Chocoful

Chocolate Raspberry Trifle

There is a smart phone game called ‘chocoful’ (チョコフル) gaining popularity in Japan. I don’t own a smart phone so I don’t know in detail but the rules seem simple. Skewer three fruits each as many as possible within a time limit and you get some prizes like a toaster! Yes! I need a toaster really bad…Not! My husband, the multi-tasker, plays iPhone game or reads while watching Olympics. Honey, look! You got to watch this!  Uno-tasker, me, yells with excitement. I know I saw it, my husband replay nonchalantly. How?… With your third eye?  

The above paragraph has absolutely nothing to do with trifle but since I titled this post by the same name, I thought I should mention it. Anyway, I love trifle. I have a few great trifle recipes and this chocolate raspberry trifle comes out on top, just needs time, patience and planning ahead. Chilled trifle is a divine reward for your hard labor! It has a lots of calories for sure but I’m satisfied with one spoonful of this..maybe three,four, five big spoonfuls will do.

Ingredients for Chocolate cake – use 13x9x2 inch baking pan

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 egg whites
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup sugar

Directions

1. Grease and lightly flour pan. Set aside.
2. Combine flour, cocoa powder and baking soda in a small bowl. Sift (do not skip this process). I sift flour on large sheet of wax paper for easy clean-up. Set aside.
3. Beat egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer with whisk attached on medium speed till soft peaks form.
4. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar. Continue to beat until peak is stiff. Transfer to large bowl and set aside. If you have room in your refrigerator, store it there.
5. Beat egg yolks in the same bowl (no need to wash) at high speed until thick and lemon-colored - about 5 minutes.
6. Gradually add 1/3 cup sugar until the sugar dissolves. Add vanilla and beat for an another 30 seconds or so. Pre-heat oven to 375 about this point.
7. Fold egg mixture into egg whites.Sprinkle flour mixture over egg mixture, fold in gently just until combined. Spread batter evenly in the prepared pan.
8. Bake from 12 to 15 minutes. Insert skewer to check doneness. Immediately loosen edges of cake and turn cake out onto a wire rack. Cool completely.

Ingredients for custard

• 4 egg yolks beaten well
• 2 cups milk, half and half or light cream
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract

Directions

1. In a large bowl, put ice and water.
2. Combine 4 egg yolks, milk (half and half or cream) and 1/4 cup sugar in a heavy medium sauce pan. Note: If you want chocolate custard add about 3 ounces of chopped chocolate pieces and add to the mixture. The chocolate custard version (picture below) I made for last Independence day.
3. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture just coats a metal spoon. Remove from heat and stir in the almond extract.
4. Place pan over ice water to cool for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Careful not to get water in the custard.
5. Pour custard mixture into a bowl. Cover the custard with plastic wrap. Chill for 1 to 4 hours. Note; Put plastic wrap directly on top of custard, not like in this picture.

To assemble

• 1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam
• 2 cup raspberries (if you are using frozen raspberries, thawed and drained).
• 1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
• 4 ounces bittersweet (or semisweet) chocolate, chopped in small pieces.
• 1/3 cup cream
• 2-3 Tablespoon sugar
• A couple drops of vanilla

1. Spread raspberry jam over top of chocolate sponge cake then cut into 16 rectangles.
2. Arrange 4-5 of the rectangles, preserves side up on bottom of a 2-1/2 quart glass bowl.
3. Sprinkle raspberries and almonds.
4. Spread about 1/2 cup of custard over all.
5. Sprinkle some of chopped chocolate. Repeat layers. Chill for 3 to 8 hours.
6. Whip cream, sugar and vanilla and drop on top if desired.

 

 

My teacher let me pick some peas from her back yard after painting class.

I made pea rice of course.

Is this kale? Maybe she said. I rubbed with olive oil and little salt then roasted in the oven.

This edible flower spread all over in her garden but teacher won’t eat it, just for look I guess. What’s it name? Don’t know, lovely aren’t they? I have to get some for salad next time.

Haystack Rock!

When I saw this haystack, I started to feel that summer was on its way out. A bit lonesome.

Day of Confession

Strawberry mousse cake

I love St.Valentine’s Day in the US. As always, my old fashioned husband had a dozen red roses delivered to me. We usually go out for fancy dinner. We have odd number household this year and I felt leaving my still wounded (from divorce) son home alone is pitiful so off to plan B. I make dinner and we just have a nice quiet time watching shows we DVRed, particularly  the ‘Once upon the time’ which is destroying my beautiful fairy-tale images for sadly ever after!

