The pandemic is bringing us so much stress and anxiety that we’re desperately seeking ways to distract ourselves—drawing, making music, painting and filming TikTok videos to name a few. But recently, everyone seems to pour their energy on recreating viral food trends. We’re not complaining though, because honestly—same. From whipped coffee to pancake cereals, we’ve already tried them all.
[READ: Done with dalgona? Whip out these other coffee drinks instead]
So we got the latest trend that you might want to try, especially if you enjoy creating art as much as eating: Japanese fruit flower sandwiches.
Fruit sandwiches were originally only available in Japanese cafés but Tastemade Japan created their homemade version of the famous snack and released a tutorial video for people under stay-at-home orders.
The video is in Japanese though, so let us translate the whole thing for you.
Here are the ingredients you need to make six to 12 servings: 12 slices of any kind of bread (but white bread works best); 200 mL of fresh cream (or heavy cream); 200 grams of mascarpone cheese (or cream cheese); 30 grams of granulated sugar; and any fruits available in your kitchen (Tastemade used strawberries, kiwi, mango, grapes, bananas and mandarins).
Now onto the actual preparation.
First, you have to make the cream filling. Combine fresh cream and granulated sugar in a bowl before whisking for six minutes. Gradually add mascarpone cheese to the mixture, then continue whisking for seven minutes or until smooth.
Next comes our favorite part: cutting the fruits into flower-like shapes. Cut strawberries into tulip shapes, then peel skin off the mandarins (no need to slice them). For kiwis, you can either slice them to resemble a stem or cut into thin slices, spread cream on it and roll until it looks similar to a flower.
Slice grapes in halves to resemble leaves. If you have a flower cookie cutter, you can use them to cut mangoes and bananas. But if you’re feeling confident with your knife skills, you can always manually slice them. (Skip to the 0:35 mark of the video for the visuals.)
After that, get your chosen type of bread. Spread a fair amount of cream on it, place the fruits, then add more cream until the fruits are covered. Place another slice of bread on top before wrapping. (Skip to the 5:50 mark for the visuals.)
Refrigerate for 20 minutes or until set. Once set, cut your sandwiches diagonally.
Get a blanket and some refreshments, then you’re all ready for an indoor picnic.
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