Freddy's Harajuku

Lamb-Chickpea-Kataifi Fritters

These fritters were partially inspired by the mala cream shrimp dim sum from the Netflix show, Culinary Class Wars. The dish itself was a mixture of ground shrimp and pork, rolled in julienned spring roll wrappers and deep fried, so that there were these thin strands of crispy-fried dough for extra texture and crunchiness around…

Sweetbreads with Bacon-Caper Brown Butter

This recipe was heavily inspired by the sweetbreads with bacon, capers ,and brown butter from the now-closed Prune restaurant in New York City. Prune was a restaurant owned by chef Gabrielle Hamilton, and it featured food from her French-Italian upbringing. A lot of the dishes they served had this sense of resourcefulness, pulling techniques and…

Seaweed-Tonka Bean Shortbreads

I made these shortbreads specifically with my plating bestie, Bri, in mind! She was visiting Los Angeles, and I wanted to greet her with a dessert that she never had before. Seaweed desserts are already rare to come by, but adding in tonka bean to that, and I guarantee you that is a flavor combination…

Oreo Tofu-Chocolate Pie

This chocolate pie was essentially my attempt at doing a chocolate pie, but completely featuring a chocolate crust. I used Oreos(which are surprisingly completely vegan) to make a very straightforward no-bake Oreo crust, and then used my favorite tofu-chocolate mousse recipe to make the filling. For those who aren’t aware, if you blend silken tofu…

Tonka Bean Tiramisu “Clouds”

Ever since I got these cute silicone cloud molds, I wanted to make some aesthetically pleasing mousse cakes with them! One idea is taking a classic Italian tiramisu, and literally setting it into cloud-like shapes just for a cozier feel. Italian tiramisu consists of a sponge, usually ladyfingers or savoiardi biscuits, dunking them in a…

Rayquaza-themed Mugwort-Kinako Parfait

So this recipe was the result of me being asked by The Pokemon Company to make a Rayquaza-themed dessert! The very first English Pokemon game I ever played was Pokemon Sapphire, and I loved beating the Elite Four, climbing the Sky Pillar, and catching Rayquaza. Rayquaza is a green serpentine Dragon/Flying-Pokemon that is meant to…

Chocolate-Phyllo Pie with Bruleed Bananas

This is yet another take on my favorite chocolate-coated phyllo pie, but this time, featuring my signature chocolate tofu mousse, chocolate-flavored phyllo dough, and bruleed bananas on top for a pleasant, caramel-sweet contrast to the dark, bitter chocolate. Hilariously, I made both phyllo and a chocolate tofu mousse during Back to Win, and both were…

Gjetost Caramel Apple Pie

While I have made gjetost apple pies in the past, the filling for this particular pie was the result of me trying to macerate the apples in caramel. With baking with fruit, there is the moisture factor that can cause a recipe to either work, or taste soggy, dense, and raw. Apple pie can be…

Forest Gateau

I was loosely inspired by an item in Pokemon called the “Old Gateau”. In the English, this item is a reference to the location is was found in, called the Old Chateau. In Japanese, the item and the location are named “Mori no Yokan”, which means either the “Forest Yokan(Japanese red bean jelly)” or “Forest…

Pate Choux Swans

Whenever I think of retro, classic-but-not-trendy desserts, the first two desserts that come to mind are an ice cream sundae, and pate choux swans. I just remember seeing them on every cruise ship dessert menu. Two little cream puff swans with a chocolate sauce underneath to visually represent a lake. Even though I try not…

Strawberry and Cream Pancakes

This recipe is sort of my homage to that trendy mango and cream crepe-pancake thing I would see all over social media a year or two ago, but with my answer to needing to use up a bunch of strawberries I had on hand. I love making crepes because the batter is so easy to…

Gjetost-Azuki Basque Cheesecakes

Sometimes when you have accidents, you just have to pivot. That, or dump your mistakes into a parchment-lined springform pan, throw them into a burning hot oven, and throw a hail, Mary. This recipe was that. Originally, these were going to be cheese tarts, stuffed with a gjetost(caramelized cheese) and azuki filling, but I overfolded…

Cereal Milk and Berries Cake

Ever since working at Milkbar, I feel like my love and appreciation for cereal milk(cornflake-steeped milk) has been at an all-time high. That being said, I always find myself with leftover soggy cornflake mush whenever I make it. At Milkbar lab, I was always trying to find ways to use it up. But the issue…

Mini Honey Cakes

Honey cakes are something I fell in love with when my sister brought one back from her student exchange in Europe. They are cakes made from these thin, honey cookie-like layers sandwiching a tangy cream-type of filling. For those who have never had a honey cake before, they are very similar to an icebox cake,…

Peach-Macadamia-White Chocolate Scones

This recipe came about because I had half a tub of Greek yogurt in my fridge, and as much as I would love to see that go moldy for biological experiment-related reasons, I would much rather have used it to make something tasty before the yogurt actually went bad. So I decided, why not make…

“Box of Chocolates” Tartlets

When I think of Valentine’s, the first three things that I associate the holidays with are pink-colored things, red-colored things, and chocolate. While let’s be real here, chocolate on Valentine’s Day is just a marketing ploy for candy companies to sell more chocolate, it is still fun to see all of the heart shaped chocolates,…

Milky Oolong Strawberry Cream Cake

One of my favorite finds while I was exploring a tea shop in Munich was a curious little tea called milky oolong tea. Milky oolong, also called jin xuan tea, has the toasty, nuttiness of oolong tea, but it also has these buttery, caramel-y notes, similar to Chinese milk candies. This flavor is the end…

S’mores Slice

I love taking a nostalgic flavor combination like chocolate, graham cracker, and marshmallow, and putting a fun spin on them. Nostalgia is always a great basis for a solid dessert, and I think almost any child raised in America could relate to a s’more. Graham cracker, gooey chocolate, and a toasted marshmallow. That’s childhood right…

“A Heart as Pure as Snow”: a plated dessert

When I was thinking of Valentine’s Day desserts, I realized that I somehow have not made a raspberry dessert in over two years. Which means that it was long overdue. So right away, I knew I was going to use raspberries, I wanted this white and red aesthetic, and I wanted it to be a…

Ginger-Pear Shortcake

Shortcake can have a lot of meanings. In America, a shortcake is a sweetened biscuit with cream and fruit, typically strawberries. In Asia, namely Japan, a shortcake is a light spongecake, but with the same accompaniments of cream and fruit. I wanted to make a pear shortcake with this gorgeous snow-white aesthetic just to capture…