Hinamatsuri. 雛祭り- 2013

Today is Hinamatsuri in Japan which is a day for girls, and this year it meant extra special to me because it's my daughter's first Hinamatsuri. :D

I made these Hinamatsuri dolls for Lana to wish that she becomes a beautiful young lady and has a lot of happiness in her life.

And of course, some Japanese sweets to go with the occasion. I made my take on Ichigo Daifuku. Instead of putting Azuki I put matcha cream in side and put a strawberry on the top (which is much easier than trying to put it in the middle). It's kind of a mix of Japanese and Western. (Oh! that's just like Lana!)

Lana is too young to have the mochi so that is going in mama's belly but she will have the strawberry. ;)

Red Nose Day

It's "Red Nose Day" today in the UK. The whole country, especially lots of comedians, get together and are doing something funny to raise money for those poor, vulnerable and disadvantaged people in the UK and Africa.

Red red red red... nose... red nose... I couldn't make an actual red nose, but I did make red Ichigo Daifuku and put that on my nose.... and ate it.. no, not from my nose... had I done that, that would have be quality.., damn it..I should have... anyway, it looked pretty, tasted juicy, sweet..., simply delicious.

Comic relief really has inspired me, and made me want to do something for people in Japan who are in the disaster zone. There is so little I can do, but I'll bake cakes, make desserts, try sweets, and tell everyone that Japan needs support.

The World of Sweets website added a link to "Japan earthquake and tsunami relief fund".
Please tell your friends and get as much support as possible.

いちご大福 (Ichigo daifuku)

As I promised yesterday, I turned those azuki bean paste into pretty little mochi dessert called "Ichigo daifuku". Ichigo means strawberry in Japanese and Daifuku is a kind of mochi sweet. But also, daifuku means "a big luck" from the way it's written, so...everyone, feels lucky today, huh?

It's got Azuki bean paste and strawberry inside. When you bite it, the juicy strawberry and sweet azuki bean meet the unique mochi texture... it's simply gorgeous...

When you make the mochi, it's quite sticky so make sure that you've got plenty of corn starch ready.

Visit The World of Sweet Recipes, Japan to see the recipe.