Tokyo Desserts

Bowl with chocolate over warm water

This one is quite straight forward and should only take about 20 minutes to complete once you gather all of the ingredients.

Ingredients:

135 grams milk
Zest of 1 lemon
120 grams milk chocolate
167 grams Mascarpone cheese
6 grams gelatin

1. Chop the chocolate and put into a bowl over warm water.
2. Put the lemon zest into

Sift to remove lumps before pouring into dessert cups

the milk and heat until just boiling. Soften the gelatin then add to the milk.
3. Add the milk to the chocolate in
portions and use a small whisk to mix together. Mix until all chocolate is melted.
4. Put in a bowl and add in the Mascarpone cheese. You may need to sift the mixture after this to remove  lumps.
5. Pour into small dessert dishes. Refrigerate until firm.

You can substitute orange zest for the lemon and add a dash of Cointreau or Grand Marnier liquor

Should be firm after about 30 minutes in the refrigerator

A few good tools in the kitchen will make your baking life  easier.

I use stainless steel bowls instead of glass since they are light and give you flexibility if you need to heat them quickly on the stove top.




I like to keep an uncluttered kitchen, but I make an exception to have an easy-to-reach container filled with spatulas and palette knifes. The palette knifes may seem like a strange choice but they come in handy for many recipes.









This is a digital thermometer. It is a bit more expensive than most kitchen supplies but well worth it. It is great when tempering chocolate or checking the temperature of boiled sugar.

A quick search on Amazon found this one. I bought mine bought in Japan so may not be available in the U.S. The plastic cover keeps all of those sticky fingers from making it a complete mess.

This is a good recipe for beginner bread bakers. You can either go the traditional way and fill these with raisins or be more creative and use dried apricots, walnuts, etc.

For this recipe I chopped dried apricots. Need to be generous with the fruit so that you can really taste it in the bread.

Use for either sandwich rolls or toast  for breakfast with jelly. Homemade bread is always a great way to start the day:)


Milk Bread Rolls:
Bread flour 375 grams
Sugar 37 grams
Salt 7 grams
Instant dry yeast 6 grams
Milk (room temp) 188 grams
Egg (room temp) 1.5
Butter 52 grams
Dried fruit such as raisins, apricots, etc. 100 grams

1. In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the yeast. Mix the egg and milk in other bowl.
2. Add the egg mixture to the flour.  Use a bench scraper to mix and coat the flour. Put on a flat surface and knead for about 10  minutes. Dough should be soft but not sticky. Let rest under a bowl for about 10 minutes.
3. Lightly warm the butter in 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 of milk or so and knead again. Add in the dried fruit. Put in a bowl and cover with wrap. Let rise in warm place for 60 minutes.
4. Divide the dough into 70 gram pieces. 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 ball. Place on the pan you will use for baking - leave room between each piece since they increase in size during rising. Brush with egg. Cover with plastic and place in a warm place. Should rise again for about 60 minutes.
6. Heat oven to 210 degrees Celsius. Brush again with egg and bake for about 15 - 20 minutes until browned.