tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91510150130363289982024-03-13T11:20:47.908+09:00A little shop in TokyoDocumenting the trials and tribulations of setting up a little cake shop in Tokyo, as a foreigner. Can I make a go of this?Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.comBlogger112125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-88352888601100698942014-09-09T18:50:00.000+09:002014-09-09T19:09:05.995+09:00Speaking at the RHSJ Bramley tour in Obuse 2014Last week my <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/search/label/Bramleys">Bramley apple adventure</a> continued when I was invited by the Japan branch of the Royal Horticultural Society to talk at this year's <a href="http://www.rhs-japan.org/rhsj/rhsj_event_rhsj140905.html">RHSJ Bramley apple tour</a> in Obuse, Nagano. Readers with good memories might recall <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/2013/10/field-trip-obuse-town-nagano.html">my excitement</a> at going along to the same tour last year as a participant, and <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/2013/09/field-trip-obuse-bramley-apples.html">my report</a> about visiting the orchard there for the first time. It was a real treat to be able to visit the orchard with many friends from the <a href="http://blog.livedoor.jp/apple5555/">Bramley Fan Club</a> in Japan, thanks for a great day!<br />
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This year I was to give a little talk at the orchard, and bring some Bramley-themed treats for the participants to take home as souvenirs. I settled on apple cake and small apple crumble pies (forgot to photo, oops), as well as a whole pie.<br />
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On the way to Nagano, the sky threatened rain and by the time we arrived in Obuse it was properly pouring down, just like we were in the UK (Obuse is pronounced o-bu-say by the way, rather than sounding like "abuse." Just in case you were wondering).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the train, could be the UK or Japan :)</td></tr>
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Chef Ichimura's lunch at Hanaya was as fantastic and creative as it was last year - it's amazing what thoughtful Japanese chefs do with our humble apple pie/apple crumble fruit!<br />
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I was particularly struck by the sushi piece of the 3-bite starter. It was so soft and delicately flavoured.<br />
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After lunch we dodged a few puddles and went to find the tree that Celia-san (Great Granddaughter of Henry Merryweather, the first person to notice and begin selling Bramley apples in the UK in the late 1800s) planted on her trip to Obuse last year. The young tree appears to be doing very well, and is in a nice spot, visible from the restaurant.<br />
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From there to the orchard! The rain had let up a little and so we were able to pick our own fruits to take home. As we were leaving a heavy fog rolled in and that too felt brisk and British. I don't remember seeing fog in Tokyo - it's quite a world away being up in the hills of Nagano.<br />
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The talks were to be given in warmer and drier surroundings back at the apple packing plant.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arai-san</td></tr>
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First Arai-san, the gentleman responsible for bringing the Bramley to Japan officially over 20 years ago spoke of how apples of all varieties had been important in his life, and how it was a struggle initially to convince many apple growers in Japan to take a chance on the strange and sour British fruit. It takes a few years from the initial work and investment until the trees will bear fruit and so it's quite a commitment for the farmers to make.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP0eISLuQSglfndf4AAA6JHgoaWzU-qrEl7xV57SNGWLcdTzDbRF9Umuce3QEvGVfAGUldqSIRHFMCp-LhbKRZn3AV8Hno1YPTmAmsFlvueMjNLwKRGAWMvjVdL3GMeIzPE3jpguGTB4AG/s1600/Oshima-san-farmer-Obuse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP0eISLuQSglfndf4AAA6JHgoaWzU-qrEl7xV57SNGWLcdTzDbRF9Umuce3QEvGVfAGUldqSIRHFMCp-LhbKRZn3AV8Hno1YPTmAmsFlvueMjNLwKRGAWMvjVdL3GMeIzPE3jpguGTB4AG/s1600/Oshima-san-farmer-Obuse.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oshima-san</td></tr>
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Next one of those apple growers who did take the plunge, Oshima-san, talked about a year in the life of caring for the Bramleys in Japan, and how one year's crop can differ considerably to another. He'd also brought along a *huge* Bramley. I thought it might be the biggest in the world (that <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3726416.stm">record </a>was in 1997 to a 1.67kg beast), but it must certainly be the biggest in Japan. Amazing.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me :)</td></tr>
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For my talk, I decided to have a few different sections - what Bramleys are to British people, and bit about the history - from the chance seedling growing from a pip planted by a little girl playing in her Nottinghamshire garden in 1809, to the involvement of Henry Merryweather, the extensive planting across the UK in the late 1800s, and the important nutritional role the Bramley (and all manner of home-grown fare) played during the wars - all going some way to explain how they have come to be such a widely loved and commonplace ingredient it is for the UK today.<br />
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I also talked about growing up with Bramley apple trees in my garden, and how when I saw ohanami on TV as a child, I thought that people in Japan were picnicking under apple trees.<br />
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Finally, I gave some tips on cooking with Bramleys, from the British home baking viewpoint - that we usually cook them down before adding them to pies, as they will cook to a puree anyway during baking, which leaves behind large cavities in your pie if you used the slices raw like for American and Dutch style apple pies.<br />
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At the end of the talk I shared the large British-style Bramley apple pie with the participants before they rushed to get the bus back to the station.<br />
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This year I was determined to also try visit the Iwasaki bakery, home to the famous Chelsea buns from the book I heard about on the tour last year. (See the end of <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/2013/10/field-trip-obuse-town-nagano.html">this post</a> for the story about the Canadian nurse and the Obuse Chelsea bun connection :) ).<br />
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Arai-san was kind enough to give me this monster of a Chelsea bun, and it made a very hearty breakfast the next morning. It was really good with the crunchy nuts on the bottom!<br />
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As I left for the day, look what I was given as a thank you for the talk! It's now in pride of place at the shop, at least until I work out what I want to make with it ;) Nyam!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ginny is pretty shocked at the size too</td></tr>
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<br />Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-14831880017919528382014-07-28T13:18:00.000+09:002014-07-28T13:18:19.317+09:00Omatsuri! Being part of the local communityI love having a shop in Higashi Azabu! So close to the centre of things with Azabu Juban and Roppongi close by, but tucked away in quiet backstreets that have new discoveries round each corner and which are home to quite a villagey atmosphere.<br />
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There are various circles of community structure in Tokyo, from the 区 / ku / ward-level organizations, to the 町会 / cho kai / town committee groups. 'Cho' are often just a few blocks of buildings in a region of a ward (confused yet..? :) For example, our Higashi Azabu 2-cho me, is in greater Higashi Azabu, which is itself in Minato ward).<br />
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Some 'cho' have official community groups that some residents pay a small fee to be part of, and who organise things like local festivals, volunteer activities and various other smaller-scale activities. There are also often local women's groups / 婦人会 / fujinkai (literally translates as something like "housewife group") that can have a great deal to do with the cho kai and their activities. These feel a little like the British <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_Institutes">WI</a> groups, but without the emphasis on jam and baking.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pitching-in at a recent matsuri :)</td></tr>
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Of course, there are also areas that have no such community groups, and being involved with them is voluntary. When I moved into my premises I had no idea that such things existed and remained ignorant until it came time for the local festival.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wrapping yaki soba for the festival</td></tr>
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I helped out packing up yaki soba with the other local ladies on the morning of the festival, as a way to meet other neighbours and make some friends. I also gave a small donation to the event which resulted in the next surprise - my name and that of MonCre on the wall outside the festival desk in beautiful script. Can you spot us? :)
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The festival itself was a hot, busy and fun day. This kind of festival has a few stalls like the larger events you may have been to, but the food was given free of charge (you just pick up coloured tokens at the festival desk) to the people who come, rather than being sold. There is a kids', and later on an adults' 御神輿 / omikoshi / - the carrying of a heavy, ornate portable shrine around the area and up to the local shrine and back. Being Higashi Azabu we went right past the foot of Tokyo tower, pretty impressive!
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It's amazing to me to find such a local and community spirit in the heart of Tokyo - and something I hadn't known about this area before I chose my spot to set up shop. Everyone knows each other and looks out for each other, and they look out for me too! - Seeing I was low on 100 yen coins one open bakery day, one kind lady went back to her shop and came back with a bag full for me. Since the shop has had a few days with long queues following my (very brief) <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/2014/07/filming-for-nhk-gretel-no-kamado.html">debut on NHK</a>, there has been quite a buzz among the neighbours about the area becoming more lively, I'm glad they are excited too. :) Another special thing about this particular location is that they hold a children's festival for Halloween! Something to look forward to later in the year.<br />
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Anyway this is just a quick post, as I thought other people might like to know such things as cho kai and fujin kai exist, so you can actively seek to join in or avoid their activities as necessary, according to your fancy.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aww, kids' omikoshi :)</td></tr>
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<br />Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-55012796496971170252014-07-17T20:19:00.001+09:002014-07-17T20:19:07.332+09:00Filming for NHK! Gretel no KamadoI was recently lucky enough to be asked to take part in a programme on NHK's E TV - NHK is the Japanese national broadcasting, like Japan's BBC, and the E TV channel is their educational channel.<br />
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The programme, called Gretel's Magical Oven <a href="http://www.nhk.or.jp/kamado/">グレーテルのかまど</a> / Gureteru no kamado, is a long-running series that looks at a new sweet-related story each episode, and in explaining about the dessert, shows information about it and how to make them.<br />
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This programme was to be about lemon meringue pie, and specifically <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Slater">Nigel Slater</a>'s childhood memories of the dish as detailed in his autobiography, <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Toast-The-Story-Boys-Hunger/dp/1841154717">Toast</a>. They asked me to try to give a bit of insight into what lemons, not native to the UK, mean to British people, and to demonstrate a couple of examples of other lemon-themed sweets that are made at home in England.
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I've never been on TV before, I'm not really the type to want do so, but I liked the idea that the programme is about the stories and culture behind that week's sweet. I felt it was a great chance to make progress in Mornington Crescent's aim of 'bringing authentic British baked goods and their interesting stories to people in Japan' - to many people!
