Sweets

For the Thanksgiving dessert we didn’t have a pie.

We had a cake instead.

When I made my husband’s belated birthday cake last week

https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2022/11/18/belated-birthday-lemon-cake

I had extra cake sponge and I froze it for a later use.

I also had some extra lemon curd, so it was perfect.

This is very similar to his birthday cake, but this time I came up with a new way to make frosting.

I’ve never been a big basic frosting (butter and powdered sugar) fan.

The amount of powdered sugar that goes in horrifies me and I don’t care for the harsh powdered sugar taste.

This time I made vegan custard cream first, and added vegan butter and some powdered sugar, way less than typically used.

It turned out great!

It’s creamy, buttery, and sweet, but not overly sweet.

I think this is how I’m going to make frosting (or butter cream) from now on.

Happy Birthday, Honey!

Well, it’s a half year late because his birthday was in July.

Then why are we having a birthday cake now in December?

Well, around that time of his birthday, we were both avoiding eating sugar as much as we could, and he told me that he did not want his birthday cake.

It’s customary at our house that I make his birthday cake, and he orders my birthday cake from a professional cake maker.

About a week ago, we decided that it was time to order my birthday cake for next month.

I was so excited, and once I put together the idea of what kind of cake I wanted this year and the order was put in, my husband turned to me and said he wanted his birthday cake too,

I didn’t see it coming, but since he didn’t get his cake this year, I agreed to make him a cake before my birthday.

His request was a lemon cake.

It’s always a lemon cake for him (lol).

This is a three-layered lemon cake (with lemon syrup soaked), with lemon curd and lemon frosting, decorated with fresh blueberries and mint leaves.

It turned out lovely, and the most importantly my husband liked it!

Kinako or roasted soy powder was generously used for these cookies.

It’s almost overwhelming to know how many soy products I grew up with in Japan.

Many Japanese names do not contain “soy”, so you don’t realize that.

For instance, miso, tonyu, tofu, shoyu, and edamame are just a few examples.

They are soybean paste, soy milk, soy curd, soy sauce, and soybeans!

I need practice with piping!

I got so excited when a friend gave me Sudachi, because it is very hard to find in the U.S.

Sudachi is a Japanese citrus fruit.

You don’t eat it as a fruit, but it is used to flavor dishes and baked goods.

I believe my friend had them shipped from Japan.

I got so excited, and I tried to find the best ways to enjoy them.

I had several ideas, but I decided to make biscotti.

The Sudachi zest was generously added to the batter.

They turned out amazing!!

It’s similar to other citrus fruit, but I can certainly tell the difference.

I was so happy that I got to taste the Sudachi so well with this.

The Sudachi flavor was absolutely wonderful and went well with the almonds.

I also made icing with Sudachi juice.

Shortbread biscuits are pretty basic.

They are made with simple ingredients, but they are delicious.

This time I added a little bit of “Paris” tea leaves, finely ground.

It smelled and tasted heavenly!

But why I decided to bake shortbread biscuits?

The main reason was “Ted Lasso”.

We started watching the show, Ted Lasso, a few weeks ago, and we got hooked!

We’ve been binge-watching since then.

I have a feeling that watching the show makes some people want to get a cold beer out of their fridge, because after all, the characters are mostly either on the soccer field or at a bar!

Me?

No.

Beer doesn’t do it for me.

But the shortbread biscuits?

Yes.

The main character, Ted Lasso, brings shortbread biscuits to his boss every morning, and they look so good!

Every time when I see Rebecca (the boss) has her first bite, I crave for it (lol).

And he brings the biscuits in a cute small pink box just like this.

Don’t laugh.

I made the box myself out of a piece of paper!

You can really find anything on YouTube.

The biscuits fit in the box perfectly!

It was hard to wait for it to cool and ready to be cut.

The cutting part is so satisfying.

Absolutely delicious!

I can definitely start a day with a piece of biscuit like this.

I used this recipe, but I cut it in half.

https://www.mashed.com/474422/ted-lassos-shortbread-biscuits-copycat-recipe/

I made this sometime in spring.

I forgot to post it and then when the summer came, I felt like it was too late to post.

Chocolate and summer just do not seem to go well together.

Technically it’s still summer (in my mind summer does not start until September), but we are almost there, so I decided to post it now (otherwise I am afraid that I will forget about this again).

This was a delicious banana bread.

Okay, we call it “bread”, but it’s definitely should be categorized as a “cake”.

I added the mixture of sunflower seed butter and chocolate to the banana bread batter and created the marble design in the middle and on the top, and then chocolate chips were also put in (both in the middle and the top as well).

The mixture of chocolate and sunflower seed butter tasted like heaven itself!

This was a delicious “bread”!!

Just a perfect snack with a cup of black coffee.

Now it’s getting cooler, so maybe it’s time to make it again.

No oil.

No eggs.

No dairy.

No gluten.

It’s a dense, which I personally like.

It tastes the best cold.

I had a hard time staying away from the fridge!

Here is the link to the recipe (Japanese).

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZrR8hjvxhg/