My husband informed me the night before Valentine’s Day that my son is going to Portland Trailblazer game with friends. Really? That’s kind of important information isn’t it? Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I just got the memo too, he said. Shoot! It’s too late for dinner reservation thus Plan B still move forward.

I spent entire Valentine’s Day afternoon preparing special feast (not really). I was thinking while making the dinner “how come Japanese celebrate this day so differently than the US?”  On Valentine’s Day in Japan, girls/women are allowed to confess their love with a gift usually chocolate. When I was in middle and high school I gave chocolate to popular, out of my league guys too. These chocolates are barometer of how desirable they are. For popular guys, it’s a day for celebration and for others, just painful reminder that life is not fair.

I confess that I’m so glad that March 14th was not invented back then (this is the day which boys confess their love back with cookies and is called White Day). If no boys gave me any cookies then it would be a huge disappointment and an empty stomach. I probably wouldn’t do Valentine’s giggly thing for fear that I won’t receive return of love on White Day. Last year, I blogged about the same subject and my husband gave me Godiva cookies. You really, really love me! I had no idea!

Ingredients for Strawberry mousse cake

15-1/2 X 11 rimmed pan lined with parchment paper that reaches above the pan about 2 inches

Acetate film-purchased at The Decorette shop or other cooking supply store

Scotch tape-I did not have but invisible tape look prettier.

Candy thermometer

Cocoa sponge cake

• Egg 420g about 8 large eggs
• Sugar 210g
• Cake flour or weak power flour 160g sifted with cocoa powder below.
• Unsweetened cocoa  powder 25g
• Milk 40g- heat in small sauce pan and add butter below to melt. Do not boil.
• Unsalted butter 40g

1. Mix egg and sugar in a double boiler and warm the egg mixture to 100F.
2. Put egg mixture into the bowl of stand mixer and mix on high until doubled in volume and light in color; 3-4 minutes.
3. Lower the speed  to low and mix about 2 minutes.
4. Add flour and cocoa mixture and fold it in with rubber spatula.  Make sure to combine well.
5. Pour in melted butter and milk mixture. Combine well.
6. Pour in batter into prepared pan.
7. Bake in oven for 12 minutes at 410 F. Check for doneness.
8. Lift up by paper and place on top of cooling rack and peel off paper.

Make syrup by combining 3 Tablespoons of water and 3 Tablespoons of fine sugar in small microwave proof cup and microwave to melt (about 20 seconds ). Add 2-3 Tablespoons of rum after cooled (optional). Set it aside.

Ingredients for custard cream. Enough for 6 cake.

• Milk 125g
• Heavy cream 125g
• Vanilla beans half
• 3 egg yolks
• Fine sugar 30g
• Unflavored gelatin 3g

1. In a small sauce pan, combine milk and cream. Add vanilla bean and scrape in the seed. Put shell in the it too. Warm up to just before boil. Set aside
2. In a bowl, mix egg yolks and sugar until light yellow color then add milk mixture a little at a time. Discard vanilla bean shell.
3. Strain the mixture and put back in the small sauce pan. Cook over low heat stirring constantly with a rubber spatula until mixture starts to thicken. Remove from heat.
4. Sprinkle in gelatin and mix well with whisk.
5. Put ice in a large bowl, then put the saucepan on the ice and stir to thicken and cool.

Assembly

1. Cut out circle from cocoa sponge cake ( I used 2-1/2 inch biscuit cutter).
2. Brush sponge cake with syrup. You do not use all the syrup.
3. Wrap the sponge with acetate film and over wrap by an inch and tape the end.
4. Pour custard over and place another sponge on top.
5. Chill in refrigerator.

Ingredients for Strawberry mousse

• Heavy cream 110g
• Strawberry puree 150g and 100g for jell- make your own by using blender or food processer.
• Gelatin 5g
• Sugar 25g

1. Whip cream until soft peak.
2. In a small sauce pan, combine strawberry puree 150g and sugar then cook just until boiling point. Remove from heat.
3. Sprinkle gelatin and mix well to dissolve.
4. Cool by putting ice and water in a large bowl, then placing the saucepan in. Stir while cooling until it thickens a little bit. Remove from ice water- the puree should still be runny.
5. Add to whipped cream and fold to combine.
6. Scoop onto the assembled cake.

Strawberry Jell

• In a small sauce pan, cook 100g of strawberry puree and sugar 15g –do not boil.
• Add a few drops of food coloring (optional).
• Add gelatin and mix well. Let it cool in pan. 
• Pour on the assembled cake and chill for a couple of hours.
• Decorate with fruits and sweetened whipped cream.

