It is only December 29th but time to move past the Christmas baking. Lots of cookies and cakes were baked over the holiday season. I don't have any special recipe for New Year's desserts but chocolate is always good when the weather is cold. Chocolate is a lot easier to handle when the weather is cool.

My recipe for today is a Dutch Baby. I am probably one of the last ones to know about this dish but happy I finally found it. A TV show in Japan was demonstrating recipes from the TV show Chicago Fire and the Dutch Baby was the recipe demonstrated. I grew up using cast iron skillets and I have bad memories about washing them so that is why I don't have one in my house now. Anyway, after seeing the explanation about the Dutch Baby I decided it was time to reacquaint myself with iron skillets.

Basically, the Dutch Baby has a popover like bottom and then topped with your favorite fruit or other filling.

Basic Recipe for a small 15 cm iron skillet
(15 minutes prep time and 15 minutes for baking)
Serves 2 - 3

30 grams all purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 egg
50 grams milk

Approximately 1 teaspoon butter for coating the pan

1. In a bowl, sift together the flour and sugar then add the egg and mix with a small whisk.
2. Lastly, add in the milk in about 3 portions and mix with the whisk. Just stir enough to combine everything.
3. Preheat the over to 200 degrees Celsius then place the iron skillet in the oven for 10 minutes to warm up. When heated, add the butter and swirl it around the pan to coat it entirely.
4. Pour the batter into the pan and put back into the oven and back for about 15 - 18 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and fill with your favorite filling. There is a lot of air in the Dutch Baby when it is baked so after removing it will deflate like a souffle.

For my Dutch Baby filling, I lightly sauteed an apple that was peeled & sliced  in a fry pan with about 3 tablespoons sugar and a few dashes cinnamon.

My recommendation is to serve it warm just out of the oven. Always be careful to handle the skillet since it very hot.

It's that time of the year again -- Christmas. I make a gingerbread house each year since I love the decoration for the house and it fills the kitchen with wonderful smells.

The basics of a good house is gingerbread which won't become weak and icing which is solid. Think of the icing as cement for the house. I always add a little powdered egg white or Wilton's Meringue Powder when making the icing. I am not a full time cookie decorator so I always struggle with decoration. I know some basic techniques from the Wilton classes so I  keep my house decoration fairly basic.

My Gingerbread House book sold on Amazon Japan (日本語) and Amazon US (日本語) and provides detailed instructions on how to make the house and recipes for both the gingerbread and the icing. There are also a few other Christmas dessert recipes for cookies and other holiday desserts.

Grab a few family members or friends and take time in December to enjoy a delicious and fun baking get together.

Fall is just about my favorite season and apple pies are just about my favorite dessert. Recently I discovered Bramley apples which are sold by a farm in Nagano prefecture. These apples are tart and crispy just like a Granny Smith.  Bramley apples are originally from England and were introduced in Japan about 20 years ago. One of my friends in Tokyo, Stacey,  runs a great bake shop and  school called Mornington Crescent. Her British desserts are delicious and if there is ever an opening book one of her classes.

This is a light tart with a thin crust, covered in a layer of almond cream then topped with sliced apples.  Total time for putting everything together (excluding baking time) is about 30 minutes.

This is a short project to enjoy fall baking so grab the apples, flour and some butter and time to get to work.

Fits a 24 cm tart pan (serves 8)

Dough
200 grams flour
100 grams butter cut into cubes (cold)
1 egg
5 grams salt
10 grams sugar

1. In a food processor, pulse together the butter and flour. Then add the salt and sugar. Lastly, add the egg.  Put the ingredients on a board and gently knead everything together so the dough is smooth. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for about 40 minutes before using. 

Almond Cream
50 grams butter room temperature
50 grams powdered sugar
50 grams almond flour
1 egg
5 grams flour

1. In a bowl, mix the butter with the powdered sugar with a small whisk. Gradually add in the almond flour and flour in portions. Lastly, add the egg and mix thoroughly with a whisk.

Apples
2 - 3 large crispy apples
1. Peel and thinly slice the apples

Putting everything together
1. Roll out the dough to fit the tart pan and cut off any extra around the edges.
2. Spread the almond cream on top of the dough then place the apples around the tart pan in a nice circular design. You can put the inside circle of apples in the opposite direction for a more creative look.
3. Before baking, sprinkle sugar on top of the apples.
4. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 35 - 40 minutes. After removing from the oven you can brush with apricot jam for a nice shine.

In Japan everyone loves Christmas cakes with BIG decoration. Fresh fruits, whipped cream, chocolate and other decorations are usually used for these special cakes. Gingerbread and fruit cakes are not so popular in Japan at Christmas.

