Wagashi Made Simpler
Introduction: Wagashi Made Simpler
Wagashi is a form of Japanese sweet or dessert that showcases the craftsmanship and creativity of the Wagashi master.
Each piece of wagashi is hand carved and sculpted. The design usually represent the season or nature.
Wagashi is usually served with matcha.
Supplies
100g White bean paste
8g Glutinous rice flour
8g water
Food coloring - pink, green yellow
Fondant tools / palette knife , tooth pick, a tweezer
Step 1: Dough
To make the wagashi dough, we first prepare the glutinous rice dough.
1- mix the glutinous rice flour with the water. And boil it till it floats to the surface. Then the glutinous rice dough is done. Photo 1,2,3
2- mix it to the white bean paste. Be careful as it can be hot. If you have disposable food service glove I suggest wearing one of them to prevent the paste from sticking onto your hand.
3-continue to knead the dough. It will be sticky but eventually it will start to form a non sticky ball.
4- cover it.
Step 2: Coloring
Next we divide the dough into 3 different portion for 3 different colors.
1- 120 g pink
2-20 green
3- 10 g yellow
Start with one dab or 1 drop of food color. Knead into the dough. If you desire a stronger color, add another drop of food coloring. If you are please with the shade of color, then you can start carving your wagashi. Always cover the dough when you are not working with it.
Step 3: Carving and Sculpting the Flower
1-Take 30g of pink dough and roll it between your Palms to form a ball.
2-Place on a flat surface and find the center of the ball. Prick it to Mark the center. Photo 1
3- use a palette knife or pastry divider to create segments on the ball. 702
You can create as many sets as you like. Photo 3
4 - use the tweezer to pinch the dough. Starting from the bottom of the ball, imagine a line going round the round dough. Use your tweezer to make an inverted V ( photo 4)
5- continues around the dough. Tweezing alternately creating different rows. You are sculpting the petals
Step 4: Carving the Leaves
1- Take about 4-5 g of the green dough and we start to carve the leaves.
2-The leaves have a jagged look. After shaping it to an oval shaped. Photo 2
3- We use a small palette or butter knife to start carving the jagged edges. Photo 3
4- carved the veins into the leaves
Step 5: Assembly
Use some yellow dough to make the Stemen of the flowers. Create a small /tiny round balls
And poke it several time to create the illusion of stemen.
Look for the center of the pink dough. Widen it alittle more
Add the yellow dough to the center. Your wagashi is done. Next add the 1 leave to it.
Step 6: Final Touch
Attach 1 leave to the flower and present it on a plate. Serve with green tea.
Continue to make other pieces. Experiment with other colors and shapes 702