Christmas Special: Japanese-French Baked Treats Workshop

It's been a few months since I last attended any baking/cooking workshop, either the recipes don't appeal/are not suitable or I was not free to attend.

But the moment I saw this particular workshop at Shermay's Cooking School - Christmas Special: Japanese-French Baked Treats by Guest Chef Keiko Ishida, I knew I had to make time for it! It's extra special coz Chef Keiko flew in from Japan for the workshop. I mentioned before that I simply love her impeccable style and of course her baked treats which suit my palate very well - light and not too sweet.

5 recipes were demo-ed for this workshop with 1 treat for tasting and a take-home box of 4 treats.

1. Yoghurt & Fruit Swiss Roll - Piped biscuit baked then filled with yoghurt cream and a variety of fruits, finished with Christmas decorations.
2. Green Tea Dot Swiss Roll - Japanese green tea (Matcha) dot designs on vanilla sponge with green tea cream.
3. Green Tea Pound Cake - Green tea butter cake with green tea icing.
4. Galette Nante with Kinako - Traditional French Brittany cookies flavored with Japanese soy bean powder (Kinako).
5. Yellow Peach Mousse - Simple, light & delicious.

 

I always like Chef Keiko's swiss roll recipes as her sponge cakes are ever so soft and fluffy. She stressed the importance of folding the batter well to achieve the fluffiness which I have yet to master.

This was in the take-home box. I had it the next morning straight from the fridge and I must rave about it coz the green tea cream was soooo good, it's almost like green tea ice-cream! Combination of vanilla sponge and green tea cream was perfect and complemented by sweet red bean paste. I love it!

She also shared with us some variations like chocolate, coffee and even strawberry flavour (can have pink hearts instead of polka dots).

Seriously, this is one recipe I vow to try if I am finally free to do so.

Isn't this pretty? Very interesting type of swiss roll, not sponge sponge per se but biscuit. We sampled this in class and I was blown away. The biscuit was slightly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I love it that fruits was used. Fruits really complement pastries well and not to mention the 'eye-candy' of lovely colours.

But one thing I would probably refine from her recipe is the yogurt cream. I couldn't really taste the yogurt, so probably would adjust the proportion of the fresh cream vs yogurt and whether a stronger yogurt taste would complement the cake/fruits or not.

I'm not really a cookie person. But there is something special about this cookie. Can't describe the taste, it's not too buttery, not too floury, seriously I don't know how to describe. It's good. Period.

I'm not a big fan of pound cake as I prefer cakes that are soft and fluffy. Pound cakes that are not mixed/baked properly tend to be too dense and worst, dry. You know the type where the crumb taste sandy? But this, I assure is dense and moist with a strong aroma of green tea.

This is a simple dessert, very similar to mango pudding. In fact, recipe can be varied with use of canned pear, mango and etc. Can serve in a big bowl like this.

Or individual glasses. I think this would appeal to kids. Next time, I'm gonna make this for my baby.

These baked treats really make lovely Christmas gifts. Alas, I don't think I could make time to bake these for my friends this year but definitely KIV for future.

This was definitely a workshop well-worth my time and money and I'm really hoping to attempt the recipes one of these days.

Our lovely take-home box. Can't imagine she had to prepare so many sets of these (2 days of workshops, and I think at least 50 pax per day?) even with Christmassy touches of stickers. Thank you Chef Keiko! Looking forward to her future workshops, if any.