Amashoku is old-fashioned Japanese sweet bread. It is not yeast bread but more like a simple baked pastry between a cake and a cookie. Amashoku is very easy to make with easy-to-find ingredients. It is a perfect everyday snack.
Amashoku is said to be created 100 years ago in the Meiji era. It was a western style sweet bread which first became popular in Kanto (eastern Japan) area, but eventually wide spread to the whole country. You may be able to buy Amashoku at some fresh-baked bakeries in Japan, but it is more likely to be found in the bread aisle in the supermarket as a factory-made pastry. Amashoku doesn’t look or taste very glamorous but exists as a rather nostalgic food today. Even in Japan, Amashoku is fading away, and there is almost no chance to get it outside Japan, sadly. You may be attracted to other cream-filled, fruits-topped bread more, but you will always go back to simple and comforting taste. It’s like when after eating a lot of decadent food like Sukiyaki, then simple food like Ochazuke becomes to look better.
The signature Amashoku volcano-like shape is formed by cutting the middle of the bread batter in a cross with an oiled knife. Even if it doesn’t make a perfect mountain, it’s OK. It still tastes good to your soul!
Amashoku Recipe
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 10.5 oz cake flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1.5 oz butter room temperature
- 6.5 oz sugar
- 2 oz Miso Paste
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 480F (250C).
- Mix cake flour and baking powder in a bowl. In a second bowl, put baking soda in milk and stir.
- In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar with a wooden spatula. Add Miso Paste and egg and mix until smooth. Add the milk mixture and mix well. Add the flour mixture and mix further, but do not over mix. Let the batter sit for 30 minutes.
- Put batter in a piping bag, and pipe 3″ (7cm) rounds on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Slash a cross in the middle of the top of each round with an oiled knife.
- Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes.
Video