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I prepared some of the items in advance, and finished others off while they were filming. At around 2 hours it was all quite quick and efficient, just a couple lamps, camera and mic, and no famous タレント / tarento / talent were present to make me feel more nervous than I had to be. I was especially nervous before they arrived, but once we got going and I got used to ignoring the camera it wasn't too bad at all.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Behind the scenes...!</td></tr>
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It was interesting to see behind the scenes of a programme - the decisions made about arranging items and backgrounds, how different shots are filmed, and what information they wanted to know. With the filming complete I felt it had gone ok. I just hoped they got what they needed, and that they wouldn't use the clip of me miming milking a cow when I tried to describe old fashioned syllabub! Oops. :) <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Filling the butterfly cakes with lemon curd</td></tr>
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In the end it turned out great! I watched the programme and got all excited when my jar of lemon curd was used at the beginning. Then, at the very end there was a "tea break" section of the show where they introduced me (wow!) and showed me making the butterfly fairy cakes with lemon curd, along with the other desserts I'd made. And no milking a cow shot, phew.<br />
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It was a great experience and I've already had contact with some people who saw the show and looked me up, how amazing! TV is really powerful in Japan!<br />
<br />Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-28576052904112749032014-07-07T08:21:00.000+09:002014-07-07T08:21:52.763+09:00My sister's wedding macaron tower!Ah yes, for my sister's wedding, there was a macaron tower too!<br />
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I tease my little sis about being a bridezilla, she's not at all, but she sounded like one for a moment when I got a picture text of a 10-tier tower one day last year, and the message "oh, you do these macaron things don't you, how easy would this be?" Heh.<br />
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Tower stand sourced, we then practiced the carrying of unfilled shells in tupperware in hand luggage at Christmas. No problem! Well, no problem apart from the fact that 10-tiers is about 240 macarons, which is 480 halves.. or quite a lot of tupperware in hand luggage. :)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just some of the many macarons for the hand luggage</td></tr>
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Half of the shells were filled with a rich, dark chocolate ganache flavoured with my Nana's favourite, Cointreau, and the others are filled with white chocolate ganache with vanilla beans and spiked with my Mum's current favourite tipple, Amaretto.<br />
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Being bridesmaid to a busy bride who was already a little late for the ceremony meant that helping her into the dress and making sure the borrowed, blue, old and new items were all present and correct took priority over arranging the sweets display, and so my partner was left with the task of assembling and filling the tower.<br />
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The tower was to be part of the welcome drinks table, to greet guests after the ceremony along with the mimosas and as a snack for people in the long gap between breakfast and the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_breakfast">wedding breakfast</a>" dinner which was to follow later in the day.<br />
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They were a big hit! We had filled the shells the day before so they would be perfectly 'slightly chewy' for the event. My Nana had about five of them and the photographers stashed a few away to take home. Excellent!<br />
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Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-4519440544300564192014-07-01T11:18:00.000+09:002014-07-01T11:18:28.486+09:00My sister's wedding cake (part 2)Following on from <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/2014/06/my-sisters-wedding-cake-part-1.html">the post about the making of the cakes</a>, you now join me for part 2, as we assemble the cake at the venue on the big day!<br />
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The cakes survived the trip, a little wrinkled of fondant from the packaging but quite intact. I got to work with a cake smoother, applied another layer and we were good to go. So here it is, the finished thing!<br />
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I had made all the flowers in Tokyo and packed them lightly in tissues in cake boxes placed carefully in my hand luggage. I came to the venue prepared with a batch of royal icing to 'glue' the cakes together, stick the ribbon on and pipe the finishing touches.<br />
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The venue gave me the use of a storeroom for a while to set the cake up before the ceremony so I could get it just right.<br />
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The flowers were secured to the cake with very nifty little flower spikes that I ordered in England, much less bulky than the chunky white Wilton ones more commonly available in Japan.<br />
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You need to use something like a flower spike to keep the wires away from the cake, so that no rust or other contaminant can form inside the cake.<br />
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Along with the calla lilies mentioned in the previous post, I added peonies because they are beautiful made in sugar. The bling ribbon, sugar diamonds and royal icing pearls might be a touch too far for more conservative tastes, but featured separately on a few of the cakes my sister and I liked when we looked around at the kind of thing we fancied creating for her.<br />
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I was so relieved that each step of the journey went without a hitch. The trip from Japan, and to the country hall where the wedding was held. Assembled it then made the trip down a couple of sweeping flights of stairs into the dining room to be on show, and then to the dance floor where the cutting ceremony would take place under the disco lights. :)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk8lq-CsKsMMgKsycAaEu3eEE10MD9xSItL_jWmNjIr9hw0wkUuP61YIFxAt_vHt3uCSLDxAgYPB-Yy5f37-YQjiehLuQq3Qo0uAl_qpswIC4o8PSHYxK0pWiMTKFmJH7sbyTOEc1fTBYC/s1600/cake-at-the-disco.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk8lq-CsKsMMgKsycAaEu3eEE10MD9xSItL_jWmNjIr9hw0wkUuP61YIFxAt_vHt3uCSLDxAgYPB-Yy5f37-YQjiehLuQq3Qo0uAl_qpswIC4o8PSHYxK0pWiMTKFmJH7sbyTOEc1fTBYC/s1600/cake-at-the-disco.jpg" height="320" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Disco cake :)</td></tr>
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I'm not sure why exactly, but it's supposed to be bad luck for the bride and groom to remove the knife from the cake after they make their ceremonial incision, and so they called me up to take it out.<br />
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The day was full of these little superstitions - she had an *old* sixpence in her left shoe all day, that my Dad had placed there, which she had *borrowed* from me. Her *new* thing was a bracelet Dad gave to her when he could see her for the first time all dressed up, and the *blue* item was good luck wishes written on the bottom of her shoes by her bridesmaids in blue ink. And of course, the groom had not been allowed to see the wedding dress until the day, and had not seen my sister since the previous day :) My sister awoke to the sound of birdsong, and that is supposed to be lucky. It was all quite fun.<br />
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At the very last moment, as the staff moved the cake from the dance floor they tripped on the tablecloth and my heart jumped for a moment, but it was all fine. They cut the bottom fruit and middle chocolate tier into the traditional 1-inch sticks of cake that are commonly used in British weddings and served it up with a sandwich buffet.<br />
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The newlyweds have saved the top tier of the cake, as is tradition. British wedding cake is pretty indestructible, and couples are supposed to be able to save the smallest tier for their first Christmas together, their first anniversary, or christening of their first child. I've heard of people saving cakes for years... Though those are probably royal iced rather than fondant-covered cakes however.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh63qyQlUk9KP-VQK7gyQQRU3IC2WkJ8n0shPoZgIs1KSwx5dnJ5AP3jy3CRQwMV1OSedPko9WNhFx_5G8WqBsD_-VggIGAS1mBclSjRq6Zg5xKFhuS_D3Jhum_jVHEchwO1zVocR-iXp9m/s1600/Wedding-cake-traditional-sized-portions.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh63qyQlUk9KP-VQK7gyQQRU3IC2WkJ8n0shPoZgIs1KSwx5dnJ5AP3jy3CRQwMV1OSedPko9WNhFx_5G8WqBsD_-VggIGAS1mBclSjRq6Zg5xKFhuS_D3Jhum_jVHEchwO1zVocR-iXp9m/s1600/Wedding-cake-traditional-sized-portions.JPG" height="206" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traditional portion size at British weddings</td></tr>
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Both cakes had held up fantastically during the trip, and tasted great! (I'm quite strict with myself and so it's an accomplishment that I was satisfied ;) ) I needn't have worried about the brief 1-month maturation of the fruit cakes, as they were lovely, moist and flavoursome. Phew, my job as big sister and baker done :)<br />
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I'm so happy I could do something special for my beautiful little sister's big day. Congrats sis!<br />
<br />Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-69146683232556699122014-06-18T12:05:00.001+09:002014-06-18T12:07:03.714+09:00My Sister's wedding cake (part 1)Would it survive being packed in a check-in suitcase and thrown around Heathrow airport? Would they lose my case? Here follows the first post detailing the adventures of my sister's traditional British wedding cake!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz186nhs1rqvhTY7H9ypRBVK-RnsGe48ta5tKVp67QwQNczilM83fXav3g_LZWEH0NGxTBr_rYty0gI-_xf-X-SPSVWf19vF3FRu94IEB4sVXu34f1WaH8Z2AP2ZsEMXsgDRwoTux_x0JN/s1600/Smallest-tier-of-the-wedding-cake.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz186nhs1rqvhTY7H9ypRBVK-RnsGe48ta5tKVp67QwQNczilM83fXav3g_LZWEH0NGxTBr_rYty0gI-_xf-X-SPSVWf19vF3FRu94IEB4sVXu34f1WaH8Z2AP2ZsEMXsgDRwoTux_x0JN/s1600/Smallest-tier-of-the-wedding-cake.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The top tier, ready for feeding with brandy</td></tr>
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For Christmas last year I experimented with taking <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/sugar-poinsettias-getting-ready-for.html">sugar flowers</a> and a <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/royal-icing-vs-rolled-fondant-getting.html">fondant-iced and royal-iced traditional Christmas fruitcake</a> to my sister in England, for a taste test and to see if the cake could travel well in my suitcase.<br />
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This trial run was successful and as I type this part of the blog post I'm back on another plane, 6 months later, with a much larger fruitcake, a smallish one, and a ganached and fondant-covered chocolate cake to use for the day itself... Please, Virgin Airways, please don't lose my case, don't throw it around too much and don't drop it!<br />
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The two fruitcake tiers of the wedding cake began life over a month ago, just after my kitchen was up and running. I would have liked a longer time to mature the cakes, but hoped that a month with regular feeding with brandy would be enough to develop some good flavour. I baked a couple of practice fruitcakes and moved onto the monster bottom tier which is 26 cm in diameter by about 10cm height.<br />
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It's, oh I don't know, it must be almost 4kg all on its own with all that fruit! It practically fills my case in its hefty box, leaving just enough space for a smaller tin for the top layer, oh, that and my 'Cadbury's purple' bridesmaid dress (thanks sis) ;).
