by : Reiko Breakfast, Sweets

Monkey Muffins
モンキーマフィン


So we had 12-year-old twin nephews overnight last weekend.

They are picky eaters, but I know they both like sweets.

I wasn’t sure how long they were going to stay the second day, but I wanted to be prepared to have all the ingredients if I wanted to make something sweet for them.

Well, every kid likes banana and chocolate, right? (lol)

Unfortunately, they had to leave right after breakfast, so these muffins were not ready when they left.

But the muffins were fully enjoyed later by my husband, who is not even a fan of banana!

 

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by : Reiko Sweets

Vegan Cheesecake
ヴィーガンチーズケーキ


Since I started the plant-based diet, there have been a lot of surprises.

Meat dishes without meat, fish dishes without fish, and egg dishes without eggs, they all exist.

By now I know so many delicious things can be made with plant-based ingredients.

But I’m still amazed that a delicious cheesecake can be made without cheese!

I have made vegan cheesecake before.

But my husband declared that this is the best cheesecake I’ve ever made.

And I loved it too.

It’s delicious as is, but I dressed it up a little with lemony persimmon sauce.

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by : Reiko Sweets

Vegan Gluten-Free Maple Cream Puffs
ヴィーガン・グルテンフリー・メープルシュークリーム

I was not happy with my first attempt, so I had to try this again.

I made a few changes, and I already knew by the firmer consistency of the batter that I was going to have a better result this time even before I put them in the oven.

And I was right!

I’m super happy with how they turned out.

These cream puffs do not contain egg, dairy, or wheat flour.

I filled them with maple yogurt cream.

Scrumptious!

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by : Reiko Beans/Lentils, Japanese Food, Sweets

Sweet Bean Paste
米国で即席！粒あん、こしあん、白あん、変わり餡

Sweet bean paste is very popular in Japan.

Using beans for dessert/sweets may sound strange to Westerners, but it’s something many Japanese people who live outside Japan crave.

There are three main types of sweet bean paste.

One is “Tsubuan.”

It’s typically made of Azuki beans.

It’s the chunky type, and you keep the beans mostly intact.

Today you can find dried Azuki beans at many Co-op stores in the U.S., so I could make it myself if I really wanted to (it’s not difficult but time-consuming), or I could also buy premade one at Asian grocery stores.

But the other day I asked myself, “isn’t there a different way to make sweet beans that makes better sense to someone like myself who lives outside Japan?”

Why not using an ingredient which is easy to come by in the U.S.

So I decided to use canned black beans.

I drained the beans, removed the excess liquid as much as I could by folding the beans with a few paper towels and pressing them, added sugar and a little salt, and cooked.

A good thing about it is that I can control the amount of sugar.

Here is the “Tsubuan” I made with the black beans.

If you really love the Azuki taste, or if you are teaching someone traditional Japanese cuisine, you should definitely use Azuki.

But for me this black bean version completely satisfies my craving, and it’s so (ridiculously) easy to make.

This is “Koshian.”

Traditionally, again it’s made of Azuki beans.

Here is my black bean version.

Koshian is the smooth-type.

I just used my hand blender and made it into paste.

Another main sweet bean paste popular in Japan is called “Shiroan.”

It’s made of white beans.

For this I used canned butter beans.

How to make it is the same as the “Koshian” version.

I drained the beans, removed excess liquid, added sugar and a little salt, cooked, and made it into paste with a hand blender.

Shiroan is versatile, and you can add different flavors and colors.

Here is something I created by adding raspberry powder.

This raspberry Shiroan is sweet but slightly tart.

Again, these are NOT how to make traditional Japanese sweet beans/bean paste but super easy ways to satisfy my craving.

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by : Reiko Sweets

Salted Banana Tart
塩ばななタルト

Just like avocado banana can be tricky in terms of when to buy and when to use.

When I want to eat or use banana, I usually don’t have any or the ones I have are not ripe.

Then when I buy some, they quickly become ripe and dark and I don’t have any ideas to use them!

So my new strategy is that I go get banana only when I need it and buy the one that is perfectly ripe for what I want to use it for.

It’s not easy, and sometimes I have to check two or three different grocery stores just to find the right one.

I love this rustic crust.

It was filled with custard cream and then decorated with banana slices and blueberries.

A little trick to this tart is spkinkling a little bit of Kosher salt on the cream.

The custard cream and banana both have mild sweetness, and the salt brings out the sweetness well.

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by : Reiko Sweets

Spiced Chocolate Pudding
ほんのりシナモンチョコレートプリン

This pudding is very chocolaty but not heavy.

As a matter of fact, it’s so light that you can (and want to) keep eating, and before you know it the jar is empty!

My mother-in-law gave me these jars a while ago.

She said she was going to get rid of them but thought she would ask me first if I could use them for something.

At that time I didn’t have any specific idea, but I’m glad I kept them.

I liked the shape, and the pudding looks so good in these jars.

(The “WECK” lids are from other jars, but they fit well.)

I added a little cinnamon to the pudding only to create flavor depth rather than to add strong cinnamon flavor.

When you have a bite, you know there is something but cannot really pinpoint exactly what it is.

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by : Reiko Sweets

Berry Berry Whiskey Gateau au Chocolat
ベリーベリーウイスキーガトーショコラ

Happy Valentine’s Day!

This year I decided to make a chocolate cake with a hint of whiskey, served with lots of berries.

It’s vegan AND gluten-free.

I was never a fan of gluten-free baked goods, but many vegan restaurants in Japan we ate at served gluten-free desserts, and they were so good!

They were not just delicious for gluten-free, but delicious period.

Not only is this cake vegan and gluten-free, it’s packed with ingredients that appeal to me.

What if I tell you the main ingredient of this wonderful ganache is tofu?

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