Reiko

Reiko

by : Reiko Sweets

Anniversary Matcha Cake
アニバーサリー抹茶ケーキ

The middle of December is a busy time for us.

There is my birthday and then there is our anniversary!

Since I made vanilla berry cake for my birthday not long ago, I wanted something very different from it.

With my husband’s suggestion “Matcha,” here it is Matcha Cake.

This is a one layer vanilla cake topped with sweet red beans, and then decorated with soy whipped cream, Matcha glaze, and homemade Vegan white chocolate.

There were some accidents (or they can be called “problems”) along the way, but the final product was pretty and tasty.

I didn’t think much of it, but this cake turned out to have East-meets-West flavors and be perfect for us!

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by : Reiko Main Dish

Seitan Pepptercorn Steak
Vペッパーコーンステーキ

First time making seitan steak.

Like I’ve said many times in the past, I’m not a huge fan of fake meat.

But when you’ve been on the plant-based diet for a while, I would admit you will want a variety.

I hesitated, but decided to post these pictures, so that people who are not familiar with seitan can get an idea of what it is (mostly because the final result may look exactly like the meat steak).

The first picture is where I was “kneading” the “meat”.

The second picture shows the “meat” steamed and ready to be fried.

Peppercorn “steak”, served with mashed potatoes, peas, and sautéed portabello mushrooms.

This was really good.

Absolutely loved the look and the flavor (marinade).

But I think it could still improve, so you’ll see my making more seitan steak in the future for sure.

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by : Reiko Sweets

Vanilla Berry Cake
バニラベリーケーキ

This is my birthday week, and I was going to ask my husband to order a cake for me.

But after checking to see what kind of vegan cakes are available, I decided to make my own birthday cake.

I wanted my cake to be white.

Vanilla flavored cake sponge with vanilla flavored frosting.

Then I decorated the cake with my two favorite berries, strawberries and blueberries.

The look I wanted to achieve was “elegance” and “sophistication”, yet “rustic”.

How did I do?

The height was perfect.

And the layers.

Aren’t they beautiful?

I wanted to thank my husband for volunteering to buy all the ingredients for the cake and do the dishes.

I was just so happy that we both got to enjoy the cake very much!

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by : Reiko Sweets

Mocha Brownies
モカブラウニー

Brownies are one of ultimate American sweets, and I LOVE them.

There are several criteria to meet my ideal brownies, and a shiny cracked top is one of them.

The other criteria may include moist inside, and richness in flavor, yet, no over-sweetness.

I also like chocolate chips inside as well.

These brownies were tasty as they were, but I wanted to make them extra special.

So the brownies were served with cashew-based mocha cream and walnuts on top.

DELICIOUS!

Did I say I love brownies (lol)?!

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by : Reiko Beans/Lentils, Bread, Potatoes/Squash, Soup/Stew

Potato Chickpea Curry with Roti
じゃがひよこ豆カレーとロティ

I like Indian food, especially curry.

If I had to choose one country’s food to eat for the rest of my life (besides Japan’s), it may have to be Indian food.

This smells so good.

So does the whole kitchen!

Actually, the main reason I made curry was I needed something that would go well with my homemade roti.

I tried this recipe, and I really enjoyed the whole process, including forming the dough into these cute little guys before flattening them.

The roti turned out great!

Warm, soft, and flaky.

Perfect!

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by : Reiko Sandwiches

Jackfruit Cake Croissant Sandwich
クロワッサンサンド

Eureka Compass Vegan Food makes awesome vegan baked goods.

I love their stuffed croissants, but I also like to get some extra plain croissants.

I have used them to make bread pudding, but usually I enjoy making sandwiches with them.

I’m a strong believer that bread is as important as (or more important than) what gets sandwiched.

I happened to have something fun to use for my sandwich.

I had just found and bought Jackfruit Cakes at Trader Joe’s.

The ingredients look decent.

Looks pretty good.

I got other components ready.

Ready to put it all together!

Arugula, Jackfruit Cake, tomato, cabbage, and homemade spicy mayo.

Lovely!

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by : Reiko Breakfast

Rustic Scones with Cheddar and Arugula
チェダールッコラ・ざくざくスコーン

I was in the mood for country-style rustic scones.

I used whole wheat flour for one-third of the flour.

I knew I wanted to make cheddar scones, because I still had beautiful homemade vegan cheddarleft.

But then I saw a bag of fresh arugula, and I thought this green would go well with the bright orange color of the cheddar.

The cheddar melted and solidified BEAUTIFULLY, and the scones turned out exactly (or actually so much better than) how I wanted!

Aren’t they just gorgeous?!

They were fresh, cheesy, salty, and a little sweet.

Just perfect scones, if you ask me.

Served with my homemade vegan butter.

This was a huge hit at our house.

My hubby loved it too.

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by : Reiko Sweets

Persimmon Galette with Brandy Cream
田舎柿パイ、ブランデークリーム添え

Persimmon has become easier to find in the U.S. lately.

The last few years I’ve been able to find it at Costco.

It’s one of the most popular fruits this time of the year (fall-winter) in Japan.

My parents actually have a persimmon tree in their yard, and they harvest hundreds of them every year.

The interesting thing is that when I’m carrying persimmons, almost always a stranger asks me questions like “What are they?” “What does it taste like?” “How do you eat it?”, etc.

They are delicious fresh (you do need to peel the skin).

It makes a great salad. Peel and slice. Combine with fresh kale and serve with maple mustard dressing. Yum!

You can make delicious jam with persimmon.

But my favorite is probably a pie.

I used my trusted/my current favorite vegan pie crust recipe for this.

The persimmons were peeled, sliced, and then combined with fresh lemon juice, a little sugar, and a little corn starch.

I served it with brandy coconut cream.

DELICIOUS!

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