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The top and bottom tiers are going to be traditional wedding cakes. Fruit: currants, raisins, sultanas, homemade mixed peel, apricots all soaked in brandy and later added to orange and lemon zest, nuts, molasses, homemade mixed spice and cinnamon, brown sugar etc. It's a heady and heavy concoction. The middle tier will be a moist chocolate cake filled and covered in rich ganache and then covered in purple fondant to match the bridesmaid dresses.<br />
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Once tied up in paper to protect against the long bake, and baked for hours - making my balmy April Tokyo kitchen smell like November in England - the cakes are fed with more brandy and packed away to mature.<br />
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The feeding with brandy was repeated numerous times over the coming weeks, and the cake was stored in the 12C cool table - a decision made due to the impending hot and humid Tokyo weather, because we want a matured cake and not a truly fermented one. <br />
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The weekend before I set off to England and the time came to marzipan (also home made, and yes I just used the word marzipan as a verb, oh dear). Trying out a few tricks I found in an old cake decorating book, I plugged with marzipan some of the larger dimples in the cake that had been formed by raisins getting sucked inward during baking, and built a collar around the rounded edge of the top of the cake, that was to become the bottom. This was then left to dry out completely for a few days before applying the icing. <br />
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Despite the superior taste of royal icing, we went for rolled fondant. The main reasons were that fondant is much easier to cut (for the cake cutting ceremony smoothness (!) and for slicing into the traditional 1-inch sticks of cake with all guests), and that we wanted to stack the cakes directly on top of each other in 3 layers. Stacking like this requires dowelling the cake, for stability, and this isn't advisable/possible with a royal iced cake.<br />
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Perhaps if we had gone with all 3 layers of wedding cake being made of fruitcake (and quite thick royal icing) we could have placed the cakes directly atop each other, but with one of the cakes being a softer, chocolate cake, I didn't want to risk it collapsing under the weight of the top fruitcake tier on my sister's big day. Fondant and dowels it was then.<br />
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The flowers were chosen to match the theme of the wedding - purple and ivory. My sister's bouquet is to be made from purple calla lilies and ours, as bridesmaids will be white. Above and below are some pictures of the practice cake and early stages of making some of the flowers.<br />
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Join me again shortly, for the next thrilling installment of the wedding cake adventure story. Did it make the trip?..!<br />
<br />Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-11520022121750535662014-06-13T18:12:00.001+09:002014-06-13T18:14:08.513+09:00The swinging shop signWhen deciding what type of shop sign / 看板 / kanban I would have for MonCre I considered various painted, home-made, vinyl lettered, wooden and professional facade signage options, and nothing really took my fancy.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZgNU26s0Q33kfy3dRTktkfdP5IC6OCxJaepw68cBmIEfiIymwvq9HNdp-8WoCKEiy9dl6V7e_1THxybEc8pwF4fg4bYzjbZvBjpJAe4OvFYx0T5SJHk78WmhgxIgOLhgWG6pjxKjl9eBG/s1600/moncre-sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZgNU26s0Q33kfy3dRTktkfdP5IC6OCxJaepw68cBmIEfiIymwvq9HNdp-8WoCKEiy9dl6V7e_1THxybEc8pwF4fg4bYzjbZvBjpJAe4OvFYx0T5SJHk78WmhgxIgOLhgWG6pjxKjl9eBG/s1600/moncre-sign.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The finished sign!</td></tr>
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I've always had a bit of a thing for wrought iron style bracketed swinging signs, and couldn't believe my luck when I stumbled across <a href="https://www.blackfoxmetalcraft.co.uk/swinging-signs">Black Fox Metalcraft</a> who made exactly what I was looking for at a reasonable price, and would ship to Japan! The shipping part of the price was under 100 pounds from the UK to Japan, and there was just a couple of thousand yen to pay on customs fees on arrival. Have a look at <a href="https://www.blackfoxmetalcraft.co.uk/">Black Fox's website</a> for individual prices for items they make, or contact them directly for a custom quote.<br />
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Black Fox do custom designs as well as a range of pre-designed options you can just affix a name or house number to - many of their customers are individuals who want house name plates and decorations for gardens like weathervanes and hanging baskets. I set about seeing how our logo might work as a hanging sign and sent off some ideas to Jenny and John at Black Fox.<br />
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It turned out that some time ago Jenny had attended the same college as me in Stockport, though at different times :) I was thrilled to hear that they are based in Greater Manchester, not far from my hometown. How perfect that my sign should come from a small business from back home. I was probably a bit too excited in my emails with Black Fox, but they were kind and patient with me ;)<br />
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It was less than two months from the initial placing of the order to the sign arriving. On the day it came I spotted the UPS van pull up outside and started snapping and tweeting photos before the poor guy could get it out of the truck.<br />
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Here is the sign, aligned with its bracket on the floor of the shop. It looked rather large lay there on the floor, but once it was up high it seemed smaller and was the perfect size for the shop front. Clearly noticeable but not ostentatious, it matched well with the modern grey and black of my building, and the landlord and lady who live upstairs love it too!<br />
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I'd asked Jenny if she could do our precise font for the lettering, and look at the amazing job they did! It's hand-painted on both sides of the sign.<br />
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Here are a couple of pics of the grand putting-up-of the sign, with Antonio up the ladder. We had to make sure it was high enough to avoid clattering against the door that opens outwards, so we put it about as high as the traffic signs along the road, which worked out to be a great plan as the sign can be spotted from down the street.<br />
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Here we are, my very own beautiful, Diagon Alley-style swinging sign. ;) Hoorah!<br />
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<br />Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-91946105635093404822014-06-12T23:17:00.002+09:002014-06-12T23:17:31.713+09:00The hokenjyo health inspection for business permitsFinally, after a few visits to consult with the local health department on the minutiae of their requirements, officially submitting my application and paying for the permits a few weeks earlier, the day of the hokenjyo/health department inspection arrived! (This is another of the catch-up posts I'd been planning to get around to for a few weeks now...)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paying for biz permits at the health dept.</td></tr>
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I had spent some time getting to know the lady who would be carrying out the inspection, and through a few enquiries learning what she would be paying attention to, only to find that with the inspection being around the end of the financial year in April she would be transferring departments and a completely new person would be attending my inspection! Ah well.<br />
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The days leading up to the inspection were busy, and a certain level of construction was completed on time, with cosmetic additions to be completed later. It was a particularly busy time for construction-related parties and the health department itself, as from April 2014 the VAT amount in Japan increased from 5% to 8%.. In practical terms this meant that places like tile companies in Japan had run out of stock (people paid upfront in March for jobs planned in the upcoming months to save money on the increased tax), and Tokyo Gas were backed up in a similar way with new businesses wanting their gas connections opened and businesses up and running before the tax hike. <br />
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Another surprise slight inconvenience was the last-minute scrabble to get a locker to put the cleaning equipment in. After trying to order a cheaper, second-hand locker I ended up paying too much to get a new one from the Askul office supplies service, just so I would have a locker for certain by the time of the inspection. It's a bit big really..<br />
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I probably needn't have worried too much however, as the inspection itself went very smoothly. I guess it might depend on who you have doing the check, and perhaps the size and nature of your business, but it was all quite quick really.<br />
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The lady who came was mainly concerned to know whether anything had changed from the plans I had consulted about with her predecessor, aside from which she noted that the fridge and freezers indeed had temperature monitors, that the floor was washable, the toilet was far enough from the kitchen and that the kitchen was divided clearly from the customer space. She also checked how many exits there were to the property and said that the low glass partition that had been held up at the workshop for tax-increase related reasons definitely needed to be in place as soon as possible. This didn't impede me being granted the business permissions however, I was given the license numbers on the day, and was to pick up the actual certificate a week or so later at the health centre.
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I say "permissions" in plural, as it turned out that I needed to apply and pay for two separate licenses, as I planned to do internet sales (which required a confectioner's 菓子製造業許可 / kashi seizougyou kyoka license) and occasional bakery (which required a cafe/restaurant license / 飲食店営業許可 / inshokuten eigyou kyoka). Incidentally, I checked specifically, and the baking school part of the business didn't actually require a business permit… interesting! Applying for these business permits cost 16,000 and 14,000 yen each.<br />
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One thing that I'd consulted about in advance was regarding whether or not we needed to 'raise the floor' in the kitchen, meaning building a type of stage, under which a drain could be plumbed in to allow for a wet-space and thorough mopping. Larger businesses and those doing a lot of frying, working with oil and so on usually require such a floor drain (they are usually designed in Japan as a drain in a long strip down the middle of the floor.<br />
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My business was deigned to be light-capacity and so a floor-draining wet kitchen wasn't required, as long as the floor covering for the kitchen itself was water-tight vinyl or some similar durable and washable substance. Raising the floor would have added at least a hundred thousand yen to the construction budget, so this was lucky! I did however choose to fit a small grease trap. For my light-capacity business type it wasn't strictly necessary, but I wanted to get along with my neighbours and that means not blocking up community drains and causing a stink.
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There was a little discussion about when to pick up the permit, when it would need to be renewed and re-inspected, and also something regarding an Azabu initiative against gangs involving displaying a "No! to gangs!" type sticker on the premises. Apart from that, it seems that the health inspection isn't quite as big and scary as I had imagined it might be.<br />
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I feel that if you consult with them well previously and make sure you cover the non-negotiable requirements (size and number of sinks along with their individual taps with hot and cold water, separation of customer space and kitchen space) and prepare in good faith, you'll probably be fine.<br />
<br />Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-52964377908421214242014-06-09T23:51:00.000+09:002014-06-09T23:51:06.601+09:00The day my oven arrived!(Still catching up on old posts here..) After <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.com/2012/07/oven-research.html">researching oven options</a> a couple of years ago, <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/test-baking-professional-garnet-oven-at.html">testing the one I wanted</a> at the Japanese seller's test kitchen, I finally went back to the shop where I first saw it, and made my purchase of the Garnet oven.<br />
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The most important piece of kit in my new kitchen, it was quite a momentous day!<br />
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I'd been awaiting the day I'd no longer have "more than 5 hours of shortbread ahead of me" but could bake all 8-rounds of shortbread in just one session of 40 minutes. I just needed to wait until the 200v socket and water pipe for the steam function were in place.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Careful now!</td></tr>
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I had also ordered the official stand for the oven. Though it was a little pricey at around 70,000 yen, I decided against the IKEA udden console which had roughly the same dimensions at less than 10,000 yen because the oven is fairly heavy and I didn't want to risk it falling or being pulled off the surface, or the whole thing toppling forward. The official stand has a ridge in which the oven nestles and nifty racks for your oven trays.<br />
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Since a little time has now passed since the oven came I can also comment on using it. I love it :)<br />
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There are a couple of things I initially needed to get used to - the fans are quite strong, and so anything quite light, or that only holds down part of the baking paper with its own weight needs to go in with bits of batter or magnets holding down the corners of the paper, if you're baking high cakes or those with extended paper collars such as Christmas cakes, then the available width between the racks in the oven is fairly narrow (about 25cm).<br />
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Overall though it's amazing - the texture of cakes is tremendously improved from my home oven, flapjacks bake nicely on the base, and overall cooking time for most things is shorter. Oh! And finally proper steam! My sourdoughs are getting lovely red-brown crusts and great oven spring. I'm a happy camper indeed. A particular feature of this oven is that it runs on single phase electricity (単相 / tansou) and so regular houses that don't have commercial 3-phase electricity can also use it, as long as you have a 200v socket fitted. <br />
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It's already worth its weight in gold, and I'm very happy with the purchase.<br />
<br />Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-18490771573056836492014-06-06T16:45:00.002+09:002014-06-06T16:45:23.234+09:00Construction report! Building my Tokyo kitchenA post about our work on the space and some of the issues we encountered along the way.<br />
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My property was already a beautiful space when I first viewed it, so I was pretty lucky. Many business properties in Japan are let as スケルトン "skeleton" spaces, which means that they are stripped back to the bare concrete for you to build walls, raised floors and your own plumbing and electrics. It's considerably more expensive to renovate a skeleton space than one with the fittings remaining from the previous tenant - unless you don't want to use those fittings and need to pay to rip all those out of course.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-i39KbBigUveGXEiPi4V_LWwQQyFNbA7pD0uC8PwncQGJdRH97CIrNFvwpWxeVOHkKEkCgH0yZShRpsBAZuDgZKY-9PcKKl4cNrBB7a0xRxttcIRYdIZfOt4h4Xd7wRwQTx6OwAmMiv4w/s1600/Namiki-panorama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-i39KbBigUveGXEiPi4V_LWwQQyFNbA7pD0uC8PwncQGJdRH97CIrNFvwpWxeVOHkKEkCgH0yZShRpsBAZuDgZKY-9PcKKl4cNrBB7a0xRxttcIRYdIZfOt4h4Xd7wRwQTx6OwAmMiv4w/s1600/Namiki-panorama.jpg" height="96" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorama of the space</td></tr>
