Dorayaki

It originally only had one layer, and the current shape was invented in 1914 by the Ueno Usagiya.
In Japanese, dora means "gong", and this is probably the origin of the name of the sweet.
The famous Japanese anime cat robot character Doraemon likes to eat dorayaki very much. This is a kind of punning, though his name comes not from "dorayaki" but from the word "doraneko" (stray cat.) The dorayaki was a plot device several times throughout the series. In Japan, a company sells a limited version of dorayaki called Doraemon Dorayaki every year from March to September.

Ingredients:
3 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 Tbsp water
1 cup flour, sifted
3/4 lb anko (sweet azuki beans)
*vegetable oil for frying

Preparation:

Put eggs and sugar in a bowl and whisk very well. Dissolve baking soda in water. Add the water in the egg mixture. Add sifted flour in the egg mixture gradually. Heat a skillet or hot plate and lightly oil it. Pour a scoop of the batter into the skillet and make a small pancake. (*about 4 inches in diameter.) Turn over when bubbles appear on the surface. Repeat this process to make 8-10 pancakes. Cool the pancakes. Make pairs of pancakes and put a scoop of anko sweet beans between them. *Makes 4 or 5 dorayaki cakes.

Daifuku

Prep Time: 2 hours,
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup shiratama-ko (glutinous rice flour)
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup water

*For filling
2/3 cup water

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dried anko powder, or 1 1/4 cup premade anko
*katakuriko (porato starch) for dusting

Preparation:

Heat 2/3 cup of water and 1/2 cup of sugar in a small pot.

Add 1/4 cup of anko powder and stir well. Cool the anko filling.

Make 12 small anko balls and set aside.

Put water and sugar in a heat-resistant bowl and mix well.

Add shiratama-ko flour in the bowl and mix well.

Put the bowl in microwave and heat the dough for two minutes.

Stir the dough. Heat the dough in microwave until the dough inflates.

Stir the mochi quickly. Dust a flat pan with some katakuri-ko starch.

Also, dust hands with some katakuri-ko. Remove the hot mochi from the bowl to the pan by hands. Dust hands with more katakuri-ko starch and divide the mochi into 12 pieces by hands. The mochi is hot and sticky, so be careful not to burn your hands.

Make 12 flat and round mochi. Put a piece of anko filling on a mochi and wrap the anko by stretching mochi.

Rounds the daifuku. Repeat the process to make daifuku cakes. *Makes 12 daifuku.

Mizu-Yokan

Yokan is a tradional Japanese sweet, which is made of azuki beans, agar agar, and sugar. This is a type of yokan called mizu-yokan. Mizu means water in Japanese. Mizu-yokan includes more water than other kinds of yokan. This yokan makes a cool summertime dessert.

Ingredients:
1 stick kanten (agar agar), or 1/6 oz. kanten powder
1 1/4 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 lb. anko (1 1/2 cup)

Preparation:

Soak kanten in lots of water for about one hour. Squeeze the kanten and tear it into small pieces. Put the kanten in 1 and 1/4 cup of water in a deep pot. Heat it on low heat until the kanten dissolves. Add sugar and stir well. Next, add anko. Stir constantly and simmer until thickened. Stop the heat. Pour the mixture in a flat container. Cool it until harden. Cut the yokan into small blocks to serve.

Makes 4 servings.

Green Tea Sorbet

It's a simple cool dessert, which is good in summer. Top with vanilla ice cream or anko (boiled azuki beans) if you would like. Japanese Dessert Recipes
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp maccha (green tea powder)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 cups water

Preparation:

Combine granulated sugar and green tea powder in a bowl. Put 2 cups of water and the sugar mixture in a sauce pan. Heat until sugar dissolves. Soak the pan in a bowl of cold water to cool the liquid to room temperature. Pour the liquid in a freezer-safe container and put it in a freezer. Stir the sorbet every 30 minutes or one hour. Freeze until sorbet is alomost frozen.

Serve into glasses. *Makes 4 servings