i believe taiyaki, or japanese fish-shaped pancake requires no further introduction. it must be one of the most common snacks around that i don't even take second glances whenever i pass by stalls selling them, at least not until some of the interesting flavors like chocolate banana and pumpkin started appearing.

this is the entremet i mentioned that it took me almost a month to complete. i usually complete my entremet within a day so this is the first (and hopefully the last time) i'm gonna do this. also, this is also the first time i'm using entremet recipe from a blog. when it comes to long and complicated recipes, i don't usually like taking them from blogs for fear that certain ingredients or steps would be missed out. i mean i'm guilty of it at times, not deliberately of course. sometimes i tend to overlook certain things, luckily it doesn't happen too often and my readers have always been kind (and forgiving) enough to point out my mistakes. anyway, i saw this recipe from dailydelicious' blog and it was so beautiful i just had to attempt it myself.

today, i finally plucked up the courage to attempt another pancake recipe and this time, a japanese one. ever since i succeeded in making those fluffy pancakes sometime back and gotten rave reviews from many readers, i didn't dare experiment anymore. therefore i've been sticking to the same recipe for the past 3 years but i'm so glad i tried these coz they were so good! i can safely say my favorite pancake recipe has now found its match. these japanese hotcakes or hottokēki are thicker and sweeter than their western counterpart and dare i say, better. they're really popular in japan and many people use the morinaga pancake mix but making them from scratch is actually pretty easy and rewarding.

its impossible to find shiro-an locally, not to mention sakura-an therefore when i chanced upon a recipe i was really happy. sakura-an is cherry blossom bean paste made with shiro-an (regular white bean paste) and chopped bits of sakura leaves plus pink food coloring. i never thought it was possible to make my own but well, i now can. even though spring has long gone and this post might be somewhat irrelevant, i didn't want to wait until next spring to make these. afterall, using ingredients like pickled cherry leaves, you can make these anytime and freeze until you need them.