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Casa do Namiki 101 used to be a ceramics shop. It had a gallery-feel about it, big bright windows, wood-effect tiled floor and subtle gallery lighting. It didn't have a kitchen, and so after some deliberation we decided to build a large (for Tokyo) kitchen in the back nook of the space, facing the main window. This would mean people could watch me as I worked, and I'd also have a nice view out of the window.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where we built the kitchen</td></tr>
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I've never actually designed a kitchen before, so working with a builder who would be a bit collaborative with me and provide consulting as well as good work at a reasonable price was important.<br />
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My 内装 / naisou / refurbishment budget being what it was, I knew I couldn't afford to be too demanding, but after meeting with a few different people including 大工さん / daikusan / carpenters, space planners who work with teams of designers/carpenters etc, and all-round construction contacts, I was happy to meet with Antonio Canales of Rising Son Express.<br />
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Antonio is a long-time Japan resident with years of experience on a range of construction and electric work in Japan from small businesses like mine to larger residential projects involving sets of apartments. American, with good Japanese language and people skills, he works with a team of Japanese colleagues based on the work and budget for the project.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sketching out plans...</td></tr>
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My initial ideas about the space was to have bare concrete walls with the wooden floor in the customer space, with bookcases around a mantlepiece, and perhaps a brown leather wingback chair. The kitchen was to have stainless steel, glass and also white tiles with black grouting, like I had photographed at Mornington Crescent tube station.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flat white tiles and dark grouting</td></tr>
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We ran into some challenges with this plan. The long thin tiles that I wanted were nowhere to be bought, any type of white tiles in fact were impossible to get for a short time in Japan! The tax increase in April meant that people had paid upfront in March for materials for projects in the upcoming months and all stock was already promised out to other people. There was nothing we could do but wait for some of these things until May.<br />
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Come May and the tiles arrived! We put them up offset like bricks, not in the more usual to Japan grid pattern. Here they are on the front counter, before and after we put the grout on. My glass screen in place too, my very own sushi counter ;)<br />
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Another problem we came across was with my idea about bare concrete walls. This is not as easy to achieve as it might sound - a number of builders I had consulted with advised against it as a waste of time and money, as the backing paper under he existing wallpaper was glued directly to the concrete of the space and would be difficult to remove. In the end I decided to have a go myself with a steamer, and I managed to clear a whole wall... only to find that the concrete under the paper wasn't the pure grey of my imagination but had a whole host of weird and wonderful colours that would look great on a painting, but were probably not the best look for a food establishment.<br />
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Instead, concrete-effect wallpaper then, with a slightly heavy heart is what I compromised with. Having worked in the space for a little while now, it has grown on me and I'm quite fond of it.<br />
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On one wall, and still to come as a refurbishment, will be some special wallpaper and a set of higgledy-piggledy framed portraits of some of my favourite people. I really fancied having flocked velvet wallpaper in a greenish hue, and got all excited when I found *the original* BBC Sherlock wallpaper from <a href="http://www.tangletree-interiors.co.uk/wallpaper/zoffany/">Zoffany</a> available to buy online in the UK! I quickly ordered a few samples to be sent to my sister's house and she sent them onto me...<br />
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I narrowed them down to the two samples I liked the best. Recognise the one on the left in the image below? :) But which, oh which, did I end up choosing for that wall.... to be continued! (Once I bring the rolls back in my suitcase.)<br />
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Antonio made me a beautiful floor in the kitchen with this water resistant vinyl, which, with my red oven makes the space feel ever so slightly <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=lynch+red+room&es_sm=119&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=S26RU83yO4it7Qbx6IDABA&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1040&bih=686">Lynchian</a> :) <br />
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Here we've got the counter getting built, the big fridge/freezer in place, and the gas table in the corner. Antonio raised the height of the second-hand cold table and sink to gaijin-friendly 90cm (and my back thanks you, Tony!)<br />
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Starting to build up the bookcases and mantlepiece. Woo, moody! Still not sure if there is really space to have a leather armchair in there.<br />
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And here we have the largely finished effect. The most beautiful kitchen I've ever owned. It's such a luxury to have a large work surface, big fridge-freezer and 4 oven shelves to work with after struggling in tiny kitchens for such a long time.<br />
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On completion of this phase of the project Antonio gave me this amazing clock as a gift! A great craftsman with a sense of pride in his work, and a nice guy too. I'm so lucky :)<br />
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Just to think, once upon a time the space was only an idea..!<br />
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Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-19727714626591383352014-06-05T21:50:00.001+09:002014-06-06T16:50:51.337+09:00Launch flowers in JapanCatching up on a few overdue posts - When you launch a new business in Japan, if you're lucky you'll receive flowers to display at your premises to celebrate the opening.<br />
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These are usually from business partners and other parties related to the set-up of your shop, such as real estate agents, and they come with a card on a stick saying something like 開店祝い / kaiten iwai / congratulations on your new shop, and also including the name of the business who sent the gift such as XYZ不動産 / XYZ Real Estate Co. Aside from indicating to passers-by that a new business has opened in the space, these are also advertisements for the related companies, who might hope to get a little additional exposure.<br />
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You've probably seen a variety of large and small displays outside new businesses in Japan, from ostentatious flowers on tall stands outside the shop, to small displays of dried or 'preserved flowers' that don't require any upkeep.<br />
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A traditional offering would be orchids 胡蝶蘭 / kochouran. These are presented potted, in soil, to represent the wish for the new business to set down firm roots at the premises and flourish much like the plant. <br />
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It's a lovely, and quite practical tradition, and I was thrilled to receive a number of celebration flowers and balloons upon the opening of the business - all the more exciting as I hadn't expected that anyone would send them to my little shop. Thanks everyone!<br />
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<br />Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-73608821397334504402014-04-21T16:19:00.000+09:002014-04-21T16:19:38.177+09:00The great unveiling! Welcome to Mornington Crescent TokyoDrumroll.... Today the dream became an official reality - At 3pm the hokenjyo lady visited the space and we now have our business permits!<br />
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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my little shop in Tokyo - welcome to <a href="http://mornington-crescent.co.jp/">Mornington Crescent</a>! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A suitably stamped celebratory Battenberg :)</td></tr>
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Mornington Crescent Tokyo begins life as a little baking school, teaching Great British Home Baking to small groups, and as an online shop with authentic British seasonal and cultural treats, deliverable across Japan by cool-bin refrigerated and frozen delivery services.<br />
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I, and almost everyone I have told about my until now secret project, would also love it to be a bakery/ cafe. While this phase of the launch doesn't yet include a regular cafe, we do plan to try out bakery days in the form of the "occasional bakery" - keep in touch on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MorningtonCrescentTokyo">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/MonCre_Tokyo">Twitter</a> to find out when!<br />
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The space itself is a cosy size, but I already love it. I lived in Higashi Azabu a few years ago for 3 years and enjoyed the close-to-Azabu Juban station yet back-street/small neighbourhood vibe it has. It seems that there is always a new restaurant or mom-and-pop shop to discover, and I really look forward to being a new and hopefully exciting part of the local community.<br />
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It's just a 3 minute stroll from Nissin supermarket, tucked in the back streets. There are a few cosmetic things still to finish at the space - the shop sign being made near my hometown in Greater Manchester and shipped over (can't wait!) and tiles for the kitchen walls etc. but we're more or less up and running.<br />
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To celebrate this soft-launch of the business we're doing a special offer launch box - 4 kinds of British treats for delivery in Japan. Please see the <a href="http://mornington-crescent.co.jp/">site</a> for more details.<br />
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So yes, apologies for the dearth of posts over the past few weeks, it's been a busy and exciting time! There are many posts that I want to write about that process and so I plan to do so retrospectively. I have already learned so many new things through the process of getting ready to open that I am sure it would help other people looking to do something similar. I plan to continue the blog for now as well, I'm sure there is still <u>much</u> to learn and share.<br />
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Ah yes, and so this is me (hello!), the face behind the little shop in Tokyo blog:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stacey</td></tr>
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Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-919088472362661472014-03-17T21:55:00.000+09:002014-03-17T21:55:02.379+09:00Make your own candied peelCandied peel is an ingredient that pops up a lot in winter and springtime British recipes - from Christmas cakes to <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/2013/03/traditional-english-hot-cross-buns.html">hot cross buns</a>. It can also be quite expensive to buy in the shops, and difficult to come by in most places in Japan, so it's definitely something I wanted on the handy "<a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/search/label/Make%20your%20own..">make your own...</a>" list. Most of all I just really like the idea of a nose-to-tail style of no-waste baking. Let's have more of that please!<br />
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I made this batch on one of the recent snowy Tokyo days with a view to using them in hot cross buns coming up in April. Here is the method I used.<br />
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Candied orange peel - <b>Ingredients</b><br />
<ul>
<li>3 large oranges (you could do this with other citrus fruits too)</li>
<li>200 ml water (plus extra for initial boiling stages)</li>
<li>450g sugar, and extra caster sugar to dust </li>
</ul>
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<b>Method</b><br />
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First peel your oranges. I used just 3 large oranges for quite a lot (300g+) of peel. If you cut off the ends and score lines down the sides of the oranges then you get nice shaped pieces to work with.<br />
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How thin you want to slice depends whether you will use them for decoration or for chopping up and going into bread or cake batters. Mine is the latter and so I went quite chunky.<br />
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Put the peels in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil twice, discarding the hot water each time.<br />
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Next, measure the recipe's sugar and water into the pan and then bring to a simmer.<br />
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Add the peels and return to a simmer.<br />
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Heat like this for about 1 hour or until translucent and then drain off the syrup.<br />
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Dry the slices separately as much as possible, so they don't stick together.<br />
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I found that dredging with sugar worked best after the slices were cold and somewhat dry already. If you dredge too soon, the sugar melts in a thick layer on the peel, but what you want to see, is granules of unmelted sugar, coating the peel.<br />
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Eat a couple as they are, dip some in dark chocolate as very sugary snacks, or store in a ziplock bag for when you make your hot cross buns.<br />
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These peels should keep very well at room temperature for a few weeks, some people manage to store them for months if they have been well saturated with syrup in the boiling stage, dried very well before storage and then stored in an airtight container. Until I have better evidence to the contrary I would say that if you are planning to use them more than a month later, like me, then freeze them to be on the safe side, as they can go moldy.<br />
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<br />Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-82589934313744093112014-03-07T15:29:00.001+09:002014-03-07T15:32:55.397+09:00Checking the hazard level of your Tokyo locationJust a quickie post today. I found out about this a little while ago and have been meaning to get around to posting about, as other people might find it useful too.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hazard maps, as modelled by Melvyn</td></tr>
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Minato-ku ward office (and presumably other ward offices too) have released various <a href="https://www.city.minato.tokyo.jp/bousai/hazard_map/hazard_map.html">hazard maps</a>, to help prepare for the occasion of a large earthquake hitting central Tokyo. If you're in the middle of looking to sign up for a shop space, or moving house, it's worth a look to see if there are areas you might want to consider over others.</div>
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You can get big paper copies of these maps from the ward office directly, here is what they are called:</div>
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<ul>
<li>津波ハザードマップ / tsunami hazado mappu / <a href="https://www.city.minato.tokyo.jp/bousai/hazard_map/documents/tsunamimap_english.pdf">tsunami hazard map</a></li>
<li>液状化マップ / ekijyouka mappu / <a href="https://www.city.minato.tokyo.jp/bousai/hazard_map/documents/ekijoukamap_english.pdf">liquefaction risk map</a></li>
<li>揺れやすさマップ / yureyasusa mappu / <a href="https://www.city.minato.tokyo.jp/bousai/hazard_map/documents/yureyasusamap_english_1.pdf">map</a> showing how shakeable areas are likely to be</li>
<li>浸水ハザードマップ / shinsui hazado mappu / <a href="https://www.city.minato.tokyo.jp/dobokukeikaku/bosai-anzen/bosai/shinsui/hazard-map/documents/shinnsuihaza-domappu_tizumenn_eigo.pdf">flood hazard map</a></li>
</ul>
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You can also look online at pdfs of these documents (links to the English versions above), and they are available in English as well as Japanese. </div>
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Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-57151816624207042812014-03-05T12:33:00.001+09:002014-03-08T10:05:23.795+09:00Fitting out your shop space in TokyoSo.. we have a space! I've been looking casually for a couple of years and seriously since the end of summer last year, and just a couple of weeks ago came across a beautiful little space that was within budget, our application was approved and we have just signed and got the keys!<br />
