Sakura no shiozuke

 

The cherry blossom trees are in full bloom here, and the petals are now starting to drift off of the trees like pink snowflakes.  We have several different varieties on our block, with petals of different sizes and shades of pink.  As I walked my son to school today, I noticed that the wind had gently blown the petals into several small mounds along the edge of the sidewalk.  Given our historically cold and wet Spring, the long-awaited sight of flowers cheered me up a bit.

I think that I will help myself to some not-yet matured petals from my neighbor's tree(of course I'll ask first!) and attempt to make some sakura shiozuke(salted cherry blossoms).  Sakura shiozuke is used to flavor cherry blossom tea, and in food presentation as a garnish.  You can also use your shiozuke to make sakura rice.  It's a nice way to preserve the otherwise fleeting beauty of the sakura. 

I found a recipe from Tsukublog that I will try and report back to you as to the results:

Cherry blossoms must be picked before full bloom.  It's best to use Yaezakura - more than 5 blossoms per bud. 

Ingredients: 

12 ounces of cherry blossoms
3 tablespoons of salt
3 tablespoons of plum vinegar

Directions: 

1. Wash the blossoms squeeze out excess water.
2. Cover thoroughly with salt.
3. Place heavy item to cover the top of the blossoms, such as a drop lid, and let rest in refrigerator for 3 days.
4. Drain excess liquid.
5. Add plum vinegar, and refrigerate for 3 days.
6. Again, drain excess liquid.
7. Spread out cherry blossoms on a plate and let air dry for 3 days.
8. Store in a glass jar, and add more salt. 
9.  Enjoy!

Black Tea Shortbread Cookies

Hiroki Specialty Desserts in Seattle gave our Ninja Black Tea Powder for Cooking a whirl.  He made the delicious-looking cookie in the picture.  He gave me some to try, and they were indeed delicious.  The black tea adds a smooth, rich flavor that is challenging to get when you use a steeping method.

Black Ninja Tea Powder for Baking is finely ground 100% Darjeeling tea powder.  It's great for use in beverage and baking recipes because the powder is very flavorful and dissolves easily, so that instead of steeping the tea leaves you are consuming them.   It will be available online at a very competitive price soon!

Espresso biscotti & black tea biscotti

Biscotti is such a delicious cookie and the perfect light accompaniment to a cup of coffee or tea.  Making biscotti with coffee flavoring has always been pretty simple because of the availability of instant coffee that you can mix right in with the cookie dough to give it a stronger coffee flavor.  Brewing a cup of coffee and using the liquid a) does not provide the same flavor and b)adds liquid to the dough that you have to compensate for by altering the recipe usually.

Making biscotti with tea has had this type of challenge as well, until now.  The biscotti pictured on the bottom is made from instant ground black tea.  This tea dissolves instantly and evenly in liquids as well as in cake/cookie dough and is great for baking.  It is so flavorful,  like milk tea in a biscuit form. 

We will soon be offering Black Ninja Powdered Black Tea for Cooking.  It is an extremely fine ground, delicious tea that bakers can now utilize for desserts, ice cream and baked goods.

No longer is it necessary to steep black tea for long periods of time in milk or water.  Just a couple of teaspoons will add more tea flavor to your product than steeped tea could ever do - simply use it just like you use cocoa powder or our Matcha For Cooking.

Be on the lookout for it!