MATCHA SYRUP DESSERT

Here's a picture of a typical traditional Japanese dessert. It included cubes of some firm translucent slightly sweet substance I have yet to identify. Can you tell me what it is? The dessert also included plain and matcha-flavored balls of soft mochi (yum!), sweet red beans, one large sweet black bean, and a small piece of mandarin orange. It was served with a small bowl of matcha syrup to pour over the top.

Sweet red beans are almost always included in traditional Japanese sweets and desserts. A lot of Western people don't like the texture. I do, but I've noticed that the flavor varies - perhaps according to the quality. Sometimes they seem too sweet.

As for matcha flavor, I like it very much with some things (latte, cheesecake, or a strong bitter drink they give you at tea ceremonies) but I don't like it much as sweet syrup. So I had the black sesame syrup instead...

Related articles

• Pudding (cathysfoodadventures.blogspot.com)
• New! Matcha Lover's Combo (obubutea.com)

RASPBERRY CREAMS

Is your mouth watering? Mine is!

I ate this dessert at a Christmas party I was lucky enough to be invited to. The friend who bought these had to stand in line at a famous sweet shop for a very long time.

It was so nice to taste fresh raspberries again. I always associate raspberries with Christmas because in New Zealand it falls in summer. Sometimes we spent the holiday season on my sister-in-law's farm, where there was a huge patch of raspberry bushes. On Christmas morning, after opening the presents, someone would go out to the raspberry patch and pick a huge bowl of  fresh raspberries to have with Christmas dinner.

CHRISTMAS TRIFLE

                 Image via WikipediaIn New Zealand you can't really have Christmas or New Year without trifle. And probably there are many different versions as there are cooks. Basically it's  three layers - a layer of broken chunks of sponge cake, a layer of thick custard and a layer of cream.

Many people pour jelly over the spongecake and let it set before they add the custard. Some people add fruit salad, fresh or canned. Some people sprinkle sherry or some other alcohol over the cake.

My mother used to make trifle with stewed rhubarb or tamarillos (sadly I hardly ever meet anyone who even knows what tamarillos are), and replace the custard with lime flavored instant pudding (That was an inspired combination!)

My favorite way to make trifle is very quick and simple. I smear raspberry jam (possibly thinned with sherry) over the chunks of sponge cake. Sometimes I add sliced banana. I think it's really important to have a nice creamy custard. And after adding the final layer of whipped cream, I decorate it with fruit, either strawberries or passion fruit pulp.

How can such an easy dessert be so incredible delicious?

CORNFLAKE SUNDAES

 If you order a sundae or a parfait in Japan, it will arrive at your table looking like a dream desert, but as soon as you dig down into it you will find... CORNFLAKES!!! Sometimes you will find a lot of cornflakes. It's very strange for Westerners to find breakfast cereal in a dessert. I suppose it is similar to how Japanese people often feel if they encounter rice pudding. It's a strange world, isn't it?