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Even before you apply for a space, it's useful to know some of the requirements and terminology for fitting out the space to have it meet your needs and the requirements of your <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/2012/10/getting-food-business-permit-visiting.html">local health department</a> (保健所 / hokenjyo).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Measuring out the space</td></tr>
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If you're looking online in Japanese, fitting out a shop space is called 内装 / naisou, and this is often carried out by a contractor called a 大工さん / daiku-san (joiner/carpenter), or a 建築家 / kenchiku ka (architect/builder). In some cases you'll go through a 'designer' who would work with you on a plan for the space then probably have a team of daiku-san, and other workers to carry out the practical tasks. I've heard of people fitting their spaces out themselves too.<br />
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If you can meet the contractor at your space, or the space you're planning to apply for, they should be able to give you a detailed quote for the work you would like carrying out. Bear in mind that equipment (設備 / setsubi) and kitchen equipment (厨房機器 / chubou kiki) won't be included in that quote, and that some specialist work related to gas and electricity may need to be carried out by other people and be charged for separately.<br />
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I've seen it written on Japanese forums about reform and space-fitting that a general rule of thumb to calculate is about 100,000 yen per <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_units_of_measurement#Area">tsubo</a> (坪) of space for the most basic naisou work (this would be roughly 30,000 yen per square metre). This would mean a 25m place is looking at a 750,000 yen before materials and equipment are included. Of course you'll find spaces and contractors that will need more or less than this, and it depends on what you want them to do, and what is required by the local hokenjyo as well.<br />
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If you look at the hokenjyo <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/2012/02/required-facilities-for-opening-food.html">requirements for a food business permit</a> you can see that they fall into a few main categories. Please note that the information to follow is just based on my individual understanding at present, and is not an exhaustive list. Please consult with your own health department and with professionals for definitive guidance. Here are just some thoughts to help you get started:<br />
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Plumbing 排水 / haisui<br />
<ul>
<li>If your business uses a lot of oil, for frying etc., then your hokenjyo will probably require you to have a drain in your kitchen floor. If there isn't already one in the space, or if you can't make one as you are above the ground floor of a building, then this involves creating a raised platform for the kitchen, and fitting a drain under that platform. Prices for this work are likely to start from a few hundred thousand yen, but will vary from space to space.</li>
<li>Grease traps are not specifically required by most hokenjyo, although they are a good idea, for the environment and to avoid blocking up the neighbourhood's pipes. However there is a chance that another body, such as the water company may ask you to fit one depending on your type of business. Grease traps can be fitted under the floor, or small sized ones can be placed under your sink.</li>
<li>Refer to your hokenjyo's requirements on specific numbers of and sizes of sinks. The staff hand-washing sink needs to have a fixed soap dispenser permanently attached to the sink.</li>
</ul>
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Ventilation 排気・換気 / haiki, kanki<br />
<ul>
<li>Your hokenjyo may require separate air conditoners in place for the customer area and the kitchen area. Consider the need for 200v plug sockets and ventilation pipes to take the exhaust air out of the building. Also consider whether you can place air conditioner box on the outside of the building, and where.</li>
<li>You will need to fit an extraction fan, and if you have a gas range you will need this to be connected to an extraction hood of a suitable size over your gas range.</li>
<li>My hokenjyo requires that all wall and ceiling surfaces in the kitchen area are flat and easy to clean. This means that exposed pipes, especially the round ones that carry exhaust air out of the building, will need to be boxed-off so that all surfaces are flat. This is to prevent build-ups of dust falling into food you are preparing.</li>
</ul>
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Electricity 電気 / denki<br />
<ul>
<li>What is the current amperage level for the property? Look at the electric breaker box at the property and you'll see 20A, 50A etc. <a href="http://electrical.about.com/od/electricalbasics/qt/How-To-Calculate-Safe-Electrical-Load-Capacities.htm">Amps x Volts = Watts</a> means that a 20A property running on a regular 100V Japanese 単相 / tansou / single phase circuit system has a total maximum capacity of only 2000 Watts. In addition the total *safe* capacity should be only up to 80% of that amount so this example actually only allows you to use 1,600 watts safely, which isn't much if you are planning to use an electric oven.</li>
<li>Calculate your electrical load capacity needs by adding up the wattage for each of the pieces of equipment you plan to use, not forgetting anything already in the space such as lighting. The wattage information is available on the product label itself, and in the manuals.</li>
<li>The amperage for your property can usually be increased if you require it, check if it's ok with the building owner and consult with your electric company and contractor. Your electricity provider will carry out the work (the lady at Tokyo Electric said it takes about 20 minutes and is usually free for 100V systems) and your contract with the company will also need to be increased. For Tokyo Electric, 60A appears to be the maximum available for 100V systems - but it will depend on your property.</li>
<li>In addition to single phase electricity, some properties also have commercial-use 3-phase (三相 / sansou) systems in place. I'm not completely in-the-know about these yet, but believe the rate of electricity is cheaper than single-phase, but that you'd probably have the two systems running concurrently and pay two electric bills each month. Even if you have a single phase system, it is possible for your electrician to use it to fit some 200V sockets (for some air conditioners and electric ovens etc.). </li>
<li>Lighting in the kitchen also needs to be flat and easy to clean. Fluorescent tubes for example need to have box covers over them.</li>
</ul>
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Gas ガス<br />
<ul>
<li>Even if there is a gas pipe in the property, check whether the property has a gas meter or if you will need to have one fitted. If you can't find the meter then you can ring the gas company to ask if the address has been previously registered for gas and they should be able to tell you.</li>
<li>Also see above regarding ventilation.</li>
</ul>
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Knowing the activities you plan to carry out and the requirements of the hokenjyo to allow you to do them, should be able to help you choose a space with a fuller knowledge of the likely total cost. Go along to a local hokenjyo to ask specific questions you may have even before you have your space.<br />
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As for me, lots of work to do... more updates to follow!<br />
<br />Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-49503060958969375392014-02-18T11:10:00.000+09:002014-02-18T11:10:39.445+09:00I'm so excited!I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! If you'll excuse me for a brief moment, I think I need to be a little bit un-British for a moment.<br />
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One of the reasons for wanting to start my own business was to meet other people who care about what they do, and together to create something positive for others. (I recommend the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Business-Model-You-One-Page-Reinventing/dp/1118156315/">Business Model You</a> for its personal mission planning activities for uncovering what really drives you.)<br />
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I haven't even properly got going with the business, but it has already been <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/p/list-of-posts.html">such</a> an amazing ride.<br />
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It started slowly, from 2011 when I started writing this blog. People got in touch now and again, people with similar dreams looking for help, people who were enthusiastic about the same things as I am, and other businesses looking to make connections. It's always great to hear from good people.<br />
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Then I got to meet the warm and formidable members of the <a href="http://blog.livedoor.jp/apple5555/">Bramley Apple Fan Club</a>, and through them learn the amazing history of this British fruit and meet not only the people instrumental in bringing the Bramley to Japan (to whom I will be forever grateful!), but also the <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/2013/10/a-real-slice-of-bramley-apple-history.html">British family</a> connected to the Bramley's very existence. <br />
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It's all somewhat beginning to snowball as more connections are made, and every week I'm in touch with truly kind and inspirational people and I'm learning so much. The generosity and collaborative spirit is incredible and I frequently catch myself feeling how lucky I have been already. </div>
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I'm now meeting passionate bakers, advocates for real food and for British and Japanese culture, writers, teachers and fellow learners, all with shared enthusiasm for creating something positive. </div>
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I've got such a feeling of excitement, this is going to be great! </div>
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Ahem. Now I can just calm back down a bit. :)</div>
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Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-38414687539520543142014-02-08T13:54:00.000+09:002014-02-08T13:54:01.952+09:00Oranges project - marmalade, candied slices and caramelised segmentsI had a beautiful big bag of oranges and a plan to make candied peel (recipe to follow soon) for <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/2013/03/traditional-english-hot-cross-buns.html">hot cross buns</a> coming up in April. This would use just the skins of just 3, and so I looked around for some other exciting things to do with the remaining fruit. The result was a bit of an 'orange project day' in the kitchen, producing marmalade, candied orange peel and slices, and caramelised orange segments. All that hot syrup and bright fruit is the perfect way to warm yourself up on a chilly February day!<br />
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Firstly, Lily Vanilli's <a href="http://www.lilyvanilli.com/menu7/sweet-tooth/">Sweet Tooth</a> book has a a lovely and simple way to use up the orange segments left over from making candied peel. After removing the segments one by one from the peeled orange, you melt sugar in a pan to make caramel and stop it with juice from the fruit.<br />
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Stir in the segments once the caramel is cool. We tried them with yoghurt honey and granola and they were lovely.<br />
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Next up was the marmalade. I used <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/medium-cut_seville_70291">Dan Lepard's excellent recipe</a> although my oranges were not the bitter Seville variety called for to make a proper marmalade. I wonder if we can get bitter oranges in Tokyo? Surely we can..!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soaking the orange slices overnight</td></tr>
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This recipe involved soaking the squeezed and sliced oranges in their juice plus water. I was supposed to soak the pips separately in a cup of water, but my oranges had no pips! Or I should say, the pips were so tiny as to be insignificant. Still, there was no problem with the mixture setting at the end and so it didn't appear to be a problem.<br />
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Dan has us boiling the slices for 2-3 hours without the sugar until the peels are soft and squishy. Once the sugar (white, and 2 teaspoons of brown sugar) and lemon juice are added, the mixture boils up considerably and the consistency changes from watery to syrupy as the water boils off and the amount of sugar in the mixture is concentrated.<br />
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We're supposed to boil the marmalade until it reaches 105C, let it cool slightly and then transfer to sterilised jars. I quite liked this non-bitter orange version of marmalade, there was a little bit of pleasing bitterness to it still, perhaps from the pith. Lovely on toast!<br />
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Finally another Vanilli recipe to use up the remainder of the oranges, candied slices. You prepare a simple syrup of water (300ml) and sugar (125g) and boil the fruit in it until they start to become translucent. This took about 1 hour. For French-style fully candied fruit that is hard and has a long shelf-life, you would need to boil them over a number of days to replace all of the water content with super-saturated syrup. These are a little more delicate, still being quite soft, and they would look smashing on chocolate cake or on top of an orange-drizzle cake.<br />
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There we go, a a bit of a nose-to-tail day of cooking with oranges, and an awful lot of sugar!<br />
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Now I fancy having a go at the hot marmalade pudding from the <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hawksmoor-Home-Breakfasts-Puddings-Cocktails/dp/1848093357">Hawksmoor</a> cook book, or perhaps <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/apr/05/hot-marmalade-pudding-recipe">this one</a>. Sounds very wintery and special, especially with a boozy sauce.<br />
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<br />Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-43202596462096891012014-02-05T14:03:00.000+09:002014-02-05T14:03:44.388+09:00Murasaki imo buttercream birthday cakeI'm currently looking for a space for my business (exciting stuff, what!), but the other day a friend asked me to make a special birthday cake for a friend.<br />
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After looking at various chocolate and carrot cake recipes I based the cake on this amazing <a href="http://www.kitchengoddess.co.uk/recipe/glorious-victoria-cake-peggy-porschen/">3-layered Victoria sponge cake</a> by Peggy Porschen. I didn't want to use food colouring in this cake, and I didn't want to use quite as much buttercream as the original recipe, we also wanted something that looked more contemporary than classic, to match our friend's personality.<br />
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The gorgeous purple colour is all from powdered murasaki imo (purple potato) which is often used in confectionery in Japan (it is even a <a href="http://click-a-japan.com/murasaki-imo">Haagen Daz flavour</a>). I had most if 20g sachet left over from recent <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/2012/09/making-macarons-at-home-in-humid-tokyo.html">macaron</a> experiments and didn't need the full amount. It imparts a very delicate sweet and earthy flavour to the buttercream, very nice. I also liked that you can still see the vanilla seeds in the mixture. </div>
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A handy tip when using real vanilla beans is to rub the beans from the scraped pod into some of the sugar you are using in the recipe, in this case icing sugar in the buttercream, as it will help to avoid too many of the seeds clumping together.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLJh6Lf_VKbtyu-rk0lMs5NoRF4DHqN39WVG3mm1_g43cIza_xEOGtpDE3xuX7NYEdxW4QGwAfCI9feOXi6gilixzx4y3e-ckLthuMFyN9isznBYD7laQ_CUTpzrmiciJlMHPFiKmQCLb8/s1600/DSCF1929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLJh6Lf_VKbtyu-rk0lMs5NoRF4DHqN39WVG3mm1_g43cIza_xEOGtpDE3xuX7NYEdxW4QGwAfCI9feOXi6gilixzx4y3e-ckLthuMFyN9isznBYD7laQ_CUTpzrmiciJlMHPFiKmQCLb8/s1600/DSCF1929.JPG" height="235" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rubbing vanilla seeds into the sugar</td></tr>
