Kokedama are these decorative moss ball plants that are super popular in Japan. They are used as planters for other plants more often than not, and they give any room a pleasant, earthy aesthetic that I just adore. My first time seeing a kokedama was when I was playing Animal Crossing New Horizons, where they…
Tag: red bean
Matcha-Red Bean Financiers
Whenever I bake a financier, I like to make a joke that I am financier(which I am, as a person who technically works in a financial role/has had prior finance/accounting experience) making a financier. Unless you’re super familiar with French cuisine, you might not even know what a financier is! And no worries, you’re not…
Ghost Mochi
For Halloween, I absolutely had to make something ghost-themed. I wanted to use tonic water in this recipe as well, just because it contains quinine, a fancy way of saying that it will glow under black light. It has admittedly been a minute since I last made a dessert using tonic water(mostly because tonic water…
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….
Matcha-Azuki Basque Cheesecakes
I have made quite a few basque cheesecakes on this site. However, what sets this one apart from the other matcha cheesecakes I have made is really the flavors and textures of this one. I haven’t made a matcha-flavored basque yet, and since I had a buttload of azuki(red bean) paste leftover from a hilariously…
Hojicha-red bean-mochi madeleines
I made these madeleines half because I wanted to test out a few hojicha recipes, and half because I also made red bean paste using a pressure cooker, and I had to use it somehow! What I love about madeleines are that they are super customizable – since they are these cute, seashell-like cookie-cakes, they…
Bingsu roll cake
So whenever I would visit Taiwan, one of my absolute favorite things to eat was shaved ice(also called “tsuabing” in Mandarin). Fluffy crystals of ice with all sorts of toppings, but typically, some sort of mochi or sweet potato ball, condensed milk, red beans, strawberries, and if I felt especially fat, pudding. Almost every Asian…
Red bean doughnuts(an-doughnut) with roasted miso sugar
These doughnuts were inspired by an-doughnuts(red bean doughnuts) that I found in my local Japanese grocery store. The doughnuts that I purchased were a cake doughnut base with a chunkier red bean paste(called tsubu-an) in the middle, finished with granulated sugar around it. While I liked the concept of it, I felt like there was…
Feelings of make-pretend: a plated dessert
I came up with this dessert half out of needing to get rid of my leftover vegan macaron components, and half because I just wanted to do something playful and elegant. With what I already had made, being the ice cream and the gelee, I was able to come up with a couple different ideas,…
Miso chocolate cake with soy milk-black tea ice cream, sesame, and azuki jam
The inspiration for this dessert was Chinese New Years. The idea of a festive dish that embodies a lot of traditionally Asian flavors, namely the red beans and sesame. Red bean soup with black sesame-mochi balls is a traditional Chinese dessert, so this is a definite homage to that. The miso-chocolate cake really plays off…
Duo of mini dorayaki
I love dorayaki. A pancake sandwich, typically stuffed with red bean paste. Coming from a much more Westernized background (putting it politely, whereas the more accurate way of saying it is that I was raised in Torrance, therefore was bleached of cultural appreciation), I love stuffing my own dorayaki with fillings other than the traditional…
Freddy's Harajuku 