Salad with parmesan cheese crisps

Shrimp and vegetable baked in parchment paper

Main course – garlic pepper and thyme rubbed roast beef with roasted vegetables

I made fresh chocolate (生チョコレート) for friends.

Pink roses are my favorite. Just so lovely!

Mango Flan

マンゴプリン

I love flan! Well, I love all sorts of sweets, so flan is no exception. One of my must-do things in Japan is going to the convenience stores there. Japanese call those 24/7 stores konbini（コンビニ）(a Japanese contraction for the word convenience). They have proper names like Family Mart or Lawson and also Seven-Elevens but people just call them konbini  and  they are nothing like in the states. They sell great tasting bentos, onigiris, breads, desserts and a variety of cold drinks. I had oden (おでん）a seasonal  item on cold winter’s night and it was not bad at all. Of course there are other non-food items and services available -  like a home delivery called Takuhai(宅配). Once I sent a suitcase ahead of time to my destination because I didn’t want to be bothered by carrying  it for the side trip for sightseeing. Probably the first thing my husband and I do is visit a konbini when we go to Japan. The flight to Narita Airport from Portland, Oregon is an ordeal of over 10 hours then we take the Shinkansen to the 1st stop, arriving quite exhausted in Nagoya at 9 PM. We are too tired to go to a restaurant so we usually head to a konbini for a cheap yet tasty meal. I almost always look for flan for dessert. My favorite is creamy and light flan torofua purin (とろふあプリン). Incredibly light and creamy just like the name! Some flan tastes eggy (is this a word?) but this one has a more milky flavor that melts in your mouth. Really! This won the 1st prize in a now cancelled Japanese TV competition show called TV Champion some years back. Even if you don’t like custard, you will like this one I’m sure. It tastes like softer version of pots de crème.

I have several flan recipes which are all fabulous, but I incorporated left over mango puree in this one because I didn’t want to waste it.  It needs to be chilled for 6 hours or more so make it in the morning if you want to have it in the evening. Or make it in the evening and have it for breakfast? Just kidding.

Mango flan for 8 individual 6-ounce custard cups

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar and 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 2 and 3/4 cups  pureed mango- 2-3 good size mango skinned, pitted  and pureed in blender or food processer.
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3/4 cups  half and half
• 5 large eggs

1. First  make caramel syrup by combining 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup hot water and corn syrup in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves.
2. Without stirring, though occasionally swirling the pan, boil the sugar until it turns deep amber in color.  Be careful not to burn the sugar.
3. Pour syrup equally into eight custard cups. Set aside.
4. Now the main part. Whisk mango puree, lime juice, ginger and 1/3 cup sugar in heavy medium sauce pan at medium heat until mixture thickens and large bubbles break surface; about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool mixture by stirring. Preheat oven to 350F now.
5. In a large bowl, whisk the half and half and eggs together.
6. Stir in the mango mixture and then strain the custard.*
7. Pour custard into the prepared custard cups equally.
8. Place custard cups in large 9x13 glass casserole dish.
9. Pour enough hot water into pan to come halfway up sides of custard cups. 
10. Cover pan with foil then bake flan for about 30 minutes. TURN OFF HEAT and leave it there for another 30 minute.
11. Remove from casserole dish, remove foil cover, cover with plastic and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.
12. Run a small knife around sides of cup. Place plate atop cup. Invert flan onto plate. Serve (cover) with sweet whipped cream if you like. I had to. Because flan didn’t come out cleanly.

*Do not skip this part for smooth mellow texture.

When we were in Sapporo, Hokkaido in May of last year, we ventured out to get Samurai pudding (侍プリン) we heard about. The ad said that Samurai purin is made for men (男のプリン）Supposedly,the bitter caramel taste and not so sweet custard is suited for men. Hmmm,,,. Nice!  But we still liked torofua purin better.

We brought the Samurai Purin glass home

As for mango flan, my guys (my husband and back home son) like regular flan and voted down this new creation of mango flavored flan. They protested by saying why fix a good thing? I don’t know… because I had left overs?

Today is the 4th of July. We came home from Independence Day celebration at a friends. We really had a fun time having good food, playing in the field and visiting.  They neatly adorned the table with 4th of July theme homemade decorations that were charming!  Then for me, holding a young couple’s few weeks old baby was the icing on the cake, how blessed for him to be born to loving parents and in this great country! I too am blessed to live here, not all perfect yet perfect in a sense. I hear noises of the fire work show my neighbor puts up every year. We pull up lawn chairs to watch them going. “Ohhh”, “Ahhh” then clap our hands in approval. Perfect end to this marvelous day.

A Happy Independence Day to you all. 

This is not me holding the baby