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The process of making the cake is very thoroughly explained in the linked-to recipe above. Here are some photos showing the step-by-step process as I took it. First trimming, filling and stacking the sponges. The first layer is spread with raspberry jam and the next with a portion of buttercream I'd kept separate from the murasaki imo powder.</div>
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Next came smoothing on a crumb-coat, an undercoat for the buttercream, to help make the final layer as smooth and straight as possible. Once you have the thin crumb-coat on, you chill the cake before applying the next layer.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crumb coating of buttercream</td></tr>
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While the cake was chilling between coats I had a bit of a practice piping the fleurs-de-lis on a dummy cake, but I rather feel that lots of practice is required to get the gracefully-sweeping shells of the original recipe.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm6VN1chhA0GJPmc3wuvnw5fllHpYvncD9hSZNhJKFBPdWBRA4OLZ6yfHReNgCoQGzvdMk9U34F6Ezyo95I7H85QSm69gANZzVa3j-6PnoURF9hnnBoLgSqRQi6Dx3j2RD4szFDJVT5Baz/s1600/DSCF1952.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm6VN1chhA0GJPmc3wuvnw5fllHpYvncD9hSZNhJKFBPdWBRA4OLZ6yfHReNgCoQGzvdMk9U34F6Ezyo95I7H85QSm69gANZzVa3j-6PnoURF9hnnBoLgSqRQi6Dx3j2RD4szFDJVT5Baz/s1600/DSCF1952.JPG" height="277" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Practice, practice...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjbUGklwfWfcuUmbtkSeI9J6mjUx_EY9zhU_7IZ6ROzYr0h-BdRYF6YTtCot7t6x83c9B9spN20EzQ5OE7DoKPRcLEEf4H0N9bv_29N1C1r2TLEc9tZKQAn6N0HYK57g7aoorwcFAFaBAa/s1600/DSCF1955.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjbUGklwfWfcuUmbtkSeI9J6mjUx_EY9zhU_7IZ6ROzYr0h-BdRYF6YTtCot7t6x83c9B9spN20EzQ5OE7DoKPRcLEEf4H0N9bv_29N1C1r2TLEc9tZKQAn6N0HYK57g7aoorwcFAFaBAa/s1600/DSCF1955.JPG" height="310" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Divide the cake in advance to know where to pipe</td></tr>
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To avoid having too much buttercream on the cake, I topped it with a purple anemone (wind flower) I'd made out of gum paste somewhat loosely based on one I'd seen in the supermarket a few days earlier.<br />
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Just being the one flower I was able to bend the floral tape-wrapped wires around to make a kind of stand for it to lean on, so we could place it directly on top (usually you would insert a flower spike into the cake itself and put your fresh or sugar flowers into that plastic spike). The gumpaste rested on the buttercream just fine - I had wondered whether the moisture in the frosting would soften the gumpaste, but it held up fine when I tested a batch for 24 hours.<br />
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This was quite an extravagant version of a Victoria sponge cake. With the real vanilla, vanilla syrup-soaked sponges, multiple layers and lots of buttercream, it certainly fit the bill for an extra special birthday cake!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making the vanilla syrup</td></tr>
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Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-15994752566684977882014-01-09T11:36:00.000+09:002014-02-06T15:37:20.648+09:00Omotenashi - little things that make big differenceOrdering some bits and pieces online for a sewing side-project I was struck by the little extras that were included in each delivery.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBSuJ0tbRZqvWJ2tquZiL2ZWG3qPDYmPuwSP_1lB1uH1t7dAblUZCWz51fXkPlPY0-NwaDdiWEnA9yGcU1yv2HVu2AYOdyTbpYtJiTK3gq6AvS8pr_HmZzI6c9JFI8ehCu4RZNA2bzrIUH/s1600/omotenashi-Japanese-service-culture-free-gift.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBSuJ0tbRZqvWJ2tquZiL2ZWG3qPDYmPuwSP_1lB1uH1t7dAblUZCWz51fXkPlPY0-NwaDdiWEnA9yGcU1yv2HVu2AYOdyTbpYtJiTK3gq6AvS8pr_HmZzI6c9JFI8ehCu4RZNA2bzrIUH/s1600/omotenashi-Japanese-service-culture-free-gift.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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You see, I had ordered from a few different companies, but each item arrived with a little 'something extra', for free, and this really pleased me. Ribbons I'd ordered came with an extra sequined thread with "For You" on the packet, and these <a href="http://www.liberty.co.uk/">Liberty</a> fabric samples arrived with this crazy-cute Hello Kitty swatch with a little note.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihH5nnBVNakUl0ZKPf2-oItGfBY2YSCAxOILrAy4PBgXzFKbE_6t_8MLJGmNafgSiXV60pqDuQM6Xe8kIsbRDMmVvwT29LcdUpO-QwHB8q4OB9RHypCBOBGtiOftueF8S4bw3cLOh3OVCq/s1600/Free-gift-with-order-Japanese-omotenashi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihH5nnBVNakUl0ZKPf2-oItGfBY2YSCAxOILrAy4PBgXzFKbE_6t_8MLJGmNafgSiXV60pqDuQM6Xe8kIsbRDMmVvwT29LcdUpO-QwHB8q4OB9RHypCBOBGtiOftueF8S4bw3cLOh3OVCq/s1600/Free-gift-with-order-Japanese-omotenashi.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Little extras packaged with Liberty fabric and ribbons</td></tr>
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If I think back, quite often when I've ordered things online there will be a little cute card in there, or a tiny package with one or two biscuits, or a recipe card.<br />
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It's not just online either - when you're at a restaurant you'll sometimes get given a サービス / service item (in Japanese "service" pronounced in English means complimentary, for free), like when we were the only customers in a bistro in Ebisu and they gave us "service espressos". Think about times when you've had something like a packet of tissues or a mini soap bar put into your bag at the checkout at a drugstore, or been given free square of chocolate on leaving a restaurant. Once we even came away with a small bottle of "service" olive oil, as we'd liked it so much at the table!<br />
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I've been thinking about it and fumbled around a bit with ideas like 'they like to delight people here' and 'it's the excellent service culture here' before I hit the nail on the head. It's おもてなし <a href="http://www.wattention.com/archives/omotenashi-the-heart-of-japanese-hospitality/">omotenashi</a> (kanji for this is rarely used but is お持て成し - to carry and to achieve).<br />
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The article linked to above explains it nicely, but in its simplest sense I feel it means doing something nice for someone that they didn't ask for. In customer service this is often described as anticipating the needs of the customer before they do and delivering generous hospitality. It's often also described as being selfless, which sounds like a subservient, surrendering mindset - I'd argue that choosing to act in this way, particularly in face-to-face encounters requires an assertive mindset, empathy and confidence.<br />
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Perhaps some of how this is employed today in business might be a little more cynical, as doing it 'without expecting anything in return' is not justifiable for purely logical businesses, and so customer loyalty, further sales and so on are probably expected results.<br />
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However I do get the feeling that carrying out omotenashi is a genuine pleasure for many people, and that the delight felt by the recipient is as much as was hoped to be achieved.<br />
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Certainly, even after almost 13 years these little gestures still manage to surprise me and are one of the things that make living here a pleasure.<br />
<br />Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-14043902559911914032014-01-03T13:58:00.000+09:002014-01-03T13:58:30.265+09:00Konditor and Cook - London Bakeries - Field Trip!<i>A <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/search/label/Field%20Trip">series</a> of posts from visiting interesting little (and large) cafes, food-related establishments and other places of inspiration.
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Purveyors of the "best mince pies in Britain" (as judged by the Telegraph in 2009), I'd wanted to visit the original <a href="http://www.konditorandcook.com/">Konditor and Cook</a> shop in Waterloo after seeing their impressive spread at Curzon Soho Cinema <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/2013/01/field-trip-cakes-and-cafes-in-england.html">last year</a>.<br />
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It's a very attractive shop, with the Konditor purple on the window frames and wrapping ribbons, and it was still full of cakes and goodies just before closing time.<br />
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If you follow the display window along the outside of the store you can see through to the actual kitchens at the back where the magic happens every day. I believe they also have some eat-in space inside the bakery, but this was closed at the time I arrived.<br />
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The Konditor mince pies were indeed lovely, and that wasn't just because I was eating it on the bus home, starving. They are nicely homemade in appearance, not too perfect with charming cracks and leaks here and there. When we compared them to actually homemade versions later on, I liked how particularly juicy the Konditor and Cook filling was, although the freshly baked, crisp homemade pastry won out over the long shelf life Konditor casing. Anyway, lots of ideas to improve my mince pies for next year :)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very pretty packaging</td></tr>
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I also got one of the large and excitingly packaged stollen loaves to try back at home with the family. They are a bit expensive (I think it was about 15 pounds) but would make an impressive gift and go a long way when shared. It was my favourite type of stollen too, with marzipan through the centre. It was interesting to see that the sugar coating was made of caster sugar, as many recipes list icing sugar and I find that 'melts' within a couple of days to a sticky mess and doesn't keep that well.<br />
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The festive and cosy-looking window of Waterloo branch of Konditor and Cook, just before closing on a December evening.<br />
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<br />Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-24979290727467909072014-01-02T12:02:00.000+09:002014-01-07T14:59:29.375+09:00Lily Vanilli - London Bakeries - Field Trip!<i>A <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/search/label/Field%20Trip">series</a> of posts from visiting interesting little (and large) cafes, food-related establishments and other places of inspiration.</i><br />
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I first heard about Lily Jones and the <a href="http://www.lilyvanilli.com/the-bakery/">Lily Vanilli bakery</a> a year or so ago through a friend who was telling me about the <a href="http://www.foodista.com/blog/2011/10/19/zombie-cupcakes-book-review-recipe">zombie-themed cakes</a> Vanilli had become famous for. What got me really interested was the quirky style of many recipes in the more recent <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lily-Vanillis-Sweet-Tooth-Recipes/dp/0857864416">Sweet Tooth</a> recipe book.<br />
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Not much in the way of horror-cakes (though there is one for a glistening cake shaped like a human heart), the recipes are quite fun and punchy with chilli powder in the ginger biscuits, crushed and crystalised edible flowers as decoration, and strong alcohol in the caramel popcorn. I also liked the chapters on cool techniques that are then used in various recipes, like making sugar glass, honeycomb and candied fruit.<br />
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Having enjoyed making a few of these desserts, and just quite liking the Vanilli style I wanted to see if I could visit the bakery while in London, which is only open on Sundays.<br />
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Needless to say, it's *very busy* when it's open. Crammed with curious people like me who like the book, people who've heard of the commissions they have made for celebrities, and others wandering in off the equally busy Columbia Road flower market.<br />
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It must be lovely quietly working in the kitchens here when the bakery and market is closed, it's a beautiful area.<br />
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I gather that catering, wholesale orders and other commissions must form the backbone of the Lily Vanilli business model, with the one day a week walk-in bakery perhaps running as a fun exercise or PR channel.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQqP-MRzTkDMNe1SrS7Jdc65MdhTzunHspA0J_Um5c0me63AlWf3lWdtxAIHiVohOsIu3LzzskSdQR6NSoxef3aggKUZT7j4XMn3Eyy4s_GTvJiNv8xkwhWTE6iwdEFzYN6lBTIItwmnzG/s1600/Blackboard-at-Lily-Vanilli-bakery-London.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQqP-MRzTkDMNe1SrS7Jdc65MdhTzunHspA0J_Um5c0me63AlWf3lWdtxAIHiVohOsIu3LzzskSdQR6NSoxef3aggKUZT7j4XMn3Eyy4s_GTvJiNv8xkwhWTE6iwdEFzYN6lBTIItwmnzG/s200/Blackboard-at-Lily-Vanilli-bakery-London.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPPh5q2RWQ4x5jY9v5vYBaaN8HHtWKPkMgOI4cFcPKjDO6ds8rLWLInFRq75Vl74qix_bcO4QvotifyuM5mHbXJVf-r8D6D6pz1lUUiRF700S29yE_C_3HvQY0fAI9puwI0hmlCXNQJ6R-/s1600/Indoor-seating-area-at-busy-Lily-Vanilli-Bakery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPPh5q2RWQ4x5jY9v5vYBaaN8HHtWKPkMgOI4cFcPKjDO6ds8rLWLInFRq75Vl74qix_bcO4QvotifyuM5mHbXJVf-r8D6D6pz1lUUiRF700S29yE_C_3HvQY0fAI9puwI0hmlCXNQJ6R-/s200/Indoor-seating-area-at-busy-Lily-Vanilli-Bakery.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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Inside the bakery there were sausage rolls, cheese on toast and tarts available as well as the cakes. I got myself some of the thickly sliced courgette and onion cheese on toast, the taste of which reminded me of the fried onions you get with hotdogs at the fairground, and a red velvet cupcake, yum! In one of these pics you can spy a bag of flour from <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/2013/01/flour-tests-shipton-mill-british-flours_1.html">Shipton Mill</a> - they seem to get <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/2014/01/leiths-school-of-food-and-wine-short.html">everywhere</a> :)<br />
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The bakery is definitely worth a visit if you're a Vanilli fan and want to try the real thing, or like a bit of an arty retro aesthetic, but do be prepared for the queues and busy staff, the elbow-to-elbow eating while standing and for making new friends at the tables and counter seats if you're lucky to grab a spot. Perhaps early is better than later in the day, and it does open from 8:30am.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Food served on cute porcelain saucers</td></tr>
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<br />Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-84023735838468467982014-01-01T21:39:00.001+09:002014-01-10T17:47:41.951+09:00Leiths School of Food and Wine - short course<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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To celebrate the start of my new venture and to perhaps pick up a few professional cooking and lesson-giving tips along the way, in early December I had a little cooking holiday and attended the enthusiast's course run by <a href="http://www.leiths.com/">Leiths School of Food and Wine</a> - <a href="http://www.leiths.com/enthusiasts-courses/one-week-courses-categories/one-week-courses/">Intermediate Course</a> (I did the 'white' course - there is also a 'blue' course which covers different dishes and runs in April-May).<br />
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Along with their main diploma courses and a host of one-day, evening and half-day lessons, Leiths run two 'key skills' courses, two intermediate courses and one advanced course. Aside from being an internationally well-regarded school with <a href="http://www.leiths.com/professional/student-info/alumni/">alumni</a> including current TV chefs and restauranteurs, a friend had whole-heartedly recommended the school, having completed a course there herself.<br />
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Though I'd been looking forward to it immensely I found myself a little nervous as the day arrived, not knowing what types of other students would be attending - how competitive it might feel, and what atmosphere the teachers would create.<br />
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After coffee and a short orientation delivered by Managing Director Camilla Schneideman (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prue_Leith">Prue Leith</a> sold the business in 1995, and there are currently two separate Leiths businesses - the main school in West London, with some informal pop-up courses held in a <a href="http://www.leiths.com/portobello/">new Portobello road location</a>, and a catering business) we were straight into the kitchens and let loose fairly quickly on choux pastry for our first dish - aubergine and prosciutto gougeres.
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Not being a particular staple of British home cooking, I hadn't made choux pastry since school but the teacher pointed out the key steps (when to pour in the flour, how long to beat initially, the appropriate cooled temperature at which to begin incorporating eggs and what a "reluctant dropping consistency" should look like) in his quick demo and everyone ended up with an eminently successful lunch along with the choux pastry knowledge with which to create eclairs, cheese-puffs, profiteroles etc. in future at home.
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During our first practical session we also had a professional kitchen health and safety run-down. This included never leaving knives in the sink, using appropriately coloured chopping boards to prevent cross-contaminating food (Leiths has two, red for raw ingredients to be cooked, and brown for ready to eat things. Some other businesses use a variety of colours for fish, meat, vegetables etc.), and my favourite rule, which was calling out "hot pan" as you walked across the kitchen carrying dangerous things.<br />
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With about 20 people including staff in each side of the teaching kitchen (a large room divided in two by rows of ovens and gas burners, with 4 aisles of 3-4 students in each classroom half) movement within the kitchen became more gracefully dance-like as the week progressed and as we all got used to each other, where things were, and to not just waiting around for the staff to bring us things. I'd say there were between 30-40 people on the course in total.
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Included in the course fees were the new (huge! heavy! excellent!) <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Leiths-Cook-School-Food-Wine/dp/1849493197">Leiths How to Cook</a> recipe book which we used extensively throughout the week but could thankfully leave at the school each evening, and an enthusiasts course apron to use for the week and take home at the end. Leiths also sell their smart and simple white aprons with the Leiths logo at reception, along with knife sets and additional copies of the book.<br />
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When you sign up for the course they recommend that you bring tupperware to take food away with you each day, but this wasn't actually necessary as they had rather snazzy take-out foil trays and paper bags for the purpose.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic6kVKpAZOXHnXt1crMoZy0u46yJ1Cg9Hq_WrLDK96XpLC-UjE9wFPlt5PkR_lgYpICIACU1TdbmFLv9LrF2PIgs27gtwxBf64NvBuylIm6y-_jOdT2MYmLBACwPG_XeULV8B246cxwJkq/s1600/Leiths-school-library.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic6kVKpAZOXHnXt1crMoZy0u46yJ1Cg9Hq_WrLDK96XpLC-UjE9wFPlt5PkR_lgYpICIACU1TdbmFLv9LrF2PIgs27gtwxBf64NvBuylIm6y-_jOdT2MYmLBACwPG_XeULV8B246cxwJkq/s320/Leiths-school-library.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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At the top of the school is a recipe book library - a lovely little room I got kicked out of at closing time on the first day with books lining the walls, some of which were very well-loved and well bookmarked.<br />
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Speaking of cool things at the school, outside the classrooms I was intrigued to find this motley array of tools on display outside the classrooms (above), once belonging to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_David">Elizabeth David</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHzFVsxqLAZpyajI_nw8_z2soVVTbq6Ki0HdizPTmh_Nie-m075kix_TRSQJznEAsqCccILNAN-pzP9V5lsSd8wrZOp1x1WOca8PeW0I2jXgdj4aHaDwVY_Q8E-ygsoiYIcXpQS7Vg7Xrk/s1600/Leiths-video-screens-in-demonstration-rooms.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHzFVsxqLAZpyajI_nw8_z2soVVTbq6Ki0HdizPTmh_Nie-m075kix_TRSQJznEAsqCccILNAN-pzP9V5lsSd8wrZOp1x1WOca8PeW0I2jXgdj4aHaDwVY_Q8E-ygsoiYIcXpQS7Vg7Xrk/s320/Leiths-video-screens-in-demonstration-rooms.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Video screens in the seminar kitchen</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Npep7RLjOpbjcbQnlkKw8vk7OY8ggfcRmDBLgDGV3qMuIMtqSZ6-JmFCtpaaRxKzduksdiks4TbAf54GG8U1YifC7fL214hcTRXJ1L6HRXtbyECSBfvZIx5AdI2njSYv7fPEhqhExyqu/s1600/Sampling-types-of-stock-during-demonstration.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Npep7RLjOpbjcbQnlkKw8vk7OY8ggfcRmDBLgDGV3qMuIMtqSZ6-JmFCtpaaRxKzduksdiks4TbAf54GG8U1YifC7fL214hcTRXJ1L6HRXtbyECSBfvZIx5AdI2njSYv7fPEhqhExyqu/s320/Sampling-types-of-stock-during-demonstration.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tasting different stocks</td></tr>
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The one-week courses are made up of half a day of quick-fire demonstrations of multiple dishes and methods in the seminar room (all passed around to taste too) and half a day in the kitchens preparing related dishes. Ingredients were generally weighed-out for us ahead of the lesson and awaiting us at our stations.<br />
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Our course covered meat, fish, pastry, meringues, bread, emulsion sauces and dinner party cooking. Foundational skills such as how to prepare different types of stock, or how to hold the knives and cut appropriately are assumed to be understood to some degree, but the teachers were quite happy to answer questions and demonstrate if anyone was unsure. Below are small dice sized tomato concasse (square and diamond) and julienne strips for fresh spring rolls.<br />
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It was interesting to see some of the brand choices in ingredients for the course, including some <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/2013/01/flour-tests-shipton-mill-british-flours_1.html">Shipton Mill</a> flour (hurrah!), also how some things were stored and measured including this enormous bin of caster sugar:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHrYpghaLkXp1h0R02Sh1yZpKzwpezt7oLbIjxl4hpWpHuE56Y9x03uIptWpcOkMZXakKobOXlVDZ4Ae-cS5GbvlcjjBjmIctZlZrvA-jTO7Mq_Lbfaw993FC7HFp_goBZ12H-GHhKedPH/s1600/Butter-used-at-Leiths.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHrYpghaLkXp1h0R02Sh1yZpKzwpezt7oLbIjxl4hpWpHuE56Y9x03uIptWpcOkMZXakKobOXlVDZ4Ae-cS5GbvlcjjBjmIctZlZrvA-jTO7Mq_Lbfaw993FC7HFp_goBZ12H-GHhKedPH/s320/Butter-used-at-Leiths.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Most butter at Leiths is salted, but this was for hollandaise</td></tr>
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When applying I had wondered whether to do the key skills course instead of the intermediate, as I wanted to make sure all of my foundational techniques were best-practice, but I was slightly put off by the recipes being quite basic - crumbles etc. However, seeing how much additional insight you get, I think I needn't have feared being disappointed had I applied for a key skills course instead. The intermediate course seemed to be designed around 'wow' dishes to impress people with at home, this was great fun and certainly will be attempted at my home in that very spirit :)
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My favourite part of the course was probably the fish day (heh, not very cake related!). The teacher giving the demonstration was so knowledgeable and excited about fish that her enthusiasm was quite contagious. She advised on sustainability, further reading, <a href="http://www.fishfight.net/">apps</a>!, buying guides, and demonstrated a number of cooking methods including (I could not bear my own excitement at this) smoking mackerel.<br />
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This British breakfast flavour has been one of the foods I've dearly missed while in Japan - while we have probably the most wonderful fish in the world available to us in Tokyo, including various dried and smoked varieties of mackerel, I am yet to find the precise taste of the smoked mackerel from home. Until now! Hopefully… I asked lots of questions and took many notes :)
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On top of the morning's wonderful demonstration, when we got to the hands-on part of the day, oh yes, there awaiting us were perfectly whole and beautiful sea bass, ready for us to descale, gut, fillet and de-bone. What an experience.
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Despite my initial nervousness, the other students on the course were another very positive part of the experience. Students tended to stay at the same stations during kitchen sessions for the week and so you got to know your fellow aisle-mates a little and swap tips and opinions.<br />
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I found that most of the people I spoke with were really quite accomplished home cooks, and many had attended Leiths courses previously. Many were also living abroad like me, and had fit the course in as part of their winter vacation plans. I certainly had the impression that most of the people on the course were going to go straight back home and repeat and build on many of the recipes from the course, and the book.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiafSbFL3Vc-Kugq140S-xsptx9XvS7_6Do-3HYa_CLvRgys2vtV9qTnxHhKHiL5aBhYtqkAEx0eyT5oCcf9WeunFZCkh7SSjcEcWbnHMIpk0dC8QoNvHaRU_zGh1UPHmTmT1N7fKFuGC69/s1600/Tarte-tatin-at-Leiths.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiafSbFL3Vc-Kugq140S-xsptx9XvS7_6Do-3HYa_CLvRgys2vtV9qTnxHhKHiL5aBhYtqkAEx0eyT5oCcf9WeunFZCkh7SSjcEcWbnHMIpk0dC8QoNvHaRU_zGh1UPHmTmT1N7fKFuGC69/s320/Tarte-tatin-at-Leiths.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tarte tatin</td></tr>
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Since returning to the North of England for Christmas my family has already suffered through choux pastry cheese puffs, courgette fritters with dukkah, pavlova, seared rib-eye steaks with chimchurri, pecan sticky buns, roasted red pepper and red onion polenta pastry tatin, braised red cabbage with apples… and I have many more pages of the book marked for experimentation when I get back to Japan!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipVM6sRJayE9U5YpZdqjL2UidpfsPrgjELjOCoEv0KfqR38c8iyUAh8O_-M5ZXTfWkJqYlAFQ0b5ITXXU1eWygnwenn2EzVzR0YohXPb8NFU7OEC63IBROHIlA_s7xMiwhYddVPuKRKwAP/s1600/Copper-pans-at-Leiths.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipVM6sRJayE9U5YpZdqjL2UidpfsPrgjELjOCoEv0KfqR38c8iyUAh8O_-M5ZXTfWkJqYlAFQ0b5ITXXU1eWygnwenn2EzVzR0YohXPb8NFU7OEC63IBROHIlA_s7xMiwhYddVPuKRKwAP/s320/Copper-pans-at-Leiths.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-1808524671629163522013-12-15T22:50:00.000+09:002013-12-15T22:50:44.749+09:00Sugar poinsettias - Getting ready for Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've been indulging my crafty side recently having fun working on some basic gum paste techniques. The color scheme for my sister's wedding next year is purple and white so I've been practicing various flowers and things for the corsage-type decorations for the cake - but more on that next year I'm sure..!
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Since I've been doing taste tests with coverings for traditional British Christmas cakes I thought I'd have a go at something a bit more seasonal as well and went for the red Christmas 'flowers' Poinsettias - the red things are leaves, but more on that in a moment - and some holly.<br />
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I'm undecided whether I prefer a simple decoration of something like holly on a flat surface, just the traditional spiky snow scene with a ribbon and no gum paste decorations at all, or a very over the top and showy poinsettia decked out in ribbons. I'm slightly embarrassed by how fun it was trying them all out.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The traditional royal icing snow scene</td></tr>
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If you go to a <a href="http://entrecraft.seesaa.net/">Wilton shop</a> you can get all kinds of handy tools and cutters to make leaf and petal shapes for various flowers and mats to imprint leaf textures etc. Poinsettias however appear to need to be made free-hand - unless you order a set from abroad. I relished the challenge, and had a go.<br />
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This is my first attempt, the leaves of which could probably be made a little finer and would benefit from some dark dusting powder to show the textures better. I assembled the red bracts in much the same way you would make a lily petal, folding the little flap over each wire, and then cutting them freehand with scissors.
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Designing this reminded me how weird and amazing plants are. Earlier we covered the fact the red bits <a href="http://urbanext.illinois.edu/poinsettia/facts.cfm">aren't actually flowers</a>, but have you ever had a good look at the <a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/4195762616_3d0f8c78c8_m.jpg">centre of one of these plants</a>? There are crazy things going on in there! When poinsettias are depicted on fabric or in a drawing, there are often just a couple of yellow or gold circles in the center, but on the real plant there are actually intricate little flowers, or "cyathia" there in green, red and yellow. Though strange, my representation in sugar doesn't even do full justice to the wonderfully bizarre arrangement of the actual plant.
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The spiny leaves of the holly were created using lily cutters and then a small round cutter to remove semicircles from around the edge. I put a dot of clear varnish on top of the berries so they would shine. Since these displays are for placing on cakes that are for eating, all the wires need to be wrapped in floral tape so that the metal doesn't touch the cake. Note that if you have a large display that you want to anchor into the cake, you should insert your wrapped stems into a plastic flower spike that you push into the cake.
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There is, of course, an inherent strangeness to this kind of sugar craft. You go to all the trouble to make something delicate out of sugar, only to include wires and make it inedible.. It is a conundrum, but they are not completely redundant as aside from being quite impressive when made well, they don't wilt as would fresh flowers, and since they are made for special occasions, they can be kept indefinitely as a memento of the occasion if you're careful with them.<br />
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It is also possible to make simpler gum paste decorations that contain no wires and would be completely edible, albeit crunchy. You would need to mount them on a gum paste base to set them on the cake, or glue them directly to the cake with edible glue. Similarly, if you make simple decorations using fondant or marzipan, they would be completely edible too.
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Oh and yes, all these decorations travelled with me to the UK too, carefully wrapped in tissue in a box in my hand luggage this time. No problems at security for these or the oh, 100 or so macaron shells packed along side them - "you do macarons don't you?" says my sister, the bride to be, "this 10-layer tower I've seen looks great!" (Next year I'll need to take more than 100 macarons..) The Christmas sugar decorations survived the journey quite well, with just a couple of the spiky tips falling casualty along the way.
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<br />Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-15616132755697716342013-12-08T08:52:00.001+09:002014-02-05T12:43:52.457+09:00Royal icing vs. rolled fondant - Getting ready for ChristmasTraditionally speaking, British Christmas cakes and wedding cakes are heavy, rich fruit cakes that are made weeks or months in advance of the date they are needed, matured and 'fed' regularly with brandy, then covered in a 3 mm or so layer of marzipan and finished off with a hard, white layer of royal icing.
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These days if you search online for information about royal icing, you're more likely to find yourself on sites discussing decorating cookies, or perhaps creating lasting decorations. The Wilton site even goes as far as to recommend royal icing is <a href="http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Royal-Icing">not used as a cake covering</a>. Certainly, the sometimes impractically hard covering created by royal icing would be a strange match for a butter cake or chocolate cake, but I do think it has a place still for fruit cakes.
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This year, partly as preparation for making my sister's wedding cake (congrats!) next year, and partly to do the kind of side-by-side taste test I love so much, I made a few Christmas cakes for a rolled fondant vs. royal icing showdown.<br />
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Fondant is extremely easy to work with - it stores well if you don't use all of it at once, is easy to cut slices of once it's on a cake, and you can get creative with colours and make all kinds of decorations. The downside for me is that, depending what brand you use, there are a bunch of things in there I wouldn't usually choose to eat, like shortening, thickening agents, emulsifiers, preservatives etc. I have also seen recipes for home-made fondants that include stabilised cream and butter rather than shortening, but I wonder how they would hold up under heat.. more experiments ahead!<br />
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Royal icing by contrast is traditionally made with just egg whites and powdered sugar. Some recipes also include the additive of food-grade glycerine (a sugar alcohol) to stop it from drying too hard, others add lemon juice. Many modern British recipes suggest using powdered egg white, or pasturised egg whites instead of raw, to remove any risk of salmonella.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smooth, but slightly pocked royal icing surface</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Slightly bobbly surface of rolled fondant icing</td></tr>
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Royal icing can create sharper lines on your cake than fondant, it's also a brighter white than most types of fondant and can hide the lumps and bumps of the fruit cake better, though there are ways to improve the bobbly appearance even when working in fondant. A downside to royal icing as a fruit cake covering is that it's not easy to get a neat cut - even with glycerine it dries very hard! The layer of icing frequently cracks as you cut into the cake, and shatters either side of the knife as you cut down.
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Considering its use in traditional wedding cakes, and the common ritual cutting of the cake together, this is a fairly big consideration - you don't want the happy couple giving the impression they can't achieve things together by failing to cut into the cake :) I've found that using glycerine, whipping up the icing to stiff peaks and building the icing up in thin layers on the cake, smoothing and sanding between each layer creates a more powdery (rather than concrete!) covering that a sharp, thin knife can handle relatively easily. I'm still experimenting here.
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Having cut these cakes in half I wrapped them up, sealed them in a cake tin and stowed them in my check-in luggage. In preparation for the wedding I also need to discover how well these coverings travel. Indeed, and whether the purported similarity of fondant to Semtex means my case arrives in the UK at all.. :) I'm currently on the plane and shall report back. (Edit: travel success! They both arrived in good condition and were not exploded by airport security.)<br />
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In these tests, for elegance and taste the royal icing won hands down but the fondant being easy and practical means it has a lot going for it. I kinda hope my sis choses the royal icing for her wedding cake, but we'll see..!<br />
<br />Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9151015013036328998.post-39812178784821940222013-11-25T12:35:00.003+09:002013-11-25T12:49:18.100+09:00This year's mincemeat - getting ready for ChristmasJust a quick post to remind any ambitious parties who are planning to embark upon making their own Christmas puddings, mincemeat or Christmas cake, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stir-up_Sunday">stir-up-Sunday</a> was just this weekend and it is perfect timing to get stuck-in and make your house smell like Christmas.
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I wonder how much mincemeat I’ll be making this time next year? I’m so excited about getting started with the business I can barely concentrate on all the (still many, many) tasks at hand in order to start... This year I made a modest amount just for gifts, samples, and I’m reserving a special 400g of it to take back to my family in the UK in a couple of weeks time, to bake mince pies “for Father Christmas” with my niece and nephews.
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I made this particular mincemeat with butter instead of the traditional suet, as suet suitable for baking is hard to come by in Japan and I wanted to see if I minded the non-traditional version. I’m pleased to report that I don’t mind at all! It is really lovely. Of course it also means that my vegetarian friends can enjoy the mincepies too.<br />
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Here is the recipe I used, adapted from <a href="http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/main-ingredient/mincemeat/home-made-christmas-mincemeat.html">Delia Smith</a> and <a href="http://www.maryberry.co.uk/recipes/christmas/special-mincemeat">Mary Berry</a>'s recipes.<br />
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Ingredients:<br />
<ul>
<li>225g <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/2013/09/field-trip-obuse-bramley-apples.html">Bramley apples</a> cored and chopped</li>
<li>175g raisins</li>
<li>110g sultanas</li>
<li>110g currants</li>
<li>25 chopped almonds</li>
<li>110g butter</li>
<li>zest and juice 1 lemon</li>
<li>zest and juice 1 orange</li>
<li>175g brown sugar</li>
<li>60g dried apricots, chopped</li>
<li>50g candied lemon peel</li>
<li>60g candied orange peel</li>
<li>1 teaspoon mixed spice</li>
<li>1/2 teaspoon cinnamon</li>
<li>pinch of salt</li>
<li>4 tablespoons of brandy (or preferred amount to taste)</li>
</ul>
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Method:<br />
<ol>
<li>Combine all ingredients in a large pan and heat gently to melt the butter and sugar. Continue to heat through very gently for 10 minutes, stiring occasionally and leave to cool.</li>
<li>Once cool, add your preferred amount of brandy and decant into sterilised jars. </li>
<li>Store the mincemeat in a cool dark place while the flavours develop further until you need it at Christmas.</li>
</ol>
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Note that if you are using glass jars with metal lids, it's best to put a piece of plastic wrap between the lid and the jar to avoid any reaction between the lid and the acidic contents of the jar. </div>
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The best thing about making your own mincemeat is that you can adapt the mix of dried fruit to your own tastes – just keep the total weight of dried fruit roughly the same as your recipe. Many recent recipes add cranberries, I like to add dried apricots, as I think they go fantastically with the almonds and brandy.<br />
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If you've also made your own British <a href="http://alittleshopintokyo.blogspot.jp/2013/03/make-your-own-mixed-spice-for-british.html">mixed spice</a> and customised your blend of spices to your preference, then you’ll have a totally unique mincemeat of your own!
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<br />Stacey - A little shop in Tokyohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15002335365177895985noreply@blogger.com0