Houjicha Cheesecake Bars

15Nov10

I adore cheesecake! I try to come up with a new flavor of cheesecake once or twice a year. My latest creation is cheesecake bars flavored with Houjicha, a roasted version of Japanese green tea with marvelous fragrance and low caffeine. Directions: 1. Simmer 200 cc (4/5 cup) of canned, unsweetened, evaporated milk with 10 [...]

Filed under: Dessert, Pie   |  3 Comments
Tags: cake bars, candied ginger, cheesecake, cream cheese, finger food, green tea, hojicha, japanese tea, whipped cream

Sakura Cheesecake

05Mar10

I am nuts about cheesecake, and each season of the year inspires me to make up a new recipe. Welcome cherry blossom-viewing season with this fragrant Sakura Cheesecake. The gentle cherry blossom scent comes from using salt-preserved cherry leaves. The leaves have the greater share of this fragrance, and though I used salt-preserved cherry blossoms [...]

Filed under: Dessert, Pie   |  6 Comments
Tags: cheesecake, cherry blossoms, flower-viewing, Japan, Japanese, Pie, sakura, spring

Renkon Yakimochi

30Dec09

Here’s a wagashi (traditional Japanese confection) recipe that is more in the style of Chinese Dim Sum. I tweaked a recipe I found in Haruko Kanezuka’s book Wa no Oyatsu (Japanese snacks). It is not overly sweet, as so many Western desserts tend to be, but that’s only one of the reasons I like it [...]

Filed under: Appetizers, Dessert   |  2 Comments
Tags: confection, lotus root, mochi, root vegetables, wagashi

Yuzu Cheesecake

28Sep09

Ingredients: cream cheese, 200 grams (about 7 oz ) plain yogurt, 160 cc (about 5.5 oz) fresh eggs, 2 granulated white sugar, 2/3 cup flour, 3 Tablespoons sugared yuzu peel, 100 grams (about 3.5 oz) orange liqueur, 1 teaspoon pie crust whipped cream for garnish (optional) freeze-dried yuzu zest for garnish (optional) The photo below [...]

Filed under: Dessert, Fruit   |  1 Comment
Tags: cheesecake, citrus, heavy cream, Pie, yogurt, yuzu

Umeboshi Cheesecake

28Sep09

I am absolutely nuts about cheesecake. I invent a new cheesecake recipe at the rate of about once each season of the year. One of my family’s favorites is the Persimmon Cheesecake that I make every fall. Earlier this spring I invented a cherry blossom-scented Sakura Cheesecake. Recently my eye wandered to my stock of [...]

Filed under: Dessert, Fruit, Pie   |  2 Comments
Tags: cheesecake, heavy cream, pickled plums, Pie, umeboshi

Candied Sweet Potatoes

27Sep09

This is my own twist on a traditional Japanese sweet potato snack called Daigaku Imo, which involves deep-frying chunks of sweet potato and coating them with a sweet syrup. Ingredients: Satsuma Sweet Potato, 1 large oil for deep-frying for the sauce: water, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup butter, 1 or 2 Tablespoons fresh ginger root, [...]

Filed under: Dessert, Vegetables   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: dates, ginger, root vegetables, sweet potatos, syrup, walnuts