For some early Christmas practice, I baked a chocolate cake and decorated with cream cheese icing and chocolate topping. The chocolate is tricky to get the right temperature so that it drizzles down the cake with the right mouth watering look. The cake was a little cool so the chocolate cooled down as soon as it hit the icing which slowed down the chocolate flow.

The cake is a basic chocolate cake recipe which is easy to put rather together quickly. The cream cheese icing is also quite fast to make, however, if you aren't familiar with icing a cake that can be challenging. A palette knife can make the job of icing much easier. The chocolate has a small amount of gelatin so that it stays firm.

Chocolate Cake

200 grams sugar
200 grams flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
100 grams butter
180 grams sweet chocolate (chopped)

1. In a bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. In a separate bowl, measure the butter and melt over a saucepan filled with hot water.
2. In another bowl, put the chocolate over a saucepan of hot simmering water and melt.
3. In a large bowl, whip the eggs with a hand mixer and gradually add the sugar. Mix on medium speed until the batter is a light yellow color and slightly thickened. This may take a few minutes but don't skip this step.
4. After the batter is well mixed, add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until well mixed. Next add the melted butter in portions and mix on low speed.
5. Lastly, add the chocolate in portions and mix with a spatula.
6. Prepare 2 round baking pans (20 cm round) and lightly butter and flour each of them.
7. Pour the batter evenly between both pans and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for about 40 minutes. Check if done by using a toothpick.
8. When finished baking, cool thoroughly.

Cream Cheese Icing
200 grams cream cheese (room temperature)
40 grams butter (room temperature)
125 grams powdered sugar

1. In a large bowl, mix the butter and powdered sugar with a hand mixer on low until well mixed. Then gradually add the cream cheese in pieces and continue to mix.
2. You can add some flavoring to complement the chocolate like vanilla.

Chocolate Topping
40 grams water
40 grams milk
45 grams sugar
25 grams cocoa powder
2 grams gelatin (softened)

1. Heat the water, milk, sugar and cocoa powder in a saucepan until just lightly boiling. Turn off the heat and add the gelatin. Pour into a bowl to cool. The chocolate should be a little thickened to when pouring on the cake.

Putting everything together
1. Put the bottom piece of the cake on a plate cut the top so that it is flat. Spread some icing on the top add a little strawberry jam on top of the icing (don't spread the jam to the end of the cake though).
2. Place the second piece of cake on top and then spread the remaining icing on the cake using a palette knife. Recommendation is to icing the cake once with about half of the icing and then place in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. Remove from the refrigerator and use the rest of the icing to icing the cake.
3. Starting from the center of the cake, start pouring the chocolate and use a spoon to distribute it evenly on top of the cake and so that it gradually starts to drip down the sides.
4. Decorate the cake with fresh cream and fruit as you like.

I found two great combinations - white chocolate and pumpkin. This is a bit of a nontraditional dessert for Halloween but it is always good to update the recipe box. The white chocolate is made into a mousse and combined with a soft pumpkin flavored cake and delicious pumpkin flavored gelatin.

This cake has several steps to it but don't despair since the end result is well worth it. If you are looking for short cuts you can also buy the cake that sits on the bottom.

Let's get to it. Put on some good music and set aside a couple of hours for this one.

This recipe is enough for a 18 cm x 6 cm baking ring

Is it autumn yet?  It's almost mid-September and the weather is still too warm.  At least the sweltering temperatures of August have cooled down but I am still looking forward to much cooler temps.

The stores already have Halloween decorations and I found a few new ones to buy this year so I included them in the photos -- BOO! Also, I wanted to have Indian corn for decoration for the holidays but since I am living in Japan these are very difficult to find. One of my friends spotted them at a Tokyo Farmer's Market and they must be about the only ones in the Tokyo area. Could have kissed that farmer when I spotted them.



Full disclosure, I did not bake the roll cake in the photo. Since I was collecting all of the beautiful fall pumpkins, Indian corn and apples I just wanted to grab my camera and start shooting without the baking part. Also, it's still too warm to start using the oven. In Japan the most popular taste for cakes is chestnut. All types of cakes and cookies with chestnut filling are popular. Pumpkin is not very popular for desserts so I will need to bake my own pumpkin spice cake.  Also, if you visit Starbucks in Japan you won't find a pumpkin spice latte.



I may be a  little too early for Halloween but I wanted to get this fall feeling started. Looking forward to cool evenings and hot drinks. Once this hot weather is over, then we can start complaining about the cold.

