Tokyo Desserts

We are still at home and observing social distancing. Japan has not implemented the drastic lockdown rules as other countries have so we are waiting to see how that develops and in the meantime I am still baking. To compensate for all of the desserts, I bought a steps tracker to check steps and distance during the morning neighborhood walks.

New plates look good with the custard pie

While browsing recipes, the custard pie jumped out at me. I have never made one of these and definitely haven't eaten one for a long time as well. So, why not.

Preparation is only about 15 minutes (add another 20 minutes if you make your own crust). Feel free to use a ready made crust if you really want to keep things simple. I think the custard recipe can be very forgiving if you need to either increase or decrease to fit your pie pan. I saw some recipes that included fresh cream in addition to the milk so depending on what is in your refrigerator feel free to experiment.

Pie Crust Recipe (fits 18 cm pie pan)

100 grams cold butter
1/2 egg
1/4 teaspoon vinegar (such as apple vinegar)
175 grams flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Egg white from one egg (use the yolk in the custard below)

6. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and bake for about 10 minutes.


Custard Pie

3 eggs plus the egg yolk from above
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Nutmeg powder as needed

1. In a large bowl mix the eggs, egg yolk, sugar, salt & vanilla extract with a small whisk until well mixed. Strain this through a sieve which will remove any egg parts which were not mixed.
2. Pour into the warm baked pie shell and sprinkle with nutmeg powder and continue to bake at 180 degrees Celsius for about 30 minutes depending on your oven.

I had extra batter and baked in small milk bottles

Full pie baked and ready to serve

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 :)

Forget dinner, go straight to dessert!

There is a great kitchen supply area in Tokyo called Kappabashi and I bought  cute dessert cups there so had to make something to fill them.

This dessert has several items in it - strawberry mousse, cake, custard cream, and fresh strawberries and blueberries. I am providing the recipes if you want to make everything from scratch but you can substitute store bought things such as the cake if you need to save time.

Cake:
2 eggs
60 grams sugar
1 teaspoon water
50 grams flour (sifted)
20 grams butter (melt over hot water)

1. Whip the eggs and add the  sugar and water until they are yellow and fluffy. Add the sifted flour and mix well then add in the melted butter - add in portions and mix each time before adding more.
2. Pour into a square baking sheet (about 20 cm x 20 cm) which is covered with baking paper. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. Cool after removing from the oven.

Custard Cream:
2 egg yolks
100 cc milk
20 grams sugar
15 grams flour
1 teaspoon strawberry liquor

1. Mix the egg yolks with the sugar and flour using a small whisk. Heat the milk in a saucepan until lightly boiling then add to the egg yolk mixture and mix. Add back to the saucepan and cook on a low heat until it thickens. Continually mix using a small whisk. Do NOT overheat.
2. Remove from the pan and cool in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap while it cools so that the top does not become hardened.

Strawberry Mouse
100 grams cream cheese (softened)
50 grams sugar
200 grams strawberry puree
6 grams gelatin (softened in water)
200 grams fresh cream

1. In a bowl, mix the cream cheese and sugar.
2. In a saucepan, lightly heat the strawberry puree. Turn off the heat then add the gelatin. Mix with a small whisk until it is all dissolved. Pour into a bowl and cool.
3. In a separate bowl, whip the fresh cream until peaks appear, do not over whip.
4. When the puree is room temperature, add it in portions to the cream cheese and mix well using a whisk. Place this over a bowl filled with ice to firm up the puree. Keep the puree over the ice water until it becomes pudding consistency. Use a whisk to keep it loose.
5. Add the fresh cream in portions to the puree mixture, use a whisk to mix.

Putting Things Together
1. Cut the cake to fit in the bottom of the dessert cup then layer with the custard, fresh berries and mousse. You can design the dessert as you like ;)
2. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving

Dessert is ready!

This recipe is a variation of traditional rice pudding. The extra added taste is caramel.  Since it looks a bit fancier than other rice pudding which is cooked in a big dish, this can easily be served on fancy dessert dishes.

Usually in rice pudding recipes we use leftover rice which has been in the refrigerator. Well, if you want a tasty dish cook fresh rice :)

Here you go for the recipe.

Makes enough for 6 ramekins

120 grams uncooked rice
500 grams milk
1 vanilla bean
zest of 1 orange
50 grams sugar
30 grams butter
25 grams raisins
2 egg yolks

Pour the caramel into each baking dish

Caramel
100 grams sugar
30 grams water

1. Clean the 6 ramekins before making the caramel and be ready to fill them once the caramel is ready.
2. To make the caramel, combine the sugar and water into a sauce pan and heat until the sugar water is melted and starts to turn a light brown. Remove from the heat quickly after the sugar turns brown since it will burn very quickly.
3. Pour the hot caramel into the 6 ramekins evenly.









Rice Pudding

1. Boil the rice in 2 cups of water and cook until just softened. Strain to remove the water.
2. Boil the milk in large flat fry frying pan and add the inside of the vanilla bean (slice the vanilla bean down the center and remove the black filling and add to the milk) and add the orange zest and sugar. Add the cooked rice to the milk and lower the temperature to medium heat and stir until the liquid is reduced.
3. Put in a bowl and mix in the butter with a spatula then add the egg yolks and raisins. Pour evenly into each ramekin. Place all of the ramekins in baking pan filled 1/3 with hot water. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 - 30 minutes until lightly browned on top.
4.  When you remove the baking dishes from the oven, cool in a pan of ice water for about 10 minutes then turn each each piece upside down onto a serving dish.

Add the raisins to the rice and milk mixture

These desserts look nice enough to stand on their own