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.