It isn't just a recent thing but pancakes have landed on most of the dessert menus in Japan. The slogan "pancakes are not just for breakfast" is taken very seriously here. For me, I prefer pancakes at breakfast with a cup of coffee rather than after a big dinner. The International House of Pancakes (IHOP), an American pancake restaurant icon, is no longer in Japan but that hasn't slowed the growth of pancake lovers.

Hawaiian pancakes have also become popular in Japan. However, besides the tropical flavored syrup such as mango, passion fruit and coconut there isn't that much uniquely Hawaiian about them. I may be wrong and if anyone knows something different, please correct me.

I have to admit that with the abundance of excellent pancake mixes, I am a bit reluctant to whip up a batch from scratch. Due to all of the desserts I usually have around the house, I try to keep the calories down by skimping on breakfast, thus, pancakes are almost never on my breakfast table.

Since I am from the U.S. my go-to-favorite for pancakes mixes is Bisquick. Just a add milk and eggs to the mix and you are ready to start grilling the pancakes in just minutes. The evil calorie laden sister of pancakes is waffles and Bisquick can be used just as easily on the waffle press. I won't allow a waffle press into my house for fear of too many Sunday waffle breakfasts.

For those of you who do want to make pancakes from scratch, the recipe is quite basic. All you need is milk, eggs, flour, baking powder and a little salt. Another of my cooking resources is Martha Stewart and she provides a simple and quick pancake recipe.

Good luck on your pancake or waffle baking and drop me a note if you have an interesting twist on this traditional breakfast or dessert.

This July cities around Hiroshima in Japan are recovering from record levels of rainfall. If you have a chance to support the recovery effort for the area, please do.

Also, most areas in Japan are experiencing a very hot summer with temperatures staying consistently around 36+ C/90+ F. Very hot indeed. It is hard to think about turning on the oven in such heat but July is also the height of peach season so time to try a few recipes. 

I found this cute ribbon in a shop in Tokyo and couldn't resist to buy. Not sure where you can find it in your country but it is a great to way wrap home baked gifts to give to friends and family members.

This recipe combines white chocolate into a traditional peach cake recipe to give it an extra taste boost.

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.         Preheat the oven to 180 ° C.
2.        Peel and dice the  peaches. Blanch  the peaches in hot water to peel more easily. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and almond flour.
3.       In a bowl, pour the yogurt, sugar and vanilla and mix with a small whisk. In  portions, mix in the eggs and mix with a small whisk until well blended. Mix in the flour and baking powder mixture.
4.        Lastly, mix in the diced peaches and white chocolate and mix with a spatula.
5.        Pour the mixture into a lightly buttered and floured pan.
6.        Bake 25 to 30 minutes. After baking, remove from the pan and cool before serving. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with ice cream for a beautiful and delicious summer dessert.

If you like pumpkin desserts, it is time to think outside of the traditional pumpkin pie. The most popular pumpkins in Japan area called kabacha. The kabacha is actually part of the squash family and is a bit sweeter than traditional pumpkins. Also, the outer skin is a dark color instead of the traditional orange. Kabacha are eaten throughout the entire year and are not seen as an autumn vegetable only.

I love pumpkin desserts and this one is great for the warmer weather. The kabacha puree is mixed with fresh cream and gelatin to create a smooth creamy topping for the light chocolate genoise cake on the bottom.

I used a buche cake mold to make this cake. Interesting shapes are another easy way to up your game with baking. Presentation is just as important as taste when serving your guests.

The recipe starts with the chocolate genoise cake followed by the pumpkin mousse. Maybe I am being lazy but I use frozen kabacha puree since the taste is quite full bodied. I am sure the canned pumpkin will work just as well.

Recipe

Pumpkin Decoration
1/4 fresh pumpkin boiled
1. Boil the pumpkin and drain the water and cool. Using a peeler, cut several thin slice and these will be used to line the pan for decoration.

Chocolate Genoise Cake
(makes a 24 cm x 24 cm cake)

2 eggs
60 grams sugar
50 grams flour
10 grams cocoa
20 grams butter (melted)

1. In a bowl, sift together the flour and cocoa.
2. In a larger bowl, mix the eggs and sugar with a hand mixer until the color is a pale yellow. In several small portions, add the butter and continue to mix with the mixer.
3. Add the flour mixture to above and gently mix with a spatula until everything is well mixed.
4. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius (pre heat the oven) for 20 minutes approximately. Remove the cake from the pan soon after removing from the oven so that it thoroughly cools.

Pumpkin Mousse
250 grams pumpkin puree
70 cc milk
2 egg yolks
60 grams sugar
9 grams gelatin sheets (softened in water)
150 grams fresh cream

1. In a bowl, mix the egg yolk and sugar with a whisk. In a saucepan, heat the milk until just lightly boiling. Pour the milk into the bowl with the egg yolk mixture and mix and then add back to the saucepan and heat on a low heat until the mixture lightly thickens. Lastly, add the gelatin and mix. Strain into a bowl and let cool.
2. In another bowl whisk the fresh cream until just soft peaks form. Do NOT over whip.
3. I another bowl add the pumpkin puree and mix with a whisk to loosen the mixture. Slowly add in #1 and mix together with a small whisk. The mixture should be lightly chilled but be careful not to chill too much since the gelatin will begin to make the whole mixture firm. If the mixture starts to become firm you can heat it lightly over hot water.
4. Mix in the whipped cream in portions with a spatula to the pumpkin anglais (#3) and mix thoroughly.

Putting Everything Together
1. Prepare the buche cake pan by lightly coating with olive olive and then smoothly line with plastic wrap so that there are no wrinkles (or very few). Place several pieces of the sliced pumpkin neatly at the bottom in a nice shape.
2. Pour the pumpkin anglais into the buche mold on top of the pumpkin slice up to about 90 % full. Cut a piece of the chocolate cake to fit on top of the pumpkin anglais. Gently place the chocolate cake on top of the pumpkin anglais and then put in the refrigerator for up to 1 - 2 hours.
3. The cake should be able to be removed from the pan easily if you pull on the plastic wrap.

Happy Baking :)

I always try to bake to match the season. To me, it doesn't make sense to to buy expensive fruits such as mangoes in January or to make chocolate desserts in the heat of the summer. If you enjoy each of the seasons and the fruits and vegetables that are available, then you can stay better in tune with the nature around you.

Sweet potatoes are easily available throughout the year in Japan, but to me they remind me of fall and winter. Many of the supermarkets in Japan have a display of sweet potatoes at the entrance of the vegetable section and they also usually have warm baked ones available for sale. The smell of warm baked sweet potatoes can hit you as you enter the store and starts your taste buds watering. On a cold evening it is hard to resist putting one in your shopping basket.

Enough about shopping and the seasons, let's get to the baking.



1. Sift the flour into a bowl. Cut butter into small cubes and mix with the flour using a pastry cutter (use a food processor if you have one). Butter should be well mixed with the flour.

2. Add the egg, sugar, salt & water and mix. Put dough on a smooth surface and knead gently until it is soft and well mixed.

3. Cover in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before using.

50 grams almond powder
50 grams powdered sugar
50 grams soft butter
5 grams flour
1 egg
5 grams dark rum
1. Mix the butter and powdered sugar. Add the egg and mix. Add the almond powder, flour & rum. Mix well.

1 sweet potato (baked, peeled & sliced about 300 grams)
1/2 sweet potato thinly sliced (these pieces will be boiled)
30 grams butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
15 grams honey
10 grams dark rum
2 egg yolks
100 grams fresh cream

1. In a bowl, soften the butter then add the brown sugar, honey, rum & egg yolks. Mix well with a whisk.

2. Boil the sliced sweet potatoes in water (add 1 tablespoon sugar to the water) until they are soft. Do not over  boil  or they will break apart.

3. Add the 300 grams sweet potato to #1. You can use a food processor to mix together or a fork. Slowly, add the cream. To remove the lumps, you can  put the mixture through a sieve. 

4. Roll the dough to fit the tart pan and cut off any extra. Fill the bottom with sweet potato filling the cover with almond cream (do not add too much). Arrange the sliced sweet potatoes on top in a nice circle pattern.

5. Bake at 170 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes then reduce to 160 degrees and bake for 40 minutes until browned. 

Step away from the flour and the oven and fill your shopping basket with summer fruit. While it is warm outside, change to cool and lighter foods and enjoy the delicious summer fruits.

Serving colorful fruit is a great excuse to make a trip to the shops to buy new dishes to complement  the fruit. My kitchen cabinets are bulging with dishes of every shape and color so not much room for new ones.  I found these cute watermelon cups at Cotta.co.jp (Japanese only) several years ago and I  noticed that the design has been slightly updated now. I have bought many cute seasonal dishes from this site and I always need to use restraint whenever I shop there.

The fruit paired with a scoop or two of ice cream makes a great summer dessert. Enjoy it while the weather is hot.

I have been craving a homemade muffin for awhile. After looking at all of the sad day old muffins in the coffee shops, I just needed to bake my own. Luckily, blueberries are starting to be readily available and less expensive. I saw this recipe in a recent Southern Living magazine and knew it was was time to bake. I love the combination of cornmeal in muffins since it gives a richer taste.

This recipe can be made as either muffins or a cake. An 8-inch cake pan should be fine for the quantity of this recipe. I used two medium size muffin pans and was able to make 12 muffins.

Here is the recipe:

100 grams butter (room temperature)
120 grams sugar
2 eggs
200 grams flour
85 grams cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
90 grams buttermilk
1 1/2 cup blueberries


1. Prepare the baking pans by lightly buttering and dusting with flour. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

2. Mix the sugar and butter with a hand mixer (or standing mixer) until light and fluffy about 2 minutes. Gradually mix in the eggs and mix well after adding each portion.

3. Sift together in a bowl the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and then add the cornmeal.

4. In portions, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture while alternatively adding the butter milk. Mix at a low speed just until everything is well mixed. Lastly, add about one fourth of the fresh blueberries and mix.

4. Pour the mixture into either the muffin tins or the cake pan and sprinkle with the remaining blueberries. Bake about 20 - 30 (the cake will take longer to bake) until lightly browned.

5. Cool for a few minutes before gently removing from the pan.

Since it is so close to July 4th, I thought I would add a few blue & white decorations.

Dinner is ready! We can't always eat dessert so for a quick dinner I have replaced the traditional meat sauce for these tacos with fish.

Here is an easy recipe to help you use all of the summer peaches you love.

This tart is baked together with a buttery crust on the bottom and  peaches with an almond cream on top.

This tart takes a short 30 minutes to to bake so dessert will be ready in no time at all.




Recipe

3 peaches (blanch them in hot water to remove the fuzz on the skin)

Crust (Pate brisee)
100 grams flour
50 grams butter (cold)
1/2 egg
1 teaspoon water
pinch of salt
3 grams of sugar

This bread is very hearty and can make a full meal by just adding a soup and salad. The cheddar cheese and bacon are a delicious combination for an evening meal or lunch.

Recipe

525 grams bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon yeast
370 grams water
150 grams grated red cheddar cheese
100 grams bacon (diced and fried, remove extra grease by draining on a paper towel)
15 grams butter (room temperature)

1. Combine flour, salt and yeast in a bowl and use a small whisk to mix together well.

2. Pour the water over the flour mixture in portions and use a spatula or bench scraper to mix together. After everything is mixed, place on a flat surface and knead together for about 5 - 10 minutes until the dough is soft.  Dough should be soft but not sticky. Let rest under a bowl for about 10 minutes.

3. Lightly warm the butter in your hands and then put on top of the dough and use a bench scraper to incorporate the butter. Knead again so that the bread is soft & supple. If tough, add a tablespoon or so of water and knead again. Add in the cheddar cheese and bacon. Roll into a well formed ball and put in a bowl and cover with wrap. Let rise in warm place for 60 minutes.

4.  Divide the dough into 2 pieces, each with the same weight. Roll each piece into a nice ball. Place on the kneading board and cover with plastic and let rise for 20 minutes (bench time).

5. Flatten each ball to remove the air and roll again into a ball. Place in the bread tin and brush with egg. Place in a warm place. Should rise again for about 60 minutes.

6. Heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Brush again with egg and bake for about 50 minutes. Cover with foil half way through if the top is getting too browned.

For a delicious jump into spring, this white chocolate mousse cake is highly recommended. There is a light cake at the bottom as well as in the middle. The white chocolate mousse encircles the cake and  the tangy lemon curd tops it all off.  The flowers decorating the top are actually edible, but not sure if they are readily available where you live.

If you need to save time, you can buy the lemon curd at the store, however, curd made with real lemons is just wonderful. It is recommended to only use fresh lemons, do not use the bottled juice when making lemon curd since the taste is so different.

The cake has 3 steps but overall it goes fairly quick. This recipe fits an 18 cm x 6 cm ring.

Cake

I discovered the small container of edible flowers in the local supermarket and knew that they would be the best decoration for a spring cake.  This chiffon cake has a hint of strawberry puree added for flavor in the cake and in the whipped cream coating as well. This cake is very light and a great accompaniment for a dinner dessert. You can also add a few fresh berries to enhancement the cake. This cake takes only about 20 minutes to put together and about another 30 minutes for baking. The recipe is enough for a large tube pan.

• Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water until soft then drain the water.
• Heat the strawberry puree in saucepan and then turn off the heat and add the gelatin. Stir until the gelatin is well mixed. Pour into a bowl and cool.
• In another bowl, whip the fresh cream with a large whisk or hand mixer. Mix just until soft peaks form. Add the strawberry puree to the cream and mix together with a spatula.