Sunday, April 29, 2012

Koguma (Golden Sweet Potato) Cake

The other day, I bought a bag of golden sweet potato at a Korean market and steamed them. They turned out very tender and sweet, and made me want to use it in some kind of sweets.


Then I thought "This would be a perfect chance for me to try making that Koguma Cake I sometimes order at Korean Cafes!"


Koguma means golden sweet potato in Korean language. When I first heard this name, I though the cake has something to do with a baby bear because Koguma in Japanese means baby bear.


Anyways, since me and my husband was invited to a weekend dinner party at our friends' place, I've decided to try making one for the occasion.


Between the sliced sponge cake, the creamy golden potato cream is sandwiched. Then the surface is decorated with chantilly cream which is whipped cream. Finally, the top is sprinkled with cake crumbs, sweet potato cream, chantilly cream, and chocolate.


The cream was rather soft, so I was a bit worried about cutting it into slices, but it turned out pretty well.
Since the sweet potato cream is made of custard and chantilly cream, it's a pretty rich cake even though it tastes delicate on your palette!


I was very happy to see my friends enjoying the cake after the dinner, and we ended up finishing the whole cake : )


I love when people smile while eating my sweets.  Thank you everyone :D

Friday, April 27, 2012

FARMSHOP in Santa Monica



I recently went to this nice place for lunch with my friends, and wanted to share the experience with you. 

The restaurant's name is FARMSHOP located in Santa Monica.The food served was very fresh and tasty. You can also purchase deli selection and ingredients at the market in the same shop.

If you happen to be in the neighborhood, give it a try. 


Enjoy the photos :D

Monday, April 23, 2012

Kid's character birthday cake

 Hello everyone! I felt a shake from an earthquake today, here in California. It makes me scared, so double checked where our evacuation kit and flash lights are in the house. Always better to be prepared, right?


During the weekend, I made this cake for my friend's daughter's birthday party. The request was to make it a face of her daughter's favorite animation character "Anpan-man". This guy is soooo popular among young kids that it always amazes me.


The birthday plate and miniature "Anpan-man" faces made with extra cookies. 


The cake is a delicate sponge cake filled with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, coated with milk chocolate whipped cream. Since I used the high quality French chocolate for the cream, it tastes good that adults can enjoy even though the look is for the children.


The mini faces and the number plate were placed on the side of the cake. I heard that the cake was a big hit at the party and the two year old birthday girl was very very excited :D


I always feel happy when people gets happy and smiles with the sweets I make. Happy Birthday Kyla :)




Monday, April 16, 2012

Lemon megengue tart

 How was your weekend everyone? Mine was calm and peaceful. It rained a few days before the weekend, so the air was refreshing and the sun was shining :)


Our bougeainvillea in the backyard is blooming beautifully and adding great bright color in our life. I love watching outside from my kitchen at this time of the year.


Inside the house, I've decorated our dining table for the spring. Even though Easter has already passed,  still keeping this centerpiece because I enjoy the pastel color in this decoration setting.


The porcelain egg holders are adding the cuteness to the table. Agree? :D


Speaking of spring, citrus is still in season here in California, and since one of my friends gave me some lemon from her friend's backyard, it made me want to make something sweet as a dessert to enjoy its fresh taste.


Lemon merengue tart. Usually, you see lemon merengue pie, but I personally like some texture added to my dessert, and decided to make it a tart instead of a pie. Plated a piece with fresh strawberry and honey sauce. Love the color combination, and the lemon part has a nice fresh flavor from the great lemon.


Now I'm waiting for the strawberries I planted a while ago to be ready to be picked. We should enjoy the spring before the summer arrives. Have a nice week everyone :D

Friday, April 13, 2012

Orange Marmalade

Hello everyone :D
I've been wanting to make this year's orange marmalade for a while, but hadn't got the chance because it takes about six days to complete.



Finally got some time to work on it, so pulled out the large stainless steel pot which usually sits in the storage area. Since I had 2kg of oranges, this pot worked so well! 


Then for the final cooking, I replaced the pot to Le Creuset ones because they do such a good job for this type of cooking. 


As you work on making marmalade, almost the whole house gets filled with the lovely orangy aroma, and that made me so happy and excited!


Now they are perfectly jared, some of them will be off to mid-west, to the in-laws. Hope they will enjoy this year's seasonal gift :D 


Bon Apetite!!!


Thursday, April 12, 2012

Thank you to the world!

Good evening everyone!


Today, I would like to share a special poster designed by Mr. Yoji Shibaoka, an art director who contacted me and shared about the project he is working on.


As you may know, Northeast Japan, the area called "Tohoku" was hit by a horrible earthquake and tsunami on March 11th, 2011. Since right after the earthquake, many people have been giving supports in different ways. 


This project is named "LOTS OF HEART PROJECT"  and its aim is to say 
"Thank you!" to everyone who have been supporting Tohoku area. 


Thank you everyone, and hope your warm caring heart will continue to support not only the Tohoku area in Japan, but every parts in the whole world who are in needs.


If you are a Japanese person and interested in supporting this project, please visit " www.lohp.jp " and you can download a poster. There are different versions in various languages, so please chose the one that is useful for you to share your "Thank you" in the country you are in.


