Freddy's Harajuku

Kabosu dango

So I had no idea what kabosu was until the end of 2020, when I was at a Japanese grocery store, and I found a bottle of kabosu juice. Looking at it, I thought it was like the Filipino citrus calamansi, based on the green exterior and bright yellow interior. But researching into it more,…

Cannoli loaf cakes

Whenever I think of cannoli, I am immediately taken back to my time in Boston, where we had one of the most famous cannoli bakeries in Mike’s Pastry. Oh, Mike’s. It was controlled chaos. Crowds and crowds of people, lined up along the street, waiting to get into a cramped store with display cases filled…

Sunburst: a plated dessert

I named this dessert ‘Sunburst’ after a Tobu and Itro song that came out a while ago of the same name. And also for my Chinese namesake, which translates to Winter Morning Sun. I had to use sesame since it is a favorite ingredient of mine, and I paired it with sea buckthorn to add…

New Rules: a plated dessert

For me, this dessert was all about trying a couple of new things. Using gjetost cheese in a fonduta was a new idea, and playing around with more savory things like carrots and pairing that with mugicha, which is a barley tea. I also featured yuzu in this dessert as well, since the sort of…

Keep on keeping on: a roll cake

I have wanted to make a vertical roll cake again for quite a while. They’re a lot of fun because visually, they resemble trees! Whenever I think about Christmas, I obviously have to think of yule logs or bouche de noels. Those are roll cakes that are decorated to look like a freshly cut log….

Freedom: a plated dessert

As with a lot of desserts I make, I named this particular one after a Miyu Irino song of the same name. It was this dynamic and fun song that emphasized standing up for what you believe in, and being free from the doubts in your mind. I also love that you cannot spell the…

Let it snow: snowman religieuse

When I was thinking of festive, winter wonderland treats, I wanted to do something with a snowman in mind. One of my first thoughts was pavlova, but I’ve already made quite a few of those, so I had to do something else. Instead, I thought about religieuse, which is basically a fancy way of saying…

Persimmon-gjetost-walnut cake roll

I love persimmon season so much. Mostly because the fruit itself can be used in a variety of ways. Persimmon are like the opposite of corn, where fresh corn is sugary and as it sits, those sugars convert to starch and the corn gets less sweet, but more creamy. With persimmon, it starts out starchy…

Sea buckthorn torte

This cake is my homage to sachertorte. For those of you unaware of what that is, sachertorte is a Viennese chocolate cake that has a thin layer of apricot jam inside of it, and it is covered in a beautiful chocolate glaze. It is a highly technical and iconic cake to Austria, to the point…

Black sesame purin dorayaki

Dorayaki were one of the first wagashi I ever really came to adore. Mostly because being raised in America, I love pancakes, and dorayaki just being a pancake sandwich, was super appealing to me! I wanted to make a special dorayaki and I actually had this idea for over a year, but never was able…

Blonde chocolate and brown butter mochi Madeleines

I was really inspired to make these from my friend, Ann, who sells a lot of butter mochi products in her business, Pair of Pears. She does these really delicious and toothsome butter mochi doughnuts and brownies, and it made me garner a much larger appreciation for it. For those of you unfamiliar with it,…

Ruby chocolate-blood orange “Poosh” cake

So my sister had purchased a “Poosh” cake and I literally had no idea what is was until she did that. Apparently, it is a pink olive oil cake that the Kardashians endorsed, with the proceeds going to the Armenia relief fund, and it is extremely hard to come by. The completely pink cake itself…

Blood orange and sour cherry shortbreads

I wanted to make a really festive and classic shortbread flavor to contrast the kinako-palm sugar recipe I posted, so I came up with these blood orange and cherry shortbreads to do just that. There are some key differences in the dough besides this one containing gluten, however. Instead of using egg yolks, I’m using…

Gluten-free palm sugar and kinako shortbreads

These were literally just a fun experiment for me. Since we are in the holiday season, cookies are a must and a definite. I love doing different kinds of cookies and shortbreads, so I wanted to make some that, in this case, featured kinako. For those of you who are not familiar with it, kinako…

Newton’s Apple layer cake

After going apple picking, I was left with a ton of apples. And cider. So I figured, why not combine the two and make a delicious cake? I have layers of super fluffy cider cake, tart, creamy apple ganache, salted caramel cheesecake, and crispy apple chips. For the ganache, I used dulcey, or blonde chocolate,…

Thai tea-kabocha pie

I definitely did not understand the pumpkin pie hype growing up. Everyone always talked about how it was their favorite part of autumn, but when I had it, it tasted kind of like super spiced, but also kind of soggy. I was not a fan. But what I found is that there is a way…

Hummingbird naked cake

I love doing takes on hummingbird cake, just because the combination of banana, cream cheese, and pecan is a lot of fun to play around with. Sometimes pineapple and coconut can be added in too, but for this variation, I just wanted to keep it down to those core three flavors. I mentioned. I also…

Cajeta Pecan Pie

I really only came up with this because I fell hardcore in love with cajeta, which is a caramelized goat’s milk. If you have never had it before, it is like a syrupy cousin to dulce de leche, made with slowly cooking down and stirring goat’s milk until it completely caramelizes, and there’s hints of…

Apple butter daifuku

I made these a while ago when I went apple picking and cider pressing with some friends! I wanted to use the apples and cider in a fun or creative way, and that’s when the idea to make daifuku, or stuffed mochi came from. Typically, daifuku is stuffed with red bean paste, but in my…

Chawanmushi with edamame, mushrooms, and radishes

So I actually made this dish for my parents on their anniversary. What had happened was that they were out playing golf, but they did not have any dinner plans, or even anything special planned. I didn’t realize this until maybe 4pm, so I decided that I would make them at least something special to…