28th February, 2022
Easter is all about sweets! As a chef, it’s important to stay up to date with all the latest food trends and incorporate holiday inspired dishes into your restaurant menu. In this blog, we are going to share some Japanese inspired Easter desserts.
Shaped like a baby chick, this is a perfect Eater dessert originating in Fukoka in 1912.
1. Before making the dough, scoop out 12 spoons of red bean paste, roll them into balls and let harden in the freezer for 30 minutes.
2. Mix egg yolk, Honteri, and milk in a bowl. Add flour, baking powder, salt, and knead until a soft dough has formed. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Once done, divide dough into 12 pieces, roll each piece into a ball and press flat to create a round shape, big enough to be wrapped around the red bean paste ball. Once the paste has been covered with the dough, thaw to ensure quick and easy shaping.
4. Roll each bun in your hand creating a cylindrical shape. Squeeze one end to form the neck of the chick and shape the face and length however you like.
5. Bake the dessert at 300C for 15 minutes. Once golden brown, remove from oven, decorate the chicks, and serve. Eyes and wings can be created by using a heated steel chopstick or skewer.
This dessert consists of edible gems or rocks that are jelly on the inside and crystalised sugar on the outside.
1. Dissolve Agar Agar into water and bring to boil. Add sugar and let the mixture boil for a further 2-3 minutes.
2. Take the mixture off the heat and add flavouring. Pour into an oiled container, add a few drops of food colouring and swirl together.
3. Refrigerate the mixture for a few hours. Once set, pull it out of the container and cut into 1 inch crystal shapes. You can serve them fresh without the formation of crystal on the exterior or wait for 24 hours for the sugar to crystalise.
A great vegan option, this matcha chocolate egg consists of a matcha mousse filled in a thick chocolate shell, draped in white matcha chocolate.
Melt all your ingredients in a bain marie, on low heat. Once melted, leave the mixture to cool until its slightly thickened and pour into the egg moulds.
1. Fill the mould fully without overflowing. However, if it overflows, ensure to scrape away all the excess chocolate. Carefully place the mould in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to create 1cm thick chocolate.
2. Carefully remove the moulds from the freezer, turn the moulds upside down and let the remaining chocolate drip in a bowl. Once emptied, check the thickness of the hardened chocolate. If it’s too thin, add the chocolate again and freeze for another 20 minutes – or if it’s too thick, scrape the excess off.
3. Once you’re happy with the thickness, place the moulds in the fridge.
1. Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender. Remove egg moulds from the fridge and pour the mousse in them until almost full. Place them back into the fridge for 3 hours, to set the mousse.
2. Melt all the excess chocolate that was poured from the shells and add it into a piping bag. Take out the moulds from the fridge and carefully remove the chocolate eggshells – once fully out, place half back into the mould.
3. Start piping around the outer rings of both shells with the melted chocolate and quickly and firmly close them together. Cover again with mould and place in the freezer for 5 minutes.
1. Melt all ingredients on low heat, in a bain marie. Mix in matcha powder and transfer the mixture into a silicone pouring jug. Once cooled at room temperature, remove the egg from the freezer, place it on top of a mason jar and pour the matcha chocolate on top to create drips, from a 30cm height. Once done, your matcha chocolate egg is ready to be served.
We hope you enjoyed learning about Easter dessert recipes inspired by Japanese cuisine. Replicate the dishes with Mizkan Chef’s specially crafted ingredients to add an extra touch of flavour to them. Sign up to our newsletter for all the latest news and updates within the Japanese food service industry and check out our chef recipes page for more Japanese and fusion cuisine inspiration.