You can also check out the info and share on facebook


Thank you to the world!!!!! :D

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Farmer's market vegetables

 The other day, I went to a farmer's market and bought a few kinds of fresh vegetables. Ones on the photo are yellow cauliflower, celeriac (celery root), kale, and fresh spring onion.


It is always fun to choose which vegetables to pick up at farmer's market :D


Out of those vegetables, my favorite this time was the yellow cauliflower. The lady who was selling them told me that the yellow ones have the most sweet taste out of all the cauliflowers.


To enjoy the fresh taste, I simply steamed it and ate with home made sesame vinegar dressing. It was sweet, and now became one of my favorite veggies.


Also steamed the celeriac and mashed it. Half of them was mixed into mashed potato, and the other half was eaten by itself with a little sauce. It had a slightly bitter taste, but was actually enjoyable, and my husband liked, it too.


When the ingredient is very fresh, you only need to add minimum to enjoy them, and I consider it as a very luxurious way to eat. What do you think everyone? Enjoy your evening :D

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Rose mini muffins

Enjoying the sunny warm weather, but suffering from the allergy season at the same time :(. Hope it goes away soon and get to fully enjoy the beautiful Californian spring!


Lately, I've been into using my cute rose silicone mold.


Isn't it cute? The mini size is perfect for picking one when you feel like snacking with a cup of coffee or tea.


Trying out different ways to bake vegan mini muffins in this mold.  Not using any milk or egg products with adding different types of toppings is pretty fun and interesting :)


The ones in the top photo are with carob, a substitute for chocolate that is made with vegetables that doesn't contain any cafefine. Gift for a friend who has kids with nut, milk, and egg allergy.


The ones on the right are with dried red skin grape and pine nuts. For this one, I even removed the oil from the recipe, so it was a little dry, but after warming it up when eating, it turned out okay. Good for breakfast, too. Gift  for a friend who did me a favor. Thank you :D


I love wrapping  my sweets, and been recycling the baskets came with the strawberries bought at the farmer's market for these rose mini muffins.


After them, I tried them out with raisins, cranberries, etc. Yet haven't settled with the best recipe, it's coming close! 


I'm making a batch of marmalade right now, and hoping to share the story about it next time. Have a nice week everyone :D

Sunday, April 8, 2012

The strawberry season has arrived!


Recently, the strawberries at the farmers market have become sweet with bright red color. It makes me really happy because I love the sweet and fresh taste of the strawberries in season :D The strawberry plants I got at the market are also growing with small berries, and can't wait for them to color up!



















Not only good when eaten fresh, but they are also good for baking. One of my favorites is strawberry pound cake. The kitchen starts smelling great from the oven while baking them, and that makes me smile:D


I always enjoy my tea time with my favorite antique Fire King mug with a Strawberry Shortcake print. My costume for Halloween when I was 5 years old was strawberry shortcake, and she is my favorite character since then. Her recent look has changed since then, but I still like her.


Ooops, I have to go check on my oven right now, so that's up for today. 
Have a good evening everyone :)

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Morning favorites

                                                     
 On a sunny weekend morning, it is always nice to enjoy the outside dining in the backyard. A little while ago, we had a special friend couple visited us from Canada. Since it was still cold out there, they enjoyed the warm and peaceful time sitting at our outside table.


I always feel amazed how a simple menu turns into a special brunch menu when you eat outside.  It seems to brightens the color on the plates as well :D

Of course on a busy usual morning, I cannot spare time on even cooking some eggs, then the muffins or breads baked and stored in advance comes handy.





This one morning, I warmed up a piece of vegan mini muffin I baked with dried grape and sunflower seeds. The squares on behind is a cheddar cheese with cocoa. Interesting and tasty.

Then my recent favorite is to brew espresso and make a cup of latte. I just use a simple espresso maker that you brew on top of your stove, and make the steamed frothy milk with my new tool.






For only $1.50, this was such a good buy! Perfect way to enjoy your morning and the teatime.



There are more favorite items in my list, and I will share them with you in another time.




Have a nice weekend everyone :D



Friday, April 6, 2012

Starting over


Hello everyone. I started blogging a long time ago, but was not able to keep up with it. Recently, I met a friend who has a beautiful blog with lots of talent, and was inspired by her to start over with a new blog.


First, I would like to write a little about myself.

My name is ako. I moved to the US, a Midwest State, from Japan ten years ago and got married with my husband. Right after I arrived, I've decided to change my career path from business world to culinary world which was my long time dream since I was in high school.



Through attending culinary school, I realized that I have more talent in pastry field rather than hot food cooking, so addition to my culinary degree, I also received a pastry and baking certificate and started my career in a pastry kitchen of a fine dining French Restaurant where I learned so much about plated dessert and delicate pastry production.

After a while, I moved on and worked at a private golf country club. There, I learned more about baking breads and volume pastry production for various banquets.

Even though I truely loved what I did at work, I had to admit that spending time with my husband and do traveling which I love was not very easy because he works during weekdays in office, and kitchen schedule usually works the opposite.

Therefore, after we moved to California four years ago, I have decided to find a way to keep doing what I like, but in a different style. Now, I work on my own, enjoy my new sweet, natural, and happy life.

I think this is long enough for today. Thank you very much for visiting my blog. I hope you got to know a little about me, and would love you to keep coming back to check out more about what I like to share :D