Bavarois is a cold French dessert that is something between jelly and mousse. Bavarois is solidified by gelatin like jelly, and it’s creamy using milk and whipped heavy cream like mousse. Bavarois, although a French sweet, has been a staple homemade dessert in Japan for decades as well as a component of fancy cakes at cake shops. Bavarois is very un-Japanese but a popular basic sweet people often eat there.
Fruit Daifuku is a Japanes Mochi dessert, Fruit, like strawberry, is wrapped in Anko sweet bean paste, then in Mochi rice cake. Fruit Daifuku is not a very traditional sweet, but it’s been around for a few decades now, and it is one of the most popular items at Wagashi Japanese sweet shops.
Strawberry is the fruit of spring in Japan, the same as in many places throughout the world. And Japanese people take it seriously with strawberries. Seasonal foods, fruits, vegetables, seafood, etc., are very important for their everyday life there. Because there is an abundance of a particular food in a short period of time during the year, they celebrate with it well. When strawberries are in season, we eat them fresh as well as make them into special dishes. Strawberry Mousse is a super easy dessert to make at home, and it is great spring sweet after meals.
Japanese Strawberry Shortcake (いちごショートケーキ) is a western-style layered cake with whipped cream and strawberries. It is the most popular kind of western cake in Japan for everyone. It is said the Strawberry Shortcake was “invented” by a pastry shop in 1920s, but it became more popular in the 1950s. And since then it still is often the best seller in any bake shop.