enough flour when adding in the oats, resulting in what were supposed to be cookies not spreading as much, and developing a more biscuit/scone-like texture. I know with scones, there is usually a stigma with them…

Soft Matcha Cookies

Green tea shortbreads are something I usually make in the fall ever since I did a fundraiser with them in my sophomore year in college for the Taiwanese club. The combination of bitter, floral matcha against a sweet, buttery cookie is so pleasant and fun, and gives a similarly enjoyable experience to eating green tea…

Lemon-White Chocolate “Snowballs”

Back in my earlier days as a baker, I remember watching an episode of Cupcake Wars on the Food Network, and there was an episode in season 1 where a baker named Kara made these vanilla cupcakes with lemon curd, Italian meringue buttercream, and rolled in white chocolate sprinkles. The idea of super soft cake…

Snom Wagashi

Ever since I saw Snom when Sword and Shield came out, I was a fan. They are these cute little worm-caterpillar-larvae bugs-things with a layer of ice spikes around their bodies. And they are hilariously adorable, namely because of their super simplistic design! For those unfamiliar with what wagashi are, it is an umbrella term…

Passionfruit Mousse Cake

I was fortunate enough to be gifted fresh passionfruits from a family friend, and it was actually around that time that I wanted to make a mousse cake with them. Not necessarily a mirror glaze cake, but just a mousse with layers of chiffon cake embedded inside of it. A while ago, I made a…

Brown Betty Beggar’s Purses

Because of apple picking, I had a plethora of apples that I needed to get rid of. I had to think of creative ways to use them, beyond just making a cake, or cookies, or pie, and that was when I thought about crepes. I remember the first time making a crepe, and how therapeutic…

Eevee Coffee Bundt Cakes

Eevee is my absolute favorite Pokemon. I just love a Pokemon that can become anything it wants when it grows up. Eevee can become a mermaid, a bolt of electricity, a living icicle, or even cover itself with ribbons! I adore all of the Eeveelutions(Umbreon is my favorite though), but Eevee itself just has a…

Confit Garlic Knots with Chili-Lemon Crema

Back in the tail end of 2017, a freshly-minted 23-year Fred was forced to go to a department outing at his first job, on his birthday. Because his boss at the time decided it would be a great idea to plan a department outing on his birthday without telling him. So beyond the fact that…

Pumpkin Butter Mochi Pie

So I had a lot of leftover pumpkin lying around after doing R&D on my calabaza en tacha clafoutis, so I had to figure out how to get rid of it. After blending it up into a puree, I found that the only thing I could feasibly do with pureed pumpkin(that was already sweetened) was…

Milkbar Buddy Honey Butter-Pear Crack Pie

Since Sam and I enjoyed doing our cake collab together so much, we figured we would venture into another Milkbar classic, this time being pies! Milkbar/crack pie is such a staple, and we wanted to do our own interpretation of it using some ingredients to bring in a more festive feel. Fun fact, the original…

Apple Mont Blanc

So my fellow AAPI pastry friends (Dara Yu and Jess Wang) and I wanted to challenge ourselves to make a fun holiday dessert using apples, just in time for Thanksgiving. While I have also done a pie collab with my dear friend Sam, in case you are not a pie lover, this recipe is here…