Travel the World Through Your Taste Buds: Japan

Last time we explored the savory side of Japanese cuisine with a spicy tofu stew, this time we are diving into the sweet side of things, with a Japanese dessert that has a slight twist with something not found in Japan.

Where are we going?

When I was staying in Japan I was in Yamanashi, which is a prefecture (similar to a state), Yamanashi happens to be called the “fruit kingdom”. The fruit there is the freshest fruit I have ever tasted in my life, the town I lived in had some of the most well renown grapes in all of Japan. These grapes are unique because they are about 3 times the size of a normal grape and you cannot actually eat the skin. However no one told me that the first time I had a grape and I actually could not eat the grape because the skin is so chewy and sour. After that experience I learned to love the fruit that surrounded me. The only fruit that I could never seem to find was strawberries, which is why in this dessert I added strawberries.

What are we making?

We are making a Japanese fruit roll cake. Now I wanted to make Mochi but sadly I don’t own a giant wooden mallet. The recipe I found was a plain vanilla cake with vanilla cream, I decided to mix it up however with a little chocolate and cinnamon. The basic cake mix wasn’t that difficult but because I was trying to make this dessert sugar free the meringue  didn’t set up and the cake batter was really loose. The cake turned out a very dense but thin chocolate cake with cinnamon whipped cream and strawberries. 

 This cake turned out to be way more difficult than I anticipated especially since I tried to make it entirely sugar-free. Even though this cake was difficult to make and wasn’t anything I had made or tried before this day it was still such a fun experience to make this cake. It may not remind me of home but it was definitely a recipe I’ll keep in my back pocket.

And remember to take a bite out of life!

Ratings:

Taste – 3 stars

Difficulty – 5 stars

Appearance – 3 stars

Would I Make it Again – 4 stars